Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

bheadher ...and it never will be. But, in its' own way, the movie is rather compelling...mostly, of course, because of the subject matter. The story of the Loch Ness Monster has been told for many years, and this time with a different angle.The movie itself has a slow, laid back feel throughout, and yet has has some action sequences as well. What is surprising is that the all encompassing theme is more of a love story within a love story. I won't explain that, other than say "monster" doesn't really describe the legend.And that becomes the point of the movie in the end...some legends deserve to "live on" as legends...

writers_reign If you're happy to suspend your disbelief for the duration then this is for you. I'd never heard of it before it popped up on TV yesterday and I figured I liked Ted Danson in Cheers and Joly Richardson isn't exactly chopped liver so I'll watch the first reel and see what happens. Okay, forget looking for the monster if I thought there was a lady as lovely Joley Richardson walking around loose in a small Scottish village I'd light out for bonnie Scotland in jig-time. As several posters have remarked here this is a genuine feel-good entry, sort of Disney-lite, with no swearing, no violence to speak of and an offbeat love story thrown in - in fact the girl bringing her single mom together with a prospect she, the girl has picked out is hardly new and I can trace it back to Natalie Wood brokering a romance between screen mum Maureen O'Hara and husband/stepfather material John Payne in the original Miracle on 34th Street but it's no worse for that.

Spikeopath Loch Ness is directed by John Henderson and written by John Fusco. It stars Ted Danson, Joely Richardson, Ian Holm, Kirsty Graham and James Frain. Music is scored by Trevor Jones and cinematography is by Clive Tickner. Plot sees Danson as Zoologist Jonathan Dempsey, who has now become something of a joke in his field after a failed "beastie hunt" for the Yeti. In the last chance saloon, he's packed off by his superiors to debunk the Loch Ness Monster legend, where hardly enthused anyway, he finds a small community unwelcome to his being there. After finally booking into a small inn run by single mother Laura McFetridge (Richardson) Dempsey forms a warm relationship with Laura's nine year old daughter, Isabel (Graham), who just may hold the key to the mystery of Loch Ness.Once it was made available for viewing it struggled to gain any significant support, both by critics and film fans alike. Caught in the 1990's creature feature slipstream created by Jurassic Park, hopes were high for a very different type of Loch Ness Monster movie. Nobody, except for the film makers, were quite prepared for what type of film Loch Ness is. Henderson's film is a human interest story first and foremost, one that has the Loch Ness Monster as its backdrop. It is driven by a mismatched (developing) love story, yet still has enough about it to raise the pertinent question that crowns the story, namely why? And should we? Solve the Loch Ness Monster mystery. It's all very simple and low-key, where any expectation of an FX extravaganza will lead you only to a big disappointment. Helps, too, if you kind of want to believe in the fantastical, like a bit of whimsy with your film supper.An insult often used to beat it with is that it copies Local Hero's template. What is wrong with that? Since Local Hero itself is a charming human fable set in similar gorgeous locale, why not have that delightful film as a marker? In fact Loch Ness is more family friendly, adult enough for the discerning grown up, whilst beguiling the kiddies too. And lets rejoice the sparse use of special effects, what we get is brief, and dare I say it? Magical. Fusco's script is also witty, with much fun mined from Danson's fish out of water portrayal as he finds himself at odds with everyone except the Nessie keen assistant played with wide eyed energy by Frain. The rest of the cast are roundly great as well, Danson (affable supreme), Richardson (quality Scottish accent), Holm (grumpy curmudgeon) and Graham (one of the most natural and unfussy child performances ever), lead the way. While good secondary support comes from a barking mad Keith Allen and Nick Brimble as the self appointed love rival for Laura's attentions.Bolstering the film is a majestic score from Jones, with the expected Celtic harmonies neatly sitting along side the more brassy and keyboard thrusts as the narrative hits its peaks. The synth and string arrangement that accompanies "Nessie" is simply beautiful and the reason why this particular writer had to buy the score. Although the Highland/Lochs locations used for filming are to die for, the film needed a better cinematographer than Tickner. He's good on something like sci-fi trasher Split Second, where he gets away with washed out apocalyptic colours, but here his photography is often murky and the sumptuous colours of the scenery never boom out from the screen. He does, however, know how to light a pretty face, the beautiful Richardson benefiting greatly here.With a big human heart and awash with family friendly mysticism, Loch Ness is a lovely picture. Thankfully for those who now know what to expect, it's a mile away from being a creature feature. 8.5/10

TheUnknown837-1 To those who have not seen this movie: I am going to give you a fair warning. If you are looking for a creature feature, if you are looking for a monster movie, if you are looking for the cheap thrills that are stereotypically imagined coming from a movie with a title such as "Loch Ness", you are not going to get any of these. If who want to see the Loch Ness monster plucking people from docks and boats and gorging on them, don't even bother to start, because "Loch Ness" isn't even remotely along those lines. This is not a low-budget horror movie.By contrast, this is a pleasantly sweet, low-key, lighthearted movie magic family's entertainment best suited for audience members between the ages of six and thirteen and with some appeal to limited members of the older generation. As an adult, I enjoyed this delightful, if somewhat flimsy, little independent film."Loch Ness" is, to a certain extent, not even about the Loch Ness monster. It's really more of a docudrama about the loch itself and the legend of the prehistoric creatures that supposedly dwells beneath its murky surface. The movie stars Ted Danson as a discredited American scientist who has come to Scotland to not find the monster, but, to quote his boss "use the latest technology to prove it's a hoax." Danson himself doesn't believe in the monster even though he's made a name for himself chasing Sasquatch in the Pacific Northwest. While in Scotland, he picks up a research assistant (James Frain) and forms a friendship with the local pub owner (Joely Richardson) and her ubiquitous daughter (Kirsty Graham) who seems to know a little more about the loch than anybody else does."Loch Ness" is, all in all, a family movie. There is some peril in the movie, but not enough to terrify the younger audience members. It's got the same spirit as "Free Willy" (1993) if "Free Willy" was set on a lake and the whale merely speculated to be there. Again, if you're a monster movie fanatic, stray away, for the attacks and blood and gore and shiny teeth you seek will not be found. The movie really boasts the question many people have: does the monster even exist? And that is the attitude of the picture. If it were a serious monster movie, we'd know right from the start. But it keeps that question going and going and for that reason, I enjoyed it, for it wasn't just another monster tale, because I personally have seen that movie over and over again, such as in another Loch Ness monster tale called "Beyond Loch Ness" in which the creature was revealed to be real after only five minutes of speculation.Performances are quite good. Ted Danson is effective as the troubled, doubtful scientist who feels that he's just driving another nail into his credibility's coffin. James Frain is also good, although he does at times overplay his character, but it is refreshing to see the mentor-student relationship between him and Danson whereas it typically would be a tag team. I also liked Joely Richardson and was especially fond of Kirsty Graham as the mysterious little girl with a secret. And the screen is also aided by the presence of veteran actor Ian Holm as a water bailiff who always seems to watching Danson with a suspicious eye."Loch Ness" doesn't reach its full potential because of a somewhat flimsy screenplay, with some scenes ending before we hardly even realize they've started. Some of the dialogue is rather poor, some supporting characters just time-wasters, and such, but all in all, it's a simply fine family movie although it will not ring the bells for everybody. I liked it for its sense of wonder and mystery about the loch where this creature may/may not exist (the movie plays that note), I liked it for the performances, I liked it for the beautiful, ear-warming music score by Trevor Jones, the crystal clear cinematography by Clive Tickner, the unique and seldom-explored nature of the ending, and just an overall enthusiastic tone that director John Henderson instilled into this delightful, if flawed family movie.