In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy (1995) starring Laura Leighton, Michael Hayden, Richard Crenna, Bonnie Bartlett, Rebeccah Bush, Akin Babatunde directed by Bill D'Elia Movie Review

In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy (1995)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Michael Hayden in In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy (1995)

Trouble in Texas

At the start of "In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy" it states the movie is inspired by true events, those true events are the story of Ralph Hand III. But whilst it might be inspired by true events "In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy" ends up like any other movie about lovers from different circles even though this one has a tragic ending. It also suffers from being too scripted with everything set up too neatly so that there is no real ambiguity to things.

When his parents died Luke (Michael Hayden) was raised by his grandparents on their huge ranch where he grew up into a promising young man who one day will take over the ranch. That is until he is involved in a car accident which leaves him not only unable to walk unaided but dumped by girlfriend Elaine (Neith Hunter). That is when he meets and falls for Laurette (Laura Leighton - A Deadly Encounter) a sexy red head from the other side of the tracks and who doesn't come from money. That proves to be a problem as his grandparents disapprove of her to the point that they make him choose between living the life he is accustomed to or leaving it all for her. Having chosen Laurette their romance hits a rocky path especially when Luke is unable to get the land he is entitled to.

Laura Leighton in In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy (1995)

So as I said "In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy" is another one of those movies about a rich kid falling for someone from the other side of the tracks. It means that there is a very predictable side to the story as Luke has to deal with opposition from his grandfather who thinks Laurette is trailer trash and just after the family money. The real interesting part of the movie comes when Luke makes the choice to go with Laurette and we have the troubled relationship which sees them split up and get back together before the final tragedy.

The trouble with "In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy" is that it serves everything up on a plate never leaving much room for ambiguity. Oh there is some ambiguity as to what Laurette's motives are because on one hand she does seem the typical money grabber pushing Luke to get his slice of the pie. But at the same time you get a real sense that there were genuine feelings for him. It's just a shame that there is not more ambiguity than that and the script writers didn't leave more room for interpretation within the script.

Aside from that well "In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy" is well cast. Michael Hayden has the good looks of a Texan raised in a wealthy family and delivers that element of rallying against the system you expect from a young man who disagrees with his grandparents. At the same time Laura Leighton looks smoking hot as Laurette and is perfectly flirty in such a way that we do have the movies only real ambiguity. Plus there is Richard Crenna as Luke's grandfather Lucas who plays the part of a wealthy ranch owner just perfectly in an almost "Dallas" sort of way, in fact the whole set up of the movie reminds me heavily of "Dallas".

What this all boils down to is that "In the Name of Love: A Texas Tragedy" is a solid movie but because of a script which leaves very little room for interpretation is highly predictable except for the final tragedy.


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