Hallmark Movies

Because of Cupid

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Stupid Eros

I was looking forward to this one because I like the lead actress, Amy Groening. And though I have not really liked most of the characters that young whippersnapper (30 years old) Evan Roderick has played (much like Tyler Hynes) he was very good in A Make or Break Christmas. This one didn’t work for me mostly because I just didn’t believe Groening and Roderick as a romantic couple. Who knows why or how one person sees a certain chemistry and another does not? It’s a mystery. The story was pretty cute, I thought, and the dialogue was good too. There was a little mystery there (Is Hal really THE Cupid in human form?) And it certainly was appropriate for Valentine’s day. It seemed a pretty fresh take on the old Hallmark standby of magical love-related consumables.

Naomi and Marcus are workmates at a wine bar. They are good friends except, as Marcus confesses to Hal (Cupid) whom he meets when he is working as a bartender at a party, he has been head over heels with “Nomes” from their first meeting. Naomi had a boyfriend at the time and Marcus, as we learn, lacks confidence that he is good enough for her. She has a degree in biochemistry and is very responsible and mature and he has never been one to buckle down or be serious about much of anything. Whenever Hallmark writes a male character with that kind of personality, Evan Roderick is always their number 1 choice. Naomi and Marcus are trying to win a contest for best Mocktail which comes with a 30,000 dollar prize which they need to hopefully buy the wine bar they work at. Lisa, the owner, is planning to sell it to a parking lot company. Wow, Lisa. You are not a villain, but that’s a classic villain move. Hal invites the pair to his tea shop to sample some rare teas they can incorporate into the mocktails. On day one of the contest, Marcus samples the drink along with 3 other couples that the pair know. The relationships of the 3 couples immediately change to being head over heels in love with each other and Marcus, although he has always been in love with “Nomes”, immediately has the courage to declare himself to her publicly. On their way back from the party Marcus tells Naomi that the syrup she used to make their winning mocktail was a love potion. Naomi does not believe in magic and attributes the elixir’s effect on the couples (and Marcus) to a scientifically based chemical reaction to the mix of ingredients in the drink. Together, they go on a mission to find an antidote to the mixture and have the three couples drink it. They believe, especially Naomi, that the pairs are making major life decisions based on love that is only temporary and not real. That’s all I’ll say about the plot, except that when the couples finally all take the antidote, they all react differently to it.

In addition to Marcus and Naomi’s story, there were theoretically plenty of other things to keep interest up. Will Marcus be able to prove himself as a mature human being? Trying to decode and put together an antidote. Wondering if it would work and what the effect would be. The 3 couples stories, at least two of whom we are really rooting for. Do we even want the antidote to work? The mocktail contest. The fate of the wine bar. Also there were a lot of literary and mythological references added to the mix. So a lot of good ingredients, but somehow for me, it kind of dragged in places. Maybe there was too much going on? And it didn’t help that Naomi never seemed that interested in Marcus as a romantic partner. Just didn’t feel the attraction there. And that’s pretty fatal to a romance.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

The Way to You

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A Beautiful “Like” Story?

After erring on the side of kindness in determining a star rating for quite a few Hallmarks lately, last night’s, or in my case, this early morning’s Hallmark is finally (Finally Finally!) one I can wholeheartedly get behind with a 9-star rating. It would have been a 10 but it stumbled slightly at the end.  The script was not only well-written but free of gimmicks and cheap and easy jokes. Now don’t get me wrong: I love a cheap and easy joke as much as the next person, and humor is almost always a component in my most favorite Hallmarks. This one had its funny moments, but the humor flowed naturally from the well-written plot, the characters, and the acting of its cast. It starred a brown-haired Kim Matula who has never been less than great in any of the Hallmarks I’ve seen her in, and Aaron O’Connell. I had never been a particular fan of his as a leading man, although he was hilarious in Made for Each Other as “The Wrong Guy First”,  but I say “had” never, because he was perfect in this one: both in his individual performance and his strong chemistry with his leading lady. In this one, the relationship was the thing, not the banter and wisecracks.

Emma works for an Art Gallery and is unapologetic in hankering after a family of her own with a nice stable guy, not the flakey artsy types she usually encounters.  “I want art on my fridge, as well as on the walls”.  She lives with her sister and her husband in a very large New York apartment. Emma’s relationship with her sister has a lot of heart and is another positive facet amongst many in this movie. They figure out that she needs to meet someone, not in Art, but in a solid profession like Finance. Meanwhile, Conrad, a successful finance guy, is also frustrated in love. He seeks that instant spark, that love at first sight thing, like his parents had. Pay attention when he shares how his parents met.

While on the train to the financial district, they each meet likely prospects that are not each other. The how and why of night owl Emma getting on a train to Wall Street at the ungodly hour of 7am in hopes of meeting a man is an example of the organic nature of the type of humor in this movie. They both have an instant connection with their “meet-cutes” but, due to a power outage, they both are parted from their prospective soulmates before they can exchange details. Conrad puts an ad in a local Missed Connections column and when Emma sees it, she thinks it is about her and meets Conrad. They are both disappointed, but they get to talking and have a great rapport right from the beginning. Since Conrad had learned that the woman he is looking for is involved in the Art Scene, and Emma is looking for a down to earth guy in a profession like Conrad’s, they agree to help each other. Emma will try to find Conrad’s mystery woman, and Conrad will find Emma some date material among his colleagues. (Emma’s train guy falls by the wayside, never to be seen or heard from again.)

They spend time together and become friends. They enrich each other’s lives and have conversations. They go to events together and have fun. Conrad meets Emma’s friends and her sister. Emma goes on a  blah date with one of Conrad’s friends. By this time they are half in love with each other. But at the point where Emma admits that to herself and is ready to make her move with a similarly smitten-but-doesn’t-know-it Conrad she finds, by pure chance, Conrad’s mystery woman. I really should stop there to avoid any more spoilers, because this is a real turning point in the movie. I will just say that it doesn’t follow the obvious path. The love story takes a detour that adds heart, depth, and complexity. We learn that a shared sense of humor is important in a relationship. 

The happy ending is achieved with the help of a bagel truck, which is an example of why this movie really shines. Because you actually had to be paying attention back in the beginning when Conrad was telling his parents’ love story to get the significance. I mentioned the ending took this down a star. After building up the suspense, the chemistry, and the longing that these two shared, it kind of sputtered at the climactic moment. In some movies, ending with an “I really really like you” or even just an “I like you” is enough. But not in this one. We know they liked each other, for heaven’s sake. They were friends and never had a harsh word, or a stupid misunderstanding. They owed each other (and us!) full fledged “I love you’s!” They were earned. It was just a clunker of a wrong note. What was the writer thinking? We know what they meant, and at least she will be following him to Tokyo. I guess that’s something.  Not to mention The Count of Monte Cristo, a personal favorite.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Missing the Boat

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Spoilers Ahoy!

This was a really good one! As with all of the other Winter Escape movies, it was set in a sunny clime in an exotic land.  And as the title implies, there was a cruise ship involved. Our hero Parker is accompanying his billionaire boss on a cruise around southern Italy. He is the boss’s top man and lawyer and is there to oversee the sale of Adam’s, the boss’s, sale of his cruise ship line to a group of investors. Accompanying Parker is his sister Emily, who I first thought was a more lightly than usual made up Hallmark star Taylor Cole in a cameo appearance. But as she hung around and started to have her own story line, I realized it wasn’t her. Parker is played by the always wonderful Kristoffer Polaha who is one of my very favorite Hallmark stars. Emilie Ullerup plays Kelly who works for a company that the investors hired to suss out any reasons why the cruise line would not be a good investment.

Parker is a little quirky which manifests itself in several ways but includes a penchant for wordplay and bad puns which might be called excessive if you have a low tolerance for that kind of humor. Kelly is friendly and likable. Although she is good at her job, she prefers to take handwritten notes throughout the day and upload them digitally at night rather than constantly uploading the details via her company’s App. Her boss, George, warns her that this unplugged approach is not acceptable this time and she needs to stay in constant communication as well as incognito. Uh Oh. I sense trouble on the horizon. Kelly knows who Parker and Adam are, but Parker does not know who Kelly is. Yet. Parker, Emily, and Kelly become friendly. On an excursion to a waterfall in Sicily, Parker and Kelly’s donkeys run away and Kelly and Parker miss the ship which waits for no man or woman. Even though Parker is the Ship’s Owner’s right hand man!

The rest of the movie was Parker and Kelly’s adventures trying to catch up with the ship which was very good at evading them, and falling in love. These include Parker throwing his back out, a worker’s strike which halts a train they have to take (Kelly talks the strikers back to work! -she’s pretty awesome), Parker going to a new age healer for his back, staying at a luxury hotel, oversleeping, and Parker leaving his passport behind. At that point, Parker sends Kelly ahead and she actually makes the boat, but turns around and goes back for Parker. She loves him and they kiss. Meanwhile, Parker’s sister Emily and Adam, his boss, are getting close as well. She is having a good influence on him and he regrets asking Parker to delay Kelly getting back on the ship and potentially screwing up the merger. Yes, that happened, but Parker refused to be so low down. When they finally make it back to the ship, Adam apologizes to Kelly for asking Parker to purposely delay her return to the boat (which he didn’t do). Kelly gets all mad at those spilt beans especially since she got fired for being incommunicado and not on the ship. In the last 15 minutes Kelly comes to her senses, Adam decides not to sell the cruise line after all, hires Kelly (and Emily!), and two happy couples sail off into the sunset (figuratively.)

So there you go. That’s the movie in a nutshell. If you didn’t see it last night, it is well worth catching. Kris Polaha has not missed a step, and he is as watchable as ever. Emilie is good as well and the two have some chemistry. The well-written banter is fast paced, bright, and amusing. And of course, the scenery. **7 1/2 stars**

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Caught by Love

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Ho Hum Heist

Nothing could save this one from being boring. Not the not-seen-often-enough charm and talents of Luke Macfarlane, the proven acting talent of Rachael Leigh Cook, nor the beautiful setting of Malta. All were pretty much wasted on a phone-it-in script. I went into this one with optimism thanks to the presence of Luke, for whom Hallmark usually makes a greater than usual effort, and the fact that it was set in Malta which I last visited only a few months ago albeit in a book and albeit in the mid-16th century. It’s changed a lot. In this one all of the effort went into filming in an exotic land, which helped, but was not enough to engage me much.

Annie (Cook), a bank teller, arrives at a White Lotus type resort hotel (except no alcohol or caffeine-lolwut) in Malta and quickly falls into the arms of Jake (Macfarlane) thanks to her high heels which she is not used to. Her best friend, Joanna, a cosmetics magnate, has given her her place at a 7 day self help get away. How humble Annie got to be best friends with a millionaire tycoon might have made a more interesting story. It turns out that Jake, who at first we are led to believe might be up to something nefarious, is actually a private investigator who is trying to catch a thief for the reward money. Of course he was not up to anything nefarious: It’s Luke Macfarlane, for cripes sake. Jake has gotten an anonymous tip that the thief who stole a valuable necklace from “The Met” has arranged to sell it to one of the very wealthy guests at the hotel during the 7 day retreat. Annie, Jake, and Jake’s partner Laura, sleuth around for the rest of the movie trying to figure out who the buyer of the necklace is and catch him/her and the thief in the act. We get to know the other guests whose stories are supposed to fill in the plot but unfortunately they are not very interesting. We have the typical social media influencer, the typical billionaire real estate mogul and his neglected wife, the typical tech-god, the typical new-age motivational speaker, and the typical spoiled and entitled female member of royalty. All of them behave suspiciously but all turn out to be red herrings. Jake’s investigative skills are considerably aided by the fact that the suspects expediently allow him to do things like scroll through their phones and open their suspicious suitcases at will. We start to think that maybe the anonymous tip that Laura and Jake received might be a little sus after all of the possible buyers of the jewels are eliminated. But never fear, there is one person left, and it is someone they didn’t even think of (!).

There were some bright spots. The character of Laura (so far uncredited on IMDb-that figures) was pretty amusing. She is undercover as a very versatile employee of the resort. She fills in wherever needed going from a pool girl to a room maid and even filling in teaching a class on herbal medicine when the original instructor goes on maternity leave. You’d think a resort that caters to billionaires and royalty would have more of a tip top staff. But anyway, her dead pan expression when the spoiled royal female confronts her about taking out the excess chlorine in the pool was worth a chuckle. As was her attempt to teach the class when everything she knows is straight out of Wikipedia. The pace was good and there were some cute lines and isolated situations (Aerial Yoga). But the whole concept, although a little out of the usual Hallmark box was so predictable. Each guest, none of whom are at all entertaining, comes to the sleuths’ attention one at a time, is duly investigated, but of course is found misunderstood and innocent until we get to the last 5 minutes of the movie. **Spoiler Alert** The three investigators get the reward money even though it was really the federal agents who caught the bad guy. This convenient but totally unrealistic happenstance saves Jake and Laura’s struggling P.I. business, and helps Annie’s escape from bank teller-dom into law school. This was supposed to be light-hearted and fun but missed the mark.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Love on the Amazon

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“Amelia’s Not Here”

When I saw who the female lead was in this movie, I sighed. This actress, Jaicy Elliot, who reportedly was (is?-I don’t watch it) very good in Grey’s Anatomy has made it very clear with her acting that she just does not want to be in a Hallmark movie. In the 3 that she has been in, she has been flatter and more deadpan than the last. In one of the roles the character was written in the script to be sweet and lovable, and Ms. Elliot’s acting style actually made the character charmless and downright unpleasant. Well, the bugs, humidity, and dangerous reptiles of the Amazon must agree with her, because she was OK in this one and that’s a big step up. Now mind you, she didn’t bring anything special to the role, but she didn’t make me want to yell at her to wake up either. Unfortunately she missed some opportunities in the script to deliver some laughs or smiles and they were left dying on the jungle vines. We can add comic timing to the “improvement needed” column on her report card.

Claire is a vice principal of a school whose sister, a marine biologist, is doing important work on the Amazon. She has been waiting for news of a fellowship she is up for which will fund her project for years. Claire is taking care of her apartment and has been tasked to watch her mail for word as to whether she got the award or not. Because Amelia has to sign it and fill out a questionnaire. I guess the people who were giving her that truck load of fundage for her work on the Amazon are not aware that she is actually in Brazil on the Amazon. Doing her work. And not at her San Diego apartment waiting for their letter. One of many mysteries in this movie that went unsolved. When the letter about the grant finally comes, Claire drops it under a coffee table (by accident) and doesn’t discover it until it’s almost too late for Amelia to sign the paper and fill out the questionnaire. You had one job, Claire! One! So Claire, despite her fear of snakes, decides to find her sister on the Amazon river to deliver the paper to get signed. Yes, the paper is what is known in the movies as a “MacGuffin”. It’s just an excuse to get hapless Claire to the Amazon River so she can find love with a handsome boat captain and discover her true self.

That’s all I’m going to say about the plot. It goes exactly as you would expect. The movie was actually filmed on the Amazon, although in Peru, not Brazil. But close enough. We get some beautiful and authentic scenery on the river. (I can’t say the same when they venture into the jungle-It looked like a big green park.) Luckily for the relationship development and so Claire can have some adventures, every time they get to where Amelia is supposed to be, Amelia is not there, but is still deeper in the jungle and further down the river.

What I really want to address about this movie is what became for me, a proverbial elephant in a proverbial room. And that involved Claire’s suitcase. Of course it was bottomless and full of cute jungle outfits, as is usual in Hallmarks. And it must have been invisible as well. Because when she finally opens the only suitcase we ever see on camera, it was not full of clothes, but HARDBACK BOOKS! Now I love books probably more than the average person. They are part of my daily life, and for 20 years, part of my professional life. But come on. Going down the Amazon dragging along a heavy suitcase full of books? And not just books, but Hardbacks and large trade paperbacks, not the handy light mass-market ones. In one scene, she is reading one of the books and since it is nighttime she has a big bug-attracting headlight attached to her head to see the words. To quote the handsome boat captain, “Haven’t you ever heard of an E-reader?!” And E-readers nowadays are not only backlit, Claire, but waterproof and would have survived the massive rainstorm that your hardback books did not. The soggy mess was hilarious but in a dumb way not a funny way. At the end there is another dumb thing which I can’t resist mentioning. As already established, Amelia and company are in the deepest darkest part of the Amazonian jungle. When Claire inevitably goes to chase after the handsome boat captain who left the camp with a broken heart, she is stopped by a huge and deadly snake blocking her way to the boat.  Amelia’s assistant, seeing the danger, offers to “walk to town and get another boat.” What? Maybe that was supposed to be funny ha-ha not funny dumb, but it came across as dumb. As did too much in this movie. Stars for the handsome boat captain, the scenery, and the kiss at the end. And Jaicy’s makeup was on point. Hallmark, do her and yourselves a favor and when you want to take up the laudable issue of body positivity again, call on another attractive actress who can not only be competent, as Jaicy was, but add some spark to the story with her acting or charisma.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

A Melbourne Match

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Fancy-free

I’ve had a generally positive impression of Mallory Jansen as a Hallmark leading lady. She is very pretty but not in a beauty pageant way. As I have mentioned before, she reminds me a little of Audrey Hepburn, and that is certainly a good thing.  She is credible as the typical Hallmark mid-thirties single woman dealing with life and professional issues that age-group is concerned with. Possibly because she is actually in her mid-thirties. Unfortunately, although she settled down in the middle, she was very annoying at the beginning and at the end of this movie. The character she played was partially to blame of course, but let’s just say the actress gave it her all and that increased my irritation. It was a valid decision for the character, but yikes. Luckily, I liked her love interest, played by Australian actor Ryan Corr. He reminded me of Gerard Butler. The two made a good couple after she calmed down.

Georgie, cheesily called “Georgie Girl” throughout (and yes, we have the song) is a Travel Journalist who is known for writing about her 24 hour whirlwind vacations in random cities throughout the United States. This matches her personality. She is always in a rush, her life ruled by her watch, schedules, and lists. She  fancies herself as efficient, but is always on the edge of disaster, dropping papers, barely making deadlines, stepping out in the middle of roads and almost getting herself runover, etc. The expression on her face is always either very worried or panic-stricken. Her caring boss, perhaps recognizing that she is possibly on the verge of a nervous breakdown, gives her a new type of assignment: Spending a whole week in Melbourne Australia where she is to stop and smell the flowers as well as the deadly snakes, sharks, and insects. He doesn’t want her typical piece concentrating on the usual sights and tourist attractions, but wants her to immerse herself in the culture and get to know the people and the Melbourne that the locals know and love. Of course she only packs her usual carry-on because checking luggage is “such a time-waster.” Cue the Hallmark bottomless carry-on.

In Melbourne, her driver is late which doesn’t exactly calm her down (she assaults a vending machine in her frustration) and when he finally shows up he informs her that it is 7:30 in the morning which she didn’t know before despite her obsession with time. She decides to tackle the first thing on her list, which, true to form, is the typical tourist destination that her boss told her to avoid. Luckily, her driver, who is the Gerard Butler character, has other ideas and takes her to visit some impressive street art and a great coffee shop not on her list. She is no dummy and realizes that this knowledgeable Melburnian is just the person to be her unofficial tour guide to the Melbourne of the locals per her bosses directive.

The middle part of the movie isn’t bad at all. It consists  of Georgie calming down thanks to Zach the travel guide and we are treated to the sights, sounds, food (Vegemite!) and people of Melbourne Australia. We learn Zach’s back story. The chauffeur service is his Dad’s and he was just helping out temporarily. He is currently in construction but was recently a famous, now retired, Australian Rules Football player (there needs to be a shorter name for that sport) and even still is quite the celebrity. He had blown out his Achilles and he is sad and a little at loose ends, career-wise. They fall in love while going around Melbourne and especially on a day trip to his little hometown down the coast. There, she meets Zach’s Dad and his best friends, a married couple expecting, at long last, their first baby. Everyone has wise words for her. Unfortunately this interlude is shattered by her New York office finally getting in touch with her (bad cell service in the little town) and informing her that she is scheduled for an important TV interview on National TV that very night to discuss her article that she hasn’t even started yet(!). Surprise! “Where have you been!…Get back to Melbourne, ASAP!!!!!!!” Of course this causes her to revert back to her old annoying self and frenetic ways, and harsh words are said between her and Zach, who is to blame (apparently) for her not finishing her writing assignment and getting her off track. Fun fact. The TV interview host is Dannii Minogue who is a real TV personality and sister of Kylie Minogue. But Georgie is back to panic-mode and the all-important-to-her-career interview and her relationship with Zach is headed for disaster until it’s not. At least the relationship, anyway.

So, for me, this was a pretty good Hallmark whose main character had a lot to learn, seemingly learned it, but reverted back to type when faced with a little adversity before she finally saw the light once and for all (hopefully.) Unfortunately I took issue with her behavior after she finally saw the light in the middle of the nationally televised interview. Native Australian Malory Jansen wrote and produced this movie as a tribute to her home town of Melbourne. As such, she did a very credible job. It was filmed on location and Melbourne seems like a really cool and fun town. Despite hitting all of the usual Hallmark beats I liked the message. One of the reasons Georgie was the way she was is that it took her a long time to find out what she wanted to do with her life and feels like she is always playing catch up with her peers. Zach teaches her to quit measuring herself against other people and “run her own race”. Where you are is where you are supposed to be. The writing was not brilliant but just fine. The dialogue was good. And of course the scenery was great and helped to keep me engaged.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Lost in Paradise

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A Perfect Movie for a Cold and Dreary Winter’s Day

Though unambitious plot-wise, this was a pleasant diversion set on a tropical isle. Two private jet passengers and their two pilots crash in the ocean on the way to Fiji and are marooned on an uninhabited-by-people island. Or so we are led to believe. Yes, it’s been done before. But this is no survival story. Or “Lost.” Nary an anxious moment to be found, in fact. Lacey Chabert, our heroine, and her luggage, including her eye-liner and make-up case, survives the trauma of the ocean-ditching intact, and she and her companions wash up on a beautiful tropical isle not a smidgeon the worse for wear. No blood and not even wet.

Backing up a bit, Sophia (Chabert) is the famous founder of a successful fashion line who learns that her ex-husband and business partner is selling his shares to a fashion firm with not such a great reputation. Sales have flat-lined lately and he has persuaded some of the board members to go along with him. Lacey is intent on saving her company and her quality brand from this takeover. She books a private jet to visit the neutral board members in person to persuade them not to approve the sale. Being that Sophia is played by Lacey Chabert, her character is not a spoiled demanding diva and awful boss that needs to be taught a lesson by being removed from civilization and the internet by way of a plane crash. It is clear from the get-go that she is a really nice person and good boss. The first stop in her mission is Fiji, accompanied by her new summer fashion line. In case you didn’t notice, “Fashion Designing” is the new “Baking” as far as professions for Hallmark heroines are concerned. Meanwhile, we meet the other half of our prospective romantic couple. Max is the assistant chef for a fancy restaurant whose boss unjustly takes credit for his creative and delicious creations. He wants to open his own restaurant but he has been burned by a previous unsuccessful effort and has lost his confidence. Despite being a chef, a profession that historically is chock-full of troublesome personalities, Max is also a very nice person. His buddy, Julian, a pilot, has arranged a meeting for Max with a prospective investor…in Fiji. The catch is that Max must pretend to be a flight attendant for Sophia’s flight so Julian doesn’t lose his job for stowing away his buddy for the trip.. This leads to some amusing banter as Sophia and Max start to get to know each other on the flight. Cue previously mentioned plane crash.

Once on the island (not even wet) Julian and Lance, his co-pilot, conveniently make themselves scarce by getting on a dinghy to explore another nearby island to hopefully discover some civilization and effect a rescue.  TBH, I was sorry to see Julian go because he was charming, funny, and looked like Chris “Thor” Hemsworth’s shorter, thinner brother. Alone now, except for her cute little dog, Gianni, Sophia and Max have confiding talks, spear fish, swim in a pretty freshwater pool (complete with waterfall), and fall in love. Max cooks up delicious food and Lacey uses her sewing skills to construct a shelter and suitable clothing for tropical living. Other than the brief appearance of a snake and shark, there is nothing to distract from the couples relationship building. Until, that is, they do a bit of exploring and run into…Pirates! I will draw a curtain on the rest of the adventure. I will just assure you that nothing bad happens to Gianni despite a predilection for running into the jungle. For those sophisticated in deserted island romantic comedies, nothing will come as a surprise. Or have seen Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson.

Although there are no laugh out loud funny or clever and quotable lines in the script, it is light, fun, and fast-paced. There’s lots of entertaining banter between Julian and Max, Julian and Lance, and Sophia and Max. Ian Harding who plays Max has been wonderful in the 2 previous Hallmark productions I have seen in him. He and Lacey made a good team and a credible romantic couple. After they are rescued, we peek in “One Year Later”. Inspired by their time getting back to basics, Sophia has rediscovered her love of designing and sewing, and has saved her company.  Max has gained the confidence to make his restaurant venture a success. And the two are together. That wasn’t a spoiler, was it? The setting is pretty, bright, and colorful.  I’m not sure this movie would have played as well as it did had it premiered in the summertime, but in cold and dreary January, after the excitement of Countdown to Christmas, it was just the ticket.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

The Christmas Baby

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Two Wise Women and a Baby

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Erin (Ali Liebert) and Kelly (Katherine Barrell) are a happy couple just as they are. They are two successful women with large families and good friends. Their lives are full and complete and they have no desire to add children to the equation. But in the words of an old proverb, “Man plans, God laughs”. Erin is still at her store and rushing to get ready to attend an awards ceremony where Kelly is receiving an award for her production design. She hears someone enter her closed store and rushes out from the backroom only to find a baby boy in a carriage attached to a handwritten note.

“Kelly and Erin, I know you will take good care of him. His name is Nicholas. I’m sorry. I tried.”

Erin takes the baby to the event and together the couple decides to call social services. They are lucky enough to get lovely Barbara Niven who plays Betty, as the assigned case worker. Despite her assurances that a nice foster home awaits the baby, they ultimately  decide to take care of little Nicholas (nod to the season) temporarily over Christmas. Unlike Three Wise Men and a Baby the abandoned baby plot is not played for laughs. It is not without lightness and humor, but in the end, it is a quiet, sweet, and gentle story about a couple who opens up their lives and decides to redefine what it means to be a family. 

The two are never really in serious conflict, but Erin is decidedly more open to the idea of adding a baby into their lives. In fact, she is all in almost from the very beginning. Practical Kelly, on the other hand, is more reluctant and concerned about getting too close to Nicholas lest the mother show up and take the baby back after coming to her senses. As well she should be. She is unsure whether they can give him the stability and consistency he needs. I was a little surprised that Erin was full speed ahead with fostering the child given the possibility of having the baby taken away hanging over their heads. Or worse, being the baby’s foster parents for an extended time while waiting to adopt, before such a thing happens. Kelly is also concerned with the disruption to their lives and navigating the social challenges. She shares that she has always known in her heart and down to her toes who she is supposed to be and who she was supposed to love, but doesn’t know how to raise a child in a world that she herself does not understand: A world where complete strangers just look at her and think that she is wrong. But seeing how much it means to Erin and also falling for little Nicholas herself, Kelly puts her concerns to one side and they start the paperwork to be Nicholas’s official guardians and foster parents on more than just a temporary basis. Both women’s families and friends are part of their lives and are with them for the holidays. Their mothers are also important parts of their lives. The fathers, however, are absent and unaccounted for as far as I could tell. They even make friends with their grouchy neighbor and they inspire him to mend things with his estranged daughter. They will need all the support they can get when Betty calls with the scary news that the mother has turned up and wants to meet with them. 

Ali Liebert and Katherine Barrell have always been favorites and they give wonderful and authentic performances in this. There is a lot of conversation and introspection in this one but it was well balanced with happenings in their lives and steps forward and back. And always the question of who the mother is (it is obviously someone they must know), what will happen if or when she comes back, and why did she do what she did?  I was still left with some questions and concerns at the end which hopefully will lead to a sequel next Christmas.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

A Make or Break Christmas

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White or Colored Twinkly Lights?

I hate-watched this one off and on through most of it. But there were glimmers of goodness. There were lots of on-target cultural references:  Lessons learned from Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Iyanla Vanzant, Friends, and Wings, and some so on-target that I am apparently too out of the loop to get them. (Dom Toretto? Fast Five? What’s that?). Even though I have never been a fan of either Hunter King (Liv) or Evan Roderick (Daniel) the chemistry between them was really good. For once, I actually liked a role Evan played, faults and all. He made a character that could have been as annoying as she was in his own way actually lovable. Hunter King, his costar, played a character who was very grating at first, but got less so as she started to redeem herself. Also there was one hilarious scene where Daniel’s Mom gives them a painting representing what she sees as the couple’s future together. It was so funny, I can’t even describe it. Actually I can. Imagine a Margaret Keane sad big eyed waif painting but with a family of cheerful elves and done by a 6 year old.

Liv and Daniel meet at a friend’s Christmas Party and the attraction is sudden and mutual. We flash ahead one year and look back on their year’s courtship in flashbacks. It is now Christmas again and they are definitely together to the point of having bought a huge house together. They’ve known each other less than a year are not even engaged. Yikes. In their first scene in the present, they are making Christmas preparations for their families, including siblings and a grandmother, to visit for the holiday. It will be the first meeting for the two families and their first introduction to the new house. Typically Liv is all stressed out, and Evan is not, which leads to a huge fight and a break up. But in order not to ruin everyone’s Christmas, they will pretend to their families that they are still a happy couple.

 Right from the start, at the party where Liv and Dan first meet, Liv really got on my nerves. Because she is such a perfectionist and control freak she basically takes over her friend’s hosting duties for her friends party in her friends house. She calls it “helping.” A year later, in their new home, Dan has put Liv’s beloved Christmas Village out on display as a surprise for her. Liv is delighted but as they are going over the Christmas plans, Liv proceeds to rearrange all the pieces into the “right” configuration. We can see that this makes Dan feel bad. The planning devolves into an argument where we see all of the problems in their relationship summarized. We learn that Dan is irresponsible, disorganized, and unreliable, and Liv is hypercritical, controlling, and inflexible. Dan does everything to avoid stress, and Liv is all stressed out all the time. All this is symbolized by Dan’s decoration of the Christmas tree. Because of lack of planning, the tree is only lit on the top half and with, according to Liv, “frivolous and unreliable” colored lights instead of Liv’s, according to Dan, “rigid and controlling” white twinkly lights. Although I understood Liv’s frustration with Dan’s ways, it was her behavior and attitude that really got on my last nerve. Everything has to be perfect for Christmas because her mother and father are just like her and snipe at everything that doesn’t match with their personal preferences. As Liv herself says, they are “out for blood.” When Dan forgets to order “The Gobbler Farms Christmas Turkey” which Liv’s father apparently can’t live without, it is the last straw. Although everyone in their two families have their irritating ways and outrageous behaviors, except Dan’s mother who is a dear, Liv’s parents are truly insufferable. But in true “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” fashion, Liv and Dan find themselves uniting in the face of numerous family challenges, and come at last to the understanding that they balance each other out and are better together than apart. They acknowledge their own faults, vow to change, and they love each other. 

The last scenes, which include Dan’s Christmas present to Liv, are actually touching and romantic. And, much like Dan and Liv’s relationship, the last 20 minutes or so (minus a really cheesy speech by Grandma), evened out the annoying parts of the previous 100 minutes for me. So it turned out to be a respectable but not spectacular “7” for me.

On a final note, although it is not spelled out, this Hallmark is notable for having an unmarried couple in the same bedroom and bed, at least before they broke up. Now the couple are not exactly living together full time, which is blamed on him still having a lease on his apartment. But, in truth, it probably has more to do with Hallmark not wanting to cross that particular line. Maybe next Christmas.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Oy to the World

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Oy to Joy

Hallmark’s Hanukkah based holiday movies of recent years have been some of their better ones, so I was cautiously looking forward to this one. The title seemed a little iffy but I do like Jake Epstein in most everything, and I thought he had really good chemistry with Brooke D’Orsay, his co-lead. Overall this was a pretty standard enemies to lovers plot, although both were so nice and family and faith oriented that I use the term “enemies” with a huge grain of salt. It was very sweet, if very too good to be true. But you know what? It’s Christmas. But it has little to do with actual Jewish beliefs. Or Hanukkah.

Nikki and Jake were childhood friends who at some point became rivals during their high school years. It all probably had it’s beginnings in their opposing personality traits. Nikki being structured, organized, and serious, and Jake being free-wheeling, unfocused, and fun. In a flashback scene we see Nikki getting up to sing “Joy to the World” in front of the whole school. She hits a bad note, her voice breaks, and she runs off the stage in embarrassment only to see Jake backstage smirking at her. The whole experience was so devastating to her that she quit singing in public despite her love of music. She is now the “choir director” of her father’s Episcopalian Church. I put that in quotes because the choir consists of 4 kids one of whom quits mid-movie. This is apparently her only job because she is in her mid-thirties and seems like she is still living at home, although I may be wrong about that. This struck me as pretty sad though it does not seem to be an issue and no mention is made of it. Jake, on the other hand is a singer/songwriter in New York City and has enjoyed moderate success though he has yet to get his big break with an actual record deal. His dad is the rabbi at the temple across the street from Nikki’s church and their families are close. When the pipes burst at the temple, and Jake’s grandmother injures herself in a resulting fall, it brings Jake home to take her place as the temple’s choir director. Not using quotes because his choir has 5 teens in it.

Needless to say (a phrase often used when talking about Hallmark movies), The two single thirty-somethings continue their rivalry while simultaneously falling in love. The tipping point is kind of sweet. Nikki and Jake make a wager that if Nikki’s family loses a bowling match to Jake’s family, Nikki will have to get up and sing in front of the whole bowling alley. On the verge of winning the bet, Jake purposely throws a gutter ball to lose the match when he sees how horrified and sick Nikki becomes at the prospect of singing publicly. When one of Nikki’s 4 choir members quits the choir because under her direction, the choir is no fun (poor Nikki! Again, so lame) the two choirs are merged under their dual direction for a big concert on Christmas Eve (which also happens to be the last day of Hanukkah) at Father Paul’s church. The joint effort will be raising money for Rabbi Levi’s broken pipes. To kick off the extravaganza, Nikki and Jake will sing the fateful “Joy to the World”. And Nikki is fine with that because Jake will be there by her side and supporting her. Won’t he? I mean surely he will not be called away back to New York for a big career break on that very day! Will he?!

Needless to say, we have a flirty baking scene complete with flour throwing, in which Nikki’s gentile gingerbread cookies recipe gets mixed up with Jake’s Jewish rugelach cookies recipe and they are delicious. The symbolism reflects the whole movie’s message which is peace, love and acceptance between the two religions and amongst people everywhere, despite their underlying differences. Yes, it was very cheesy, but it is tough times these days and I welcomed the message wholeheartedly. I won’t comment how accurate and faithful certain things in this movie were to Jewish customs and culture because I am not qualified to do so. But I did detect a few Jewish stereotypes, and I had to cringe when the Jewish part of the congregation had to listen and smile to a song which celebrates baby Jesus as the king of the world. To be fair, the Hanukkah song written by Jake was really beautiful. It was a very sweet comfort movie. And thanks to these Hallmark movies I can now spell Hanukkah without looking it up.

Rating: 7 out of 10.