“Peace River” is a Christian cowboy movie exploring faith, love and loyalty; open Thursday at select theaters

Ben Jones wouldn't mind "Peace River" becoming an overnight success. But that's only if over a decade counts as "overnight."
When the Baton Rouge oil executive's inspirational movie get shown at the Cinemark Perkins Row and 560 screens nationwide on Thursday night, it will have taken that long for his idea to become a reality. His original concept didn't envision some of the casting decisions it would entail.
"It's almost a surreal experience to write the story and then go through … a 12-year process and see it come to fruition on the screen, and to be acting with my wife and my son in it," Jones said. "That's a trip, as they used to say."
If that phrase dates Jones, 68, it's not the only thing about "Peace River" that's a throwback. Though set mostly in recent years, the movie focuses on timeless qualities like faith, love and loyalty, all of which are rolled into what Jones calls "the cowboy way."
Having competed in rodeo in his youth and occasionally worked as a cowboy in adulthood, Jones learned the ethos of that lifestyle and built his film around it. It tells about multigenerational New Mexico ranching family.
A young cowboy, Casey Shane, played by Chase Garland, follows family tradition and joins the military after 9/11 only to be traumatized by combat experiences and have his life fall apart when he returns home — until he's rescued by faith in Christ. Jessica Wood plays his love interest, Maria Martinez.
For Jones, owner of Canada Energy Partners, this is his entertainment debut. He attended Dallas Theological Seminary in the 1970s and has preached and served as an interim pastor for various churches while pursuing his secular career, and he started writing "Peace River" in 2009.
The project got a jump start when Jones attended the International Christian Film Festival in Orlando, Florida, in 2019 and pitched his idea to filmmaker Douglas James Vail, who agreed to direct and serve as co-executive producer along with Jones.
When industry COVID-19 standards raised costs so high that Jones had to drop plans for a union-staffed film, the actor who played Bo Shane, Casey's grandfather, dropped out, as did his replacement when a crew member was exposed to the coronavirus. At Vail's suggestion, Jones agreed to play the part.

The original version of "Peace River" was 3 hours, so they had to find ways to cut it to its current 2 hours and 10 minutes. That was a painful process, Jones said, but he and his investors like the finished product.

"You're so immersed in it, so deep into it, sometimes you wonder, 'Have we drunk our own Kool-Aid here? Have we lost our objectivity?'" Jones said. 

"But I felt real good about the film we delivered. … We had a number of people look at the film, so we had a real good feel that it wasn't just our Kool-Aid."

Getting it shown was another battles Fathom Events, which finds screen availabilities for faith-based and other specialty films, agreed to give "Peace River" its nationwide, one-night showing. It's being marketed to Christian organizations, including cowboy churches, Jones said.
If it does well, an encore showing is a possibility, and if it continues to sell tickets, it could lead to a general release, Jones said. Four screens at Perkins Rowe have all but sold out, but tickets may be available at theaters in New Orleans and Covington. To find tickets, visit the Fathom Events website.
If it succeeds, don't be surprised if Jones' name appears on more movie credits.
"I've got about three prequels to this and one sequel and some nonfiction episodic stuff I think I could do," Jones said, then laughed. "Ain't nothing like starting a new career when you're 68."
Overnight successes, after all, aren't always as overnight as they seem.

To buy tickets to "Peace River":  https://www.fathomevents.com/events/Peace-River/theaters