Ups and Downs
What we have here is somewhat of a dual time line plot, but not really. The main event is definitely the present day story set around the Kentucky Derby. Certainly one of the most timely Hallmark movies ever. I mean, day of, and only an hour later than the actual event. Hallmark movies always premiere on Saturday which is always the day The Run for the Roses is held. The upset winner of the real race this year, Golden Tempo, was the first horse trained by a woman to win the Derby. In a remarkable coincidence, the secondary story line in this one involved our heroine’s best friend, a woman who is training one of the contenders, also an over 20 to 1 long shot. No spoilers here. Back to the movie.
The movie opens in muted colors because this is the part that is set back in the olden days of the 1930s. It is the story of the present day couple’s forebears: a great grandmother and a great uncle, Gloria (Gigi) and Charlie (Lefty). This is a little mixed up generation-wise and I was confused. He is the son of the rich owners of a horse farm near Louisville and she is a greenhouse worker. He wants to be a builder and go to New York to build skyscrapers and she also wants to pursue her dreams there. He gives her an expensive necklace and proposes marriage with his grandmother’s wedding ring. She accepts the ring, and reluctantly accepts the expensive necklace. Predictably and unfortunately, his parents oppose the match and “force” him to take another girl of his own class to a fancy ball. Gloria reads about it in the paper and she breaks up with him, returning his ring, but he refuses to take the necklace back. He is also forced to give up his dream of being a builder in NYC and has to take over the horse farm and somehow is instrumental in establishing “Churchill Downs.” Lots of spurious history in this one, and I admit I was a little fuzzy about some points. The story passed down in his family is how poor Charlie almost got caught by a gold digger who all but stole an expensive necklace and other gifts and money from the family. Great grandmother Gloria goes on to help establish the big important greenhouse at Churchill Downs. And you can bet the vicious lies about her being a greedy seductress are going to figure pretty heavily in the inevitable “Big Misunderstanding” between Ash and Sadie.
Reliable Andrew Walker plays Ash, the son of the CEO of Churchill Downs, who unlike his great uncle, had the backbone to defy his father and become an architect and builder specializing in helping Non-Profit community projects. Or, as his father calls them, “do-gooders” with a sniff and a sneer. Newcomer Odette Annable plays Sadie who works part time for her mother, who runs the aforementioned greenhouse, while pursuing her dream of being a florist by working in an elite flower shop owned by a really difficult woman. A storm has damaged one of the spires of Churchill Downs, and dear old dad calls his son to come fix it. Ash is not inclined to accept the job because he is really busy and important in his own right. But his nice mother wants him to because it is an opportunity to ease the estrangement between her husband and her son. Sadie and Ash, both tending to their individual projects, meet on the grounds of Churchill Downs at night and the romance begins. Meanwhile, Sadie, who is struggling under the thumb of her terrifying boss, agrees to provide the flower arrangements for her pregnant best friend/horse trainer’s baby shower. Ash’s mother sees her work and, impressed, asks her to step in to provide the emergency arrangements for a prestigious fundraiser she is holding and, flattered, Sadie agrees. Ash’s mom then specifies that red roses must be present, which is impossible because, Hello!, all of the red roses have already been spoken for because of the Derby. Sadie’s boss is irate and wants nothing to do with getting mixed up with such a high profile affair that is sure to fail, and threatens to fire Sadie. Sadie is on her own and Ash offers to help because his family’s land has a lot of wildflowers including some kind of rare red climbing Prairie Roses. Score! It is at this point that Sadie finds out that Ash, who goes by another name, is the scion of the famous and important Reed family. This leads to a big fight because he wasn’t honest about his identity and it’s inappropriate for her to make flower arrangements with flowers that were picked from the client’s own field. I could see how that would be a little awkward, but the crisis is averted to make way for the big crisis: The red roses for the famous Garland of Roses that is draped over the Kentucky Derby winner are stuck in South America!
Needless to say, Sadie and social media save the day. It’s a Hallmark, so I won’t be spoiling things by divulging that the reputation of Sadie’s great grandmother is restored, the spire is fixed with tiles that will pass inspection with the historical committee, Ash and his Dad repair their relationship, Sadie is well on her way to being a florist under her own banner, and a certain horse wins The Kentucky Derby. This was all pretty standard stuff, plot wise and romance wise. I will say that Odette Annable, as Sadie, was a find, and I hope to see more of her. She and Andrew certainly got the memo about making the final Hallmark kisses more…”interesting.” The behind the scenes peeks of the Derby Week celebrations were nice if probably mostly fictional, going by the fast and loose treatment of the historical facts regarding the race track and The Garland of Roses. At least the setting was authentic, filmed right there at Churchill Downs. It was certainly much better then last years Kentucky Derby movie which was really really phony. It also managed to avoid my least favorite bone-tired Hallmark paradigms. And that was a welcome relief after many of the recent movies.
At the risk of a horde of strange women showing at my up at my door to kill me, is there anyone else that is really tired of Andrew Walker. He is a perfectly adequate actor and certainly very attractive but, like Tyler Hynes, I am really tired of the relentless self promotion. Juice, skin products etc. I really miss Niall Matter who is a genuinely fine actor and seriously under utilized (and very handsome in a less “showy” way…).
Omg Barbara. So there with you! Don’t know about the skin products (!!) But yes, he IS very overexposed in my opinion. I don’t have e a problem with him like I do with Tyler Hines but yes.
I know people love Tyler but, and this is kind of nasty, sorry, I think he plays the same character in every single movie. He is a little bit of a bad boy, a little sarcastic, and unpredictable. Over and over and over. And what’s with selling little glass boots for shots? My favorites are still Niall Matter and Michael Rady, both of whom are excellent actors, not flamboyant, and neither of whom appear enough.
I started out really liking him, but his schtick got old fast. Love Michael Rady and Matter along with Polaha (although he has his acting crutches as well), Paul Campbell, Macfarlane, and Victor Webster, and the two Jewish guys.
I think we have identical taste in our favorites. Are the two Jewish guys Jake Epstein and Daniel Lissing?
Yes to Jake Epstein. my other favorite is Matt Cohen. He’s only been in two Hallmarks, but he was unforgettable in both of them. I didn’t know Lissing was Jewish!
Lissing grew up in Bondi Beach in Australia where the terrorist attack on their Jewish community occurred. He posted a really angry response on Facebook or I wouldn’t have known either.
I actually haven’t seen all that many Hallmark movies so I’m unfamiliar with a lot of the actors. I’m always a little amused at Hallmark’s efforts to incorporate Jews into movies. They inevitably have good size noses and are chubby and loud. But I have to give them credit for trying.
wow. good to know. Funnily enough, In my hallmark review for the Mahjong movie today, I commented that I associated that game as much with the Jewish community as with the Chinese community. Everyone was up in arms when the poster came out, considering it to be a slap in the face to the Chinese community as there were (seemingly)no Asians in the cast. Well there weren’t any Jewish people either that I know of. Of course not. In Hallmark-Land Jews only come out during Hanakkuh.
You’re right about Hanukkah which is amusing because it’s only made important since it occurs near-ish to Christmas. My favorite potential intermarriage movie, which I found hilarious, was listening to poor Kristoffer Polaha have to plow his way through all of these Hebrew prayers. He actually did a reasonably good job but I just had visions of him going berserk trying to learn it by heart – and, of course, the potential in-laws were short, chubby, religious, and very loud. 😉
The Hanakkuh movies are consistently among the best despite the stereotypes.
I did neglect to mention that I am proud of Hallmark for not putting false eyelashes and 300 lbs. of eye makeup on the female lead. It was a really refreshing change.
False eyelashes and bad makeup are a recurring theme in my reviews. I don’t mention them as much anymore because it gets into beating a dead horse territory.
I absolutely agree. Is there any way of getting the message to the Hallmark people? Do the fans really prefer the 5’10 women with ridiculous legs wearing 14 lb of eye makeup?
I think they may be getting the message. In a recent one, Erin Krakow, who once played a rancher who with the false eyelashes, actually washed her face before she went to bed. I don’t have much of a problem with the make-up when they are in positions that face the public or are in a corporate environment. but when they are ranchers or bakers or on a road trip? Puh-lese. On a similar note, If Lacey Chabert appeared in a movie without eyeliner, I honestly don’t think I’d recognize her.