Hallmark Movies

Aussie at Heart

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Nice Yacht!

One good thing about these ones that are set in faraway lands is that we almost inevitably avoid the bone tired tent poles that too many Hallmark movies are propped up by. I don’t have to list them, do I? This one is set on a small yacht travelling along the coast of Queensland, Australia. Samara Hughes, an event planner and former lawyer, has been hired by her friend and former colleague to plan the details for her parents’ 40th wedding anniversary celebration Down Under, where they met and married. They will be visiting the places that marked the high spots of their courtship, culminating with a renewal of their vows. The captain of the yacht is also a former colleague and friend, Nate, played by real life Australian Daniel Lissing, who is more famous for playing a Canadian Mountie or an American in other Hallmark and Hallmark-clone productions. At least, that’s how I know him. Samara is played by Rhiannon Fish. I have to admit, I have not been a fan of hers thanks to some of the mannerisms and expressions she uses as an actor that she carries over from movie to movie. They were absent from this movie for some reason, possibly because she was playing a capable mature adult rather than a character with strong gormless nitwit overtones. I liked her just fine in this one and hope she has moved on from her previous affectations.

Anyway,  Samara’s friend Liv and her husband were all lawyers at the same firm as Nate and Samara. Nate left Seattle where they all were based,  to work with his brother in their Australian Yacht Tour business when his Dad got sick. It is a temporary thing with Nate, but Samara’s switch in profession is a permanent one. Event planning has always been her dream. She is just getting started but is very good at it. She was also excellent at being a lawyer. We know that her leaving that career had something to do with a falling out with Nate, the nature of which is revealed in the course of the movie. Escaping the influence of her overbearing lawyer father was apparently a factor as well.

So we have 3 couples on the yacht, 2 of them deliriously happy: The wise older couple celebrating their courtship and marriage, the younger one, who we learn are pregnant, and Samara and Nate, the estranged couple, who are destined, with the help of the first two couples, to also be a happy couple by the end of the movie. Need I say more? Just a little bit. In this romance, Samara is the well-adjusted one (“The Fish” playing against type) and Nate is the one with the hang-ups and issues that he has to tackle before he can have his happy ending. His issues are all related to each other but are all about control: He is very risk adverse and all about staying on the prescribed path and following the rules. Set against the beautiful Northern Queensland coastline, the unhappy couple work out their problems and fall in love. We learn why they fell out and I must say, if I were Samara, I am not sure I would have forgiven him quite so easily. I almost always have a problem with the big last minute conflict and this one was no exception. Of course it was Nate’s fault, and given all of their talks and what he knew about Samara, it made no sense whatsoever. Let’s just say good ol’ Nate has a lot more work to do on himself (and with a good therapist involved). There was also a big conflict over whether to launch a fireworks display from the stern of their boat which should have been worked out between the two on Day One. Seemed like a no brainer to me (NO!), but whatever. A last minute alternative safer plan ensured the movie ended with the requisite pyrotechnics as the background to the final kiss. This one was pretty standard Hallmark fare: Some good positives, like the scenery, and no deal-breaking problems other than the predictable, if unusually befuddling conflict at the end. And it was a little on the boring side. **6 1/2 stars**

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Absolutely Devoted to You

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Sustad to the Rescue

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**Sigh of Relief** Thank you, Kimberly Sustad for coming to Hallmark’s rescue after a string of sub-par movies (in my opinion). She is a treasure that can transform a plain throwaway line like “I’m Leaving” into part of a witty repartee that not only makes you laugh, but gives the viewer another layer to her character, already bursting with charm and likability. When she is in a Hallmark movie you know that she will make a good movie pretty great and a so-so movie pretty good. What can I say? She is just a terrific actress. She gives any character she plays charisma and authenticity. And that is hard to come by.

She plays Kaitlin, a segment producer for a morning show whose executive producer is retiring. Kaitlin wants the job not only because she is an ambitious go-getter, but because if they bring in someone from the outside he or she will bring their own team, jobs will be lost, and her little behind-the-scenes family will be broken up. Her promotion depends on the show’s end of summer big bash being a big success and beating the other morning show in the ratings. To that end, Kaitlin latches on to the can’t miss idea of bringing back a boy’s band who had a massive hit in the 1990s, but strangely disappeared from the music scene after their first album. The band, and particularly the lead singer, Derrick (Jesse Metcalfe), is beloved by Merrie, the influential co-host. If Kaitlin can reunite the band to perform on her show, Kaitlin’s promotion is assured. While 3 of the 4 members of the band prove easy to find, friendly, and obliging, Derrick, the linchpin, does not. Kaitlin finally tracks him down in a small Long Island community center where he serves as the director while fiercely protecting his hard-won anonymity. It was he that was responsible for breaking up the fledging promising band in the first place as he could not handle the fame, pressure, and huge venues which broke the connection he felt with his audience. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for Kaitlin, the community center is struggling. To raise money, they are putting on a variety show featuring a talented band of 4 teens that Derrick is mentoring. This didn’t make a lot of sense. He is coaching them to be good but not so good as to be successful. Because their lives will be ruined like his was. Oh well. Unfortunately (or fortunately) sales are slow and Derrick agrees that he will “think about” joining his former bandmates on the morning show, if Kaitlin can take the variety show in hand and make it a financial success. 

** Spoilers**

While a romance built around a struggling community center is not exactly an original idea for a Hallmark (insert sardonic laughter), the rest of the plot elements added new wrinkles and had more than the usual entertainment value. The 4 teens were talented and their musical number was cute once it was whipped into shape by the “world famous choreographer” that Kaitlin brings in to help. One of the boys is sad because his military father can’t get leave to come home for his and his wife’s 25th anniversary party until Kaitlin intervenes. Her assistant Sara, played by the talented and likable Meghan Heffern and TJ, one of the old band members, fall into insta-love. Of course we have the mystery and angst of Derrick’s anxiety at possibly being dragged back into the spotlight and his old friends and Kaitlin trying to help with amateur therapy and lecturing. Not surprisingly,  the big secret of his idetity he thought he was hiding was no big secret after all. Everyone was just being polite. Under pressure from her sponsors, Merrie, the giddy co-host and resident loose cannon, announces prematurely and behind Kaitlin’s back that the reclusive mystery-man, Derrick, will definitely take part in the reunion show and perform. This is the “going to hell in a hand basket” part because despite his promise to “think about it”, Derrick never had any intention of joining his bandmates on the TV show. Of course, under Kaitlin’s guidance, the community center variety show is a sell-out. Despite this, in a low point for his character, Derrick weakly refuses to change his mind and help a girl out. I guess technically, he never made a promise to appear, but as all parents know, when you say “I’ll think about it” it means you will. They definitely had a deal. I was pretty disgusted with him but will draw a curtain so as not to be too spoilery about the last 5 minutes of the movie. LOL.

All, and I mean all, of the actors in this effort did a great job and really pushed what could have been a fairly pedestrian Hallmark into “really quite good” territory. In addition to Kimberly Sustad, Lynda Boyd, who played the tough but amiable gatekeeper to the community center and Derrick’s loyal friend, made a nothing part a highlight. Tetiana Ostapowych who played Merry was over-the-top irritating and silly, but that was what her role needed to be. The young teens were great, and the former band members a pleasant and sensible port in a storm. Despite an unnecessary apology and some cheesiness at the very end, Hallmark is back in my good graces. **7 1/2 stars**

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Toast to Italy

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It’s Toast

**Spoilers**

A perfectly pleasant Torrey DeVitto and Will Kemp star in this agreeable but bland “quest” movie set in the small towns and countryside of the Umbria region of Italy. The scenery was indeed a big plus and was nicely photographed and presented as the background to the story, such as it was. Let’s just say the scenery did the heavy lifting in this movie.

Torrey plays Jenny, one of two sisters who are planning the wedding of their youngest third sister. Unfortunately, 5 days before the ceremony the two discover that the bottle of wine they have been saving to toast the marriage at the reception has been drunk. It has been a long standing tradition that the brides of the family have had their official toast using one these bottles that their grandfather brought with him when he emigrated from Italy. Thanks to one rogue bride who chose a white over this particular vintage of red and whose marriage ended in divorce, it is considered a curse on the marriage if a bottle of this wine is not used. A curtain is drawn over the story behind how that last bottle was drunk despite its importance to the happy marriages in the family. It must have been a hell of a reception. 

It turns out that the wine (a 1968 Farrazelli Rosso) is very rare and has reached legendary status in the old country. It is known as “The Love Wine,” and a couple that drinks it together will be blessed with true love. Or something like that. As it happens, the only bottle around is set to be auctioned off and Jenny is dispatched to Italy to snag it. On the way to the auction, Jenny meets Arrigo (Will) who is actually English despite his name, but his mother was Italian and he speaks the language fluently. He is a journalist who is also after the bottle because he is writing an article about it for his magazine’s “Love Issue” and it will be the grand prize in a contest. Their dueling bids for the bottle are trumped by a guy in the back of the room who outbids both of them. It ends up going for 4000 euros which is about 4600 dollars. Not unreasonable for a rare bottle of almost 60-year-old wine with a legend attached but certainly more than Jenny was hoping to spend to replace that final bottle that was so carelessly drunk at the last family wedding. They  squabble over who was to blame for the eminent and famous wine collector outbidding them. Clearly, it was neither one’s fault, but that is irrelevant: squabble they must, to start the pair off on their romantic journey. They team up to track down another bottle. Enter the beautiful scenery of Umbria. Arrigo assures Jenny that if it turns out they only find one bottle, she can have it because ladies first. One senses that he really doesn’t care that much and the same could be said for Jenny. I didn’t get the idea that she really believed her sister’s marriage would be cursed because of that traditional  bottle of wine. As is demonstrated throughout their journey, she knows next to nothing about her grandfather-who-raised-her’s sad history. Even Arrigo knows more about her family than she does. Her ignorance did not endear me to her.  As she and Arrigo follow the trail to the last of the wine, which is rumored to be a whole cache, Jenny meets and communes with various members of her Italian family, which is nice. The couple’s relationship progresses, even surviving the dreaded misunderstanding-due-to-hearing-half-a-conversation. At last, the trail leads to the owner of what turns out to be the last bottle. The rest were destroyed by a warehouse fire. We learn that the last guy was in love with Jenny’s great aunt she had met previously and was saving the bottle to drink with her if they were ever re-united. She tells the older man that her aunt is now widowed and still loves him. She refuses to accept the gift of the bottle in return for his promise that he will go to her. I would have liked to leave Jenny and Arrigo by the wayside and followed that story, TBH. Arrigo and Jenny part in Rome because they live in two different time zones. But don’t worry, yadda yadda yadda. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t the last bottle after all.

Will Kemp is a very popular Hallmark leading man and I have a feeling that people will probably really like this one mainly because of his presence, as well as the on location filming in beautiful Italy. Especially compared to the disaster that was this year’s “Christmas in July.” Hallmark movie watchers haven’t seen Torrey DeVitto in quite some time, but as always, she fills the bill. There just was not a whole lot for her to work with in the role she was playing. Both Will and Torrey’s characters just seemed to be going through the motions. The stakes seemed low in their relationship and their search for the bottle.  At one point at the door of the last hope to secure a bottle, Jenny just starts to walk away, afraid of perhaps missing her flight, not even waiting for him to answer the knock on the door. As it turns out, she actually had plenty of time to spare.  So I guess it turns out whole thing was worthy of just one big shrug from her, as was the movie, for me. I did welcome the return of Hallmark’s magical suitcase, which contained at least 5 beautiful ensembles complete with matching shoes, 2 different jackets, and 4 bags. No traipsing about Rome and Umbria in a pair of jeans, nice wash and wear tops, and a backpack  for Jenny.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Love Under the Mistletoe (a.k.a. Operation Mistletoe)

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Hair and Holly

Last night’s (07/25/2026) Christmas in July premiere, the last of them for this year, thankfully, did not disappoint. It met my expectations, set up by the 3 preceding offerings in the series, as basic and only minimally entertaining at best. And it was not so bad as to be deliciously awful. Even the presence of Jen Lilley, my least favorite Hallmark actress, could not push it that low. Like the others, this is one that could not quite cut the fruitcake as a bona fide Hallmark premiere as an original new movie. Like the first in the series, Christmas Under Construction, this is a movie that Hallmark purchased from Hulu and is still being aired there. The other two C in J movies were ones that were wrapped up and sitting on the shelf for two years until Hallmark rescued them and put them on the air.

Ryan (Nick Bateman), a successful financier, returns to his hometown to sell his beloved deceased Grandmother’s (Nan’s) house. He becomes reacquainted with his former high-school crush, Grace (Jen Lilley), an interior decorator. Yes, it was just basic. Plot-wise it was as routine as Snowbound for The Holidays without the talents and appeal of Vanessa Lengies or real snow.  The Christmas decorations were scene stealing and a little tacky but not as over-the-top as Christmas Under Construction. The decorations in that one were so bad they actually constituted a highlight. This one featured a real estate guy that wanted to tear down “Nan’s” home, but he was not evil or powerful enough like in O Little Christmas Market, to be a focus of hissing and booing. This guy is kind of pitiful and ineffectual. When he was trying to get Ryan to sign on the dotted line, he turns around and disrespects and insults him to our heroine while he is standing right there. Yeah, that’ll work. We find out later that our hero (shocker!) didn’t sell to this bozo, but we are deprived of the pleasure of seeing the poor sap getting his comeuppance or even a telling off. (followed by the standard Hallmark change of heart/first step to redemption, of course)

Most of the negativity towards this movie in its first incarnation on Hulu seems to be focused on Nick Bateman’s hair style and whether the eponymous plant is actually mistletoe. Nick Bateman is very handsome and likable in this movie and he has always combed his hair that way, so I am not going to jump on that train. As for whether the plant that Jen Lilley’s best friend is randomly attaching to the ceilings of the town in hopes that Ryan and Grace will kiss, is really mistletoe, I think that the jury is out. It is certainly not holly, as some critics claim. In some scenes it does look like mistletoe, and really, why would they risk not using mistletoe in a movie that mistletoe is such an integral part of the plot? Can you imagine? “The Mistletoe” is played by…”Holly” ? I think it is mistletoe in most scenes albeit probably plastic. As for my main prejudice against this movie, the lead actress, she was a non-issue. Her character was neither despicable nor TSTL* and her portrayal was just fine. Although she and her best friend acted like giddy high-schoolers rather than mature adults, that is just par for the course. Her hair was firmly under control in this one. She still talks too fast and I needed the closed captions when she put more than two sentences together. To end on a positive note, I did like Lisa Michelle Cornelius as “Mayor Sami”.

*Too Stupid to Live

Rating: 5 out of 10.

Snowbound for the Holidays

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The Ski Lodge One

This was the one about the Ski Lodge. You know, the struggling old fashioned family one which is about to be taken over by the multinational resort developer, which will erase everything that made it special with its hateful updates? Like Wi-Fi and indoor plumbing? Haha, I kid. But you get the idea. My goodness this year’s “Christmas in July” offerings have been lame and run-of-the-the-mill. Have they always been like that? Or is it just me? This one starred Vanessa Lengies who has been in some very good Hallmarks which were very good mainly because of her. She plays Cassie Evergreen (last name is Christmas-y instead of first, for a change of pace. The only.) She is  the daughter of the owner of a small chain of boutique hotels who is visiting from the big city to assess the value of Linden Lodge to determine its fair market value. Her mother is an old friend of the owner and if Cassidy does a good job, she will give her a big promotion. She hates the cold. The original owner’s widowed son-in-law, Trey, has equal shares in the lodge which is interesting. He is trying to fight off his father-in-law’s plans to sell. He is a single Dad and technology averse. He still listens to his music on a Sony Walkman and “Could you print that out for me?” All hopes rest on “The Christmas Fest” which will benefit from Cassidy’s computer skills while she drags Trey (Marcus Rosner) kicking and screaming into the 21st century. The big deadline of Christmas Eve (of course) looms, but they do everything but worry about the deadline.

I had a glimmer of hope for this one because of the talents of Vanessa Lengies and a cute scene in the preview with Skywalker Hughes, who plays Lily, Marcus Rosner’s daughter. But not even Vanessa could raise this one above the mundane. I was not surprised to learn that this one is also a movie that has been sitting on the shelf for two years, waiting for Hallmark or someone else to air it. I’m giving it a generous 6 because there wasn’t anything blatantly dumb about it and didn’t make me too mad. It also had real snow (I think). To answer my original question posed in the previous paragraph, Yes, Hallmark “Christmas in July” movies have been pretty much second stringers, at least for the last two years. Last year was the unremarkable “Unwrapping Christmas” quartet. And before that, the only one that rose above the fray was the delightful Rescuing Christmas, which was actually featured on the Hallmark streaming service prior to the Network premiere. So. Next Week’s offering does not look promising either “for reasons.”

Rating: 6 out of 10.

O Little Christmas Market

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Rinky Dink

“Christmas in July” does seem to be the season for unambitious efforts and not breaking out of the tried and true. This one was made in 2024 and I guess has been on the shelf until Hallmark pulled it out this year for their “Poor Man’s Countdown to Christmas”. This one features Katherine Barrell, who has given some nice performances, going for it. She is stars with Hallmark mainstay, Stephen Huzsar. Their pairing was OK. I didn’t have a problem with it.

 I’m not going to go over the plot in detail. Suffice it to say it’s about saving a small town Christmas Market from a big city developer. He was as “bad guy” as these characters usually are, putting the demands of “the board”, and profits ahead of everything, including his son Grayson (Huszar). Unlike his father, Grayson yearns to be creative and to use his architect skills for good to bring communities together and to go outside of the box with his building designs. Unfortunately he is firmly under his father’s thumb and won’t stand up to him or just leave. Katherine Barrell plays Olivia, who is still grieving her Dead Father. Her first priority is saving the Christmas Market he founded as a way to hold on to him. Her hobby is making miniature scenes or dioramas. This plays a pretty big part of the plot as it turns out to be the key to selling the solution that will make Grayson’s father happy and save the market at the same time. Also, she must learn to spend more time with the hobby that she loves, and make her “art” a serious business. She does nothing with her creations when she could be selling her work online or in her own shop. Instead she busies herself with prioritizing everyone else’s business over herself. 

There were a quite few things about this movie that I couldn’t buy into. First of all, I am sorry to say that Olivia’s miniatures seemed pretty rinky dink to me. Other than painting a rock a strange shade of blue (for a rock) and putting teeny tiny little miniature Christmas ornaments on a pre-fabricated tree, we do not see her actually doing any art. At one point, she goes to a hobby shop to buy the little miniature accessories which she arranges on the base. We  should have seen her actually making her miniature buildings from raw materials, or her making the molds of the real people she puts in there. I mean my late mother-in-law put a Hallmark miniature Christmas scene on her mantel every year but that did not make her an artist. She would have hooted at that idea. And it looked much better than these creations.

The merchants or vendors we see selling stuff at the market seem to be very uninvested in doing anything to help themselves or in keeping the (also rinky dink) market afloat. We are never given a good reason why they don’t have the market all year round to make more money. Something about the stalls being old and decrepit? Well, couldn’t they invest a little of their own time and money to fix them up? For their own good? And what’s wrong with a tent and a table? That’s what the food, farm, and craft vendors in our city do at our “Soda City Market”. It takes up 2 to 3 blocks on our Main Street every Saturday all year long. 200+ dealers every week. It’s quite the draw. It looked like there were about 12 at this market. I didn’t see anything that needed any “infrastructure” to sell, except for some guy selling hot soup along with his homemade fudge (!). “Infrastructure” being an electrical outlet. At end they do rally, starting with with a jar for their customers to put change in. Way to go all out, guys! They come through with a huge wad of cash from somewhere to pay for the transport of free metal shipping containers some company was trying to off load. These containers were to be the new stalls for the vendors and my goodness were they ugly. This whole idea seemed pretty spurious to me.

My sympathies were all with the guy wanting to sell the vacant lot to the developer. He was an old guy with grandchildren and all of his money was tied up in that property. He had to sell. But he had to endure the scowls and guilt trips that everyone (especially Olivia) were trying to lay on him. When you’re rooting for the opposition, that’s not a good sign.

Lastly, our hero, Grayson, came across as pretty weak for not standing up to his father or striking out on his own as their values and philosophies were so diametrically opposed. He finally did at the end (about 15 years too late), but before Olivia had to pitch her solution for his development to his scary father, he actually left town! Without a word to her. Olivia had to chase after him. Not a good look. 

One of the themes of this movie is the importance of creativity and willingness to go outside of the box rather than resisting change at every turn. This movie’s showrunners could certainly have taken a page out of their own book because in every aspect, this effort was firmly stuck right there in that Hallmark box.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

Renovation Romance (a.k.a Christmas Under Construction)

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It’s an Old Story

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This movie which premiered on the Hallmark Channel last night is actually one from 2024 which has been running over on Hulu ever since. It reunites stars Daniel Lissing and Jessica Lowndes who were last paired together in an old Christmas movie from almost 10 years ago called A December Bride that many remember fondly. If you are a Jessica Lowndes fan, don’t read my review. Although the talented Ms. Lowndes is beautiful if not stunning, I was not a fan of her acting back then, and I still am not despite her conquering at least one of her distracting quirks. Daniel Lissing will always have a place in Hallmarkies hearts for his role of Jack, Elizabeth’s dead Mountie husband, in the popular series When Calls the Heart, a show that I have never been interested in personally. Anyway, the nostalgia factor of the pairing surely accounts for Hallmark acquiring this movie from Hulu for its kick-off to this year’s Christmas in July. It can’t have been anything else.

Chelsea and Jake, who have become “America’s Sweethearts” are the hosts of a reality show called “Renovation Romance” in which the pair guide a couple through their relationship challenges while renovating their home. After filming the last show of the season, Chelsea is looking forward to a vacation with Jake to repair some cracks in their own relationship. Jake is not as enthusiastic and when their boss, Don, proposes to cap their season off with a Christmas Special, he is all for it. Chelsea relents because of a huge check to her favorite charity and because she is a people pleaser. Enter Janice, Cooper, and Cooper’s “country cabin” that he inherited from his grandpa. Their relationship is confusing. I thought they were engaged because the idea is that Cooper wants the renovation so they can live in it together, but later in the movie Don wants Cooper to propose to her live on the air. Anyway, Cooper wants to maintain his grandfather’s old world rustic charm and Janice wants to make it sleek, modern, and re-sellable. Chelsea and Jake have their work cut out for them as the couple’s differing taste in architecture extends to their lifestyle choices as well. Cooper is the proverbial country mouse and Janice is the proverbial city mouse. And the proverb is sited in so many words. In case we don’t get it. To make the project even more complicated, the Cabin is decorated for Christmas within an inch of it’s life even though some demolition will be involved. There are a lot of bows which turn out to be very significant at the end. In the middle of the movie they decide that the cabin needs even more Christmas and they add even more Christmas trees and bows. There are at least 15 trees in one room of the cabin at final count.

After the first episode of the show, Jake and a disgruntled Janice suspiciously go off to New York together on supposedly separate business which leaves Cooper and Chelsea to film the renovation project and work on Cooper and Janice’s relationship all by themselves. This was as awkward as it sounds with them flirting shamelessly, having lots of laughs and chemistry together and being deliriously happy without their partners all in front of the camera. After a lot of Christmas-y shenanigans, carpentry, heartfelt discussions, longing gazes, and futile attempts to communicate with their supposed loved ones, Jake and Janice finally return from New York. Don has decided that nothing would be better than a live reunion and reveal of the newly renovated cabin capped off by the previously mentioned marriage proposal! To her credit, Chelsea puts the kabosh on that notion, but a few minutes before the live show, Chelsea decides to break up with a more than willing Jake. During the live filming, Janice, although she is pleased with the cabin, decides she is not so pleased with living there and breaks up with Cooper even though she still loves him but just has to live in the city. For some reason, at this point, Daniel Lissing decides to look totally heartbroken even though we know that his character Cooper could not have been more pleased and relieved since he is totally in love with Chelsea. It was a very odd acting choice. To save the show, Jake decides that this is a fine time to propose to Chelsea live on the air even though she has just broken up with him. Now this dumpster fire, in the right hands, could have been absolutely hilarious, but the whole thing just comes across as cringe. Foregoing her people pleasing ways, after a tense inner struggle, Chelsea turns him down, turns to the camera, and gives a fine speech to their live audience all about knowing that they would prefer honesty to having everything wrapped up with a big happy, but phony, bow. She walks off and then ruins the whole thing by kicking herself off camera for being an idiot for sacrificing the ratings by all of her silly honesty and authenticity and wishing she had just gone along with Jake’s proposal on the air! But don’t worry, Cooper swoops in with words of wisdom and a big kiss. And just to put another big bow on it, all of the drama has resulted in the live special being a massive hit after all, so she’s happy again. Do Janice and Jake get together? No bows tying up that story, I’m afraid.

Almost everything in this movie missed the mark with me by a little or a lot. But frankly, I think the worst thing about it was the Christmas Decorations. Also, at the end, the cabin looks exactly the same as it did before the so-called renovation.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

A Castle of Our Own

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Castles in the Sand

After last week’s super special movie offering, we conclude Hallmark’s Summer Nights line up with a shrug, and a “not bad, actually.” The most notable thing about it was the return of Brennan Elliot as the co-lead in a Hallmark premiere. As a Hallmark mainstay and an old favorite of mine, he has been missed. Playing opposite him is a beautiful and age-appropriate Erica Cerra, who has only been in one Hallmark prior to this one. She plays Marley, the single mother of a teenager who is also a very talented and in-demand architect. After her divorce from Lily’s father, she left their own firm, gave up her first love of designing homes, and started working for another firm designing commercial real estate i.e. shopping malls. Although this kind of work is unfulfilling, she has become a victim of her own success and popularity. The owner of the firm, Joan, seemingly cannot get along without her. She is in constant demand and is overworked and tied to her cell phone, always at Joan’s beck and call. Her personal life is non-existent and has exacted a toll on her relationship with her teenage daughter, Lily. In an early scene, she asks Lily how her chemistry exam went, and instead of listening to her answer, she calls her IT department. The whole mess is epitomized by a mother-daughter trip to Paris which never happens because work always gets in the way. Marley tries to explain to Lily that she has to work so hard in order to afford to go to Paris which is why they never go to Paris. Not surprisingly, Lily, no dummy, doesn’t buy it. Thank goodness she does not have an overbearing mother or best friend constantly badgering her to “get out there” and find herself a new man in her spare time. When her ex-husband is prevented from taking Lily on a promised beach vacation due to his own work demands, Marley, finally determined to re-establish connection with her daughter, takes his place. And off to Cannon Cove they go for “Sand Fest”, which features a big sand castle building competition.  But the bad news is she also takes along her laptop and phone so she can work on her current project for the needy Joan. It never ceases to amaze me when Hallmark heroines are powerful in the workplace because they are so irreplaceable but never put their foot down.

Enter Brennan Elliot as Adam. He is a successful general contractor and the owner of the house next door to where Lily and Marley are staying in Cannon Cove. Marley mistakes him for the plumber she called to fix a faucet and is amazed when his phone keeps beeping with text messages but he doesn’t feel obliged to answer it or even look at them. She almost blows a gasket right there in the kitchen! Adam is not only there to be Marley’s love interest but also to teach her that sacrificing her personal life and her relationship with her daughter for work is a choice, not an imperative. She is an apt pupil, leaving Joan unanswered and dangling throughout the whole movie. But we soon learn that Adam has his own problems. He was dumped by his ex, and he has a problem letting their life together go.  This is symbolized by their old house, which he is constantly updating and working on instead of selling it and moving forward from his past dreams. Adam has a niece who is Lily’s age, and along with his sister, they form a temporary found family with Adam and Marley quickly (very quickly) falling into a romantic relationship. They enter the sand castle building contest as a team of 4, which serves as one of the means by which they will learn their necessary life lessons. One of which, needless to say, is the ever-popular Work/Life Balance.

Besides the lack of a badgering mother, there are several things I liked about this movie. The inside look at sand castle building added some interest. One of the competitors was an old rival of Adam’s which added some tension. I liked the final outcome of the contest. I liked that although Marley was incommunicado with Joan, she still completed her project successfully and on time. Yay for professional responsibility and loyalty. I was quite amused when poor Joan calls Marley’s ex-husband as her emergency contact (next-of-kin?) when she can’t get her on the phone. The ex-husband, played by occasional Hallmark actor, David James Lewis (formerly known as David Lewis, lol) was a bright spot. He was not only not a threat, but was a good guy and instrumental in smoothing over the roadblocks to Marley escaping from Joan’s clutches and getting back to her first love, designing homes not strip malls. He also rendered Marley and Lily’s trip to Paris an upcoming reality, not just a dream. He was also instrumental in getting Adam to move to Seattle so he and Marley could continue their promising romance. Come to think of it, ol’ ex-husband Dan was quite the hero and a deus ex machina par excellence. That new wife of his is a lucky woman. Unexplained is how the newly liberated Marley is going to find the time to start and run her own architectural firm and still be an involved mother. 7 stars.

And we bid good-bye to “Summer Nights.” Hello “Christmas in July!”

Rating: 7 out of 10.

The Love Heist

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A Fashion Fairy Tale

This was a big city one. In this case, Chicago. And I don’t know what it is, but those always seem to be a cut above the usual small town save grandma’s farm with a festival romances. Maybe they’re aiming towards a slightly more sophisticated faction of their audience, I don’t know. But one thing I do know is that when Lyndsy Fonseca is the main girl, there is a good chance that it will be one of the “good” Hallmarks. I’ve now seen 8 with her in the starring role and 6 of them I’ve rated 8 or higher and the other 2 were solid 7s. It’s not all her though. For some reason, the scripts and other production values just seem to be a cut above. Her partner in crime in this one (no pun intended) was Peter Porte. I’ve never been a huge fan of his, but the actor and his character, Mills, were very likable and charming in this story. It doesn’t hurt one bit that he is so undeniably gorgeous that whenever he came on the screen, I found myself just gazing at him. I may have even hit the pause button. Note: He’s not short like in the poster. The romance and chemistry between them was on point and their relationship was built around a plot that kept my interest. It was different, and was not just one big cliché surrounded by a dozen little clichés.

Kayli is the assistant to a famous and elite fashion stylist. It took me a minute to get a handle on what Kaylie and her boss, Celine, did exactly. Celine is not a designer with her own creations, but finds dresses from all over to create looks for her high profile famous clients for special occasions. Kayli arrives in Chicago with the fashions that her boss and her client, Rini-Jean, have selected for the Cosmo Fashion Week leading up to the climactic Gala. Unfortunately Celine can not be there to take charge of volatile Rini, because she has to go to a last minute family wedding in Paris. So of course she puts her trusted assistant in charge. Kayli is appalled: Due to a mysterious traumatic fashion-based incident in her past, she just likes to stay in the background in a supporting role, not be the in-charge decision maker for her client. But the gowns for Rini-Jean have already been chosen and agreed on, so what could go wrong? Well, plenty, as it turns out. Rini doesn’t like the gowns anymore and has a melt down. The only one she wants to keep is the very valuable vintage gown that Elizabeth Taylor wore to the 1970 Academy Awards which is slated to be worn at the end-of-week big Gala. And you had better believe I researched (Googled) it and the gown in the movie does bear more than a passing resemblance to the real one. So props, Hallmark, for authenticity.  Rini’s dresses need to be redone so Kayli goes shopping at a vintage fashion shop, which is the kind of  fashion that is her first love, not new couture. When she gets back from her shopping trip, the priceless Elizabeth Taylor dress has been stolen! Enter Peter Porte, who is head of security for the exclusive hotel. Actually he has already entered. In the first scene he had confronted Kayli over her use of a luggage cart, insisting unsuccessfully that she let a porter help her because she doesn’t have the required special license to operate the cart. It’s a joke. There is an immediate spark between them as they engage in lighthearted banter. A minute later, he spots a drone zipping around the hotel to spy on the famous guests. He takes immediate action by leaping on her luggage cart and, with her steering madly, grabs the drone mid-flight to the applause of all the guests and employees.  So when he shows up in Kayli’s suite and discovers the missing dress, we are prone to really like this guy. Plus he is ex-Delta Force. It turns out that the vintage dress is not the only valuable that has been stolen during Cosmo Week, and Kayli is the number one suspect! To save Kayli and the promotion he is up for (as head of security for the entire global chain of hotels), he and Kayli team up to investigate. They retrace Kayli’s steps, go to several parties, go shopping for clothes, have a dance lesson, go to a diner and a historic bar, meet with Rini’s even more famous almost-fiancé, and fall in love. Their adventures were amusing, engaging, and advanced the plot. At one party Kayli  runs into famous actress Vivian Thorpe whose career she almost ruined with a bad choice of gown. That incident is the source of Kayli’s lack of confidence in herself. But Vivian is glad to see her and tells her that the setback to her career was actually a blessing in disguise, and credits Kayli! She’s cured! 

 So up to now, with the talented and attractive leads, the sparkling and amusing banter, the mystery, and the entertaining adventures in the sophisticated Chicago setting, the movie had settled in at a solid 7 ½ at least. A couple of very refreshing things brought it to a 9 in my book.

  • Kayli is honest with her boss Celine about the disasters that have occurred on her watch and Celine is unfailingly supportive and encouraging. A nice boss. Imagine that. She tells her to eat a hot dog and have fun.
  • When the dreaded interrupted kiss that is one of Hallmark’s most reliable (and irritating) features occurs,  Mills actually goes back to complete the smooch. Usually the couple awkwardly parts ways after the interruption like nothing happened. Mills pulls her back into his arms saying, “If you think a little interruption like that is going to stop me…”. I mean Wow. He makes all of his Hallmark predecessors look like under-sexed wimps.
  • Mills and Kayli capture the thief after he steals Vivian Thorp’s bedazzled vintage Dolly Parton scarf and Rini’s engagement ring. But there are two thieves (!) and the whereabouts of the Elizabeth Taylor gown is still a mystery.  When that robber is revealed, it was, for me, a real twist and a surprise. No kidding. I gasped.
  • There is no stupid unnecessary misunderstanding that part the couple close to the end. Mills mysteriously disappears without saying goodby to Kayli, but she quickly tracks him down and the explanation leads to unveiling the surprising villain.

There was none of the recent trend of the couple kissing at the end with no clue how they are going to manage a (“we’ll figure it out later”) viable relationship. The ending was very satisfying and happy with both of our leads’ pursuing their dreams together. It was quite the fairy tale.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Texas Two-Step

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Attention Country Dancing and Honky-tonk Fans!

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I love the movie Shane, but Urban Cowboy was never a favorite. And somehow, I really don’t cotton to cowboy romances these days. Especially when the cowboy is played by Brendan Penny. Now don’t get me wrong, I like Brendan Penny very much, but as a cowboy, he didn’t look right in the hat. And it’s not even like he was one of those urban poser cowboys, because his business did have something to do with horses. Eventually though, he managed to inhabit his role credibly like the good actor he is and the scruffy beard didn’t hurt. The actors were not the problem here at all. Heather Hemmens is always such a lady, and I mean that as a compliment. Her characters never seem to put a step wrong and are always super competent at whatever they do. Heather has even done comedy well although this movie did not give her much of an opportunity for that. BJ Harrison as the elderly nurturing wise-woman, was as authentic and warm as usual. And I liked Heather’s best friend, Hallmark newcomer, Kaylah Zander. 

No, it was, as usual, the tired plot that is responsible for my indifference towards this movie. Olivia (Heather Hemmens), or “Livvy” as Luke (Brendan Penny)  persists in calling her against her wishes, leaves her photography job in the city, in this case, Austin TX, to help her widowed aunt who-raised-her. Her cousin Mason (Nathan Witte), the local vet, calls her because Ruby (BJ Harrison in a new hairstyle) has been having “spells.” Olivia travels back to her home town, Blue Creek, with her BFF, June, to check out the situation. It soon becomes evident that her aunt and late uncle’s iconic country bar, Sweetwater’s,  is struggling, despite its popularity. Sidebar. Mason and Olivia’s friend provide the secondary romance. There’s also a cute doggy.  It isn’t long before Luke, her former high school sweetheart, strides into the bar (in slow motion, as cowboys do) to win Olivia’s heart back. Olivia broke up with him to pursue her dreams, the long-distance thing didn’t work for her, but he recovered faster than she did and started dating other women more quickly than suited her.  Olivia figures out what is going on with the bar (Spoiler Alert-Beloved Uncle Pete was averse to paying his taxes and the chickens have come home to roost to the tune of $48,000.) Fortunately, there is an offer on the table to buy Sweetwater’s for mucho dinero from another high school friend who made it big in the Tech business (Dating App). Problems solved. Not. Naturally, Aunt Ruby does not want to sell because it will destroy the character of the town and neighborhood. Plus, more importantly, she has fun running the bar. Queue project to raise money. In this case it is happily not a festival, but an Online Dance Marathon. The unlikely fundraiser is successful. Olivia’s needy and annoying boss shows up at the end. Olivia and Luke, now in love again, have a dance and resolve to “figure it out” this time.

 Although the set decoration, costuming, hair and make-up, and all that other stuff that contributes to a good or bad movie were all good, there was nothing else there to spark any interest. But if you’re into honky-tonks, country music,  and country dancing, you were probably in hog heaven. Next week, we have a Lyndsy Fonseca movie that I am actually looking forward to. Her movies are always really good at the very least. She is paired with famously gay actor Peter Porte, which adds another layer of interest. I’m betting they will be great together.

Rating: 6 out of 10.