My suspicion is that The Lost Husband (a poor title for this movie) is similar in subject and tone to a few (or perhaps a host of) made-for-cable-television movies about recovery from widowhood or divorce — yet that would be a disservice to this particular film. This tale, taken from a Katherine Center novel (she has a tiny role in the film), has depth and detail that won me over early on and kept me interested throughout.

Vicky Wight’s drama follows recent widow Libby (Leslie Bibb) from urban Houston to her aunt’s goat farm in tiny Atwater, Texas. Libby and her two kids need time and a place to recover, and the goat farm, with its labor-intensive chores and rural beauty, are ideal for the purpose, although Libby has to be convinced. She eventually finds herself, and a little bit of romance with the ranch foreman (Josh Duhamel), and uncovers a family secret along the way.

The family secret takes center stage late in the story and explains a great deal, but is not as fateful as one might expect. What really works is the way that Aunt Jean (Nora Dunn, who is excellent) takes in her wayward relatives and how the farm’s necessity for hard work gradually overcomes the grief that everyone is feeling. The goats are pretty cool, too; some of them boast show business names.

None of this is earth-shattering, dramatically or conceptually. Yet it is told well by director Wight and her female-oriented crew; the story is revealed gradually and refuses to take shortcuts to get to its highlights. Leslie Bibb is very impressive as a woman forced to become self-sufficient before she is ready to do so, matched by Dunn as her wise and patient aunt. It is low-key but definitely worth watching. ☆ ☆ ☆. 31 December 2020.