Travelogue

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.

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.

The Greek Aisle

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Who Ate the Baklava?

This was set on the beautiful Island of Corfu, Greece. There was not much of a plot because the gorgeous photography of not only the countryside, but the picturesque little seaside town held center stage. And The Food. Many scenes took place in a family restaurant or in the kitchen and the director and his crew took full advantage to make sure plenty of time was spent celebrating all manner of Greek cuisine. The only thing missing was the Baklava. Now usually the lack of action and tomfoolery might be considered a negative in a Hallmark movie, but in this case, I didn’t miss it. As I usually don’t. There were no silly and frustrating episodes of characters acting stupidly or unreasonably to create tension and stretch out 60 minutes of movie to fit 84 minutes of airtime. It was just a nice peaceful romance between two nice people in a beautiful setting.

Georgia, along with her partner and friend Rose, owns a small newly established marketing company which helps businesses with promoting and branding. A letter arrives and it turns out that our heroine is in danger of forfeiting her inheritance of a Greek property that she had used to secure a business loan. She’s had a year to go to Greece and sign the papers, never went, and this letter is her last warning. Now she has just 5 days to secure her assets. Her loan is coming due shortly and she needs to sell the property to pay it off, or else. Did I say there were no dumb plot devices to move the plot forward and create tension? I take that back. But after these first 5 minutes, we’re good. Her partner hustles her off to Greece and Georgia bravely chooses a pair of loose-knit white pants with horizontal red stripes for her traveling outfit. My alternate title for this review was “Pants of Courage.” She had spent a summer on Corfu with her late aunt and hung out in a little Greek taverna where she made friends with Elena, the owner, and her son, Alex. It is her first stop once she gets to her aunt’s seaside home town and she scores a feta salad and Moussaka. She quickly learns that Alex, now a police officer, is the co-inheritor of her aunt’s estate. Georgia must not only have ignored all the letters from her aunt’s lawyer, but not even opened them. But no squabbling, motive for murder, or enemies-to-lovers here. Even Alex’s jealous girlfriend, Cassandra, turns out to be his pet cat. Alex happily agrees to buy Georgia out of her share but first, to avoid the red tape of Greek laws against foreigners, they have to get married. The happy but (99% sure) platonic couple play out their romance against the stunning Corfiot landscape with a few little side plots to keep things interesting and the pace chugging along. Luckily, the 5 day trip is extended to a month and Alex’s police duties are extremely undemanding. Extremely.

**Spoilers**

In order to afford to buy out Georgia, Alex has to secure a position as a detective that he is being considered for. Alex is kind of endearingly shy and awkward and schmoozing to promote himself is not his thing. Luckily, it is Georgia’s thing, and she goes to town advancing Alex’s cause amusingly and sometimes cringingly (Whoo Hoo! my Husband is such a great cricket player and therefore what a great detective he would make!!). The couple needs to put up a good front so that the head of the detective agency (and the authorities) do not find out the marriage is fake. After a dinner that Georgia arranges at their beautiful home (I want it), Alex is offered the job. Being an honest guy, and against all of the usual Hallmark rules of communication, he puts everything out on Front Street and tells his new boss the whole truth. Also against all of the usual rules, his boss appreciates his honesty and Alex still gets the job. In a similar break from Hallmark business-as-usual, when the guy in charge of making sure Alex and Georgia are not trying to pull a fast one with their marriage shows up, all goes smoothly. Instead of having to jump through hoops and being put through the harsh interrogation they were expecting, the guy just gives them their papers and some Koufetas as a wedding gift. He explains that it has been obvious to the whole town that the marriage is loving and authentic. It was very sweet. Georgia also has some happy news from Rose  about an important client, and even establishes a business opportunity on Corfu by helping Elena with a cooking school. And Rose was very understanding when Georgia decides to stay in Corfu and help run their business remotely in order to explore her relationship with Alex.

In short, the whole thing was very pleasant, nice, and just happy. Apostolis Totsikas, who played Alex was very appealing, Nikki Deloach was her usual likable (and very toned) self, and their romantic chemistry and kisses were on point. Andrew Walker, her usual co-star, should be jealous.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

To Philly with Love

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I’d Rather Be in Philadelphia

I couldn’t believe it when I saw the actors who were starring in this one. Rebecca Dalton and Stephen Huszar are usually my two least liked Hallmark actors. Together! It just goes to show you how easy it is to confuse the actors with their roles. They were both nice and good people in this and I really liked them both. It didn’t hurt that Huszar played against type as a kind of nerdy head archivist instead of “The Brawny Man” type (Old version.) I would have liked him even better if he had worn those reading glasses more often.  More often than not, I have had a problem with some of the past roles the two actors have played and I am sorry to say I have held it against them personally. My bad.

Rebecca Dalton plays Emily who is a teacher (burned out) and a history lover who has come to Philadelphia to help her Mom clear out her late grandmother Beverly’s (absolutely awesome) house to prepare it for sale. Even though this grandmother left lots of papers around, I am happy to report they were not twee little notes of so-called wisdom for her beloved granddaughter to find and get guided on her path to life and love. They have just gotten started tackling the clean-out when a charming friend of her grandmother’s comes by to give Emily some Revolutionary War love letters that Beverly was preparing a report on. Her report was intended as a presentation to preserve the non-profit status of “The Ladies of Liberty,” a group of women history lovers who do research to preserve and honor Revolutionary War stuff. They are love letters from Jonathan, an American patriot and soldier, to Mary, whose family was loyal to England and disapproved of their affair.  Friend of Beverly is hoping that Emily, being a history buff like her grandmother, will take up the project by finding Mary’s letters to Jonathon, finishing the report, and saving “The Ladies of Liberty.”

The first step Emily takes is to go to the city archives to consult with an archivist who turns out to be her destined love interest in the pulchritudinous form of Stephen Huszar. The handwriting is not only on the fragile 250-year-old papers but on the wall. Together they tackle clues in the letters (there is a secret code!) in order to find Mary’s hidden letters back to Jonathan. Archivist Nathan is very intrigued by the historical correspondence which features not only love but nuggets of history.  Despite a looming deadline of his own, they travel around Philadelphia following the clues and seeing the sites, including Betsy Ross’s place, featuring an unintentionally funny tour guide spouting very spurious history. Bless her heart. The romance blossoms during visits to each other’s family dinners, eating cheesesteaks, and discovering hidden walls. It all culminates in a fancy dinner meeting with Stephen’s boss and Archive patrons at which he is supposed to wow everyone with his own “one-of-a-kind” and “exciting” presentation. Which he doesn’t have because he has been too busy with Emily’s letters and falling in love and such. It is during this gala dinner that the big misunderstanding occurs.

Everything was good in this movie. The secondary characters were likable and well cast, I enjoyed seeing the sites of Philadelphia, the letters were sweet and even interesting, the romance was well supported and well paced, and the rapport between the two leading actors was on point. Best of all, neither one exhibited any problematic behavior. Even the misunderstanding made sense and was easily resolved. Happy endings abound for Emily and Nate, Nate’s career, Emily’s teaching rut, Grandma’s house (which was quaint and beautiful), and the Ladies of Liberty. I am only left wondering why Hallmark did not premier this movie closer to July 4, America’s semiquincentennial. 7 stars.

Rating: 7 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.

Catch of the Day

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Doesn’t Flounder

**Spoilers Ahoy**

My reaction to this one is similar to last week’s premiere. That is, nothing to write home about, but likable and an easy watch. It managed to avoid the most irritating tropes including the last minute “misunderstanding due to miscommunication”. It hit enough of the usual Hallmark beats to give off that nostalgic comfortable feel. And it lacked anything super annoying, barring Evelyn, the truly awful and mean boss of our heroine, that is. But those over the top meanies can be a good thing if dealt with correctly by the end. I spent half the movie in suspense hoping for a massive telling off/”serves you right!” scenario. I was thinking this movie will rise or fall on what happens with Evelyn. It wasn’t quite the bolt of lightning moment I was hoping for, but it was good enough and at least the big showdown was face to face.

Sophie is a talented chef working at an elite fine dining restaurant in New York City. She is promoted to head sous chef and is one step closer to her dream of being an executive chef. Inconveniently, she receives a call from her sister who is struggling to run the family seafood restaurant in Montauk Long Island. She needs her help to get ready for the make or break July 4th celebration. The restaurant is dying a not-so-slow death, and to make things worse, it just got a bad review from a local influencer who bemoans how far this former Montauk institution has fallen since the death of their father. If Sophie can’t help, they will have to sell, which would make her mother very unhappy. Evelyn reluctantly gives Sophie 10 days off instead of the 3 weeks she asked for on the condition that Sophie prepares an impressive meal for some investors she will be entertaining there in her mansion on Montauk. Evelyn is the typical Hallmark Bad Boss: harsh, unappreciative, entitled, and unreasonable. In case we missed her role in the movie, when Sophie makes a command appearance at her vacation home but with her two nieces in tow and asks for some water for the little girls, Evelyn reacts like they are asking for pints of blood. Her own blood.

Sophie is scandalized when she gets to her family’s restaurant. She rarely visits since she doesn’t get any time off. The decor is tired, there are no customers, and horrors, they are using frozen fish instead of fresh when they are in one of the salt water fishing capitals of the world. Her sister, who doesn’t even like to cook, is financially and emotionally stressed, and even though Sophie is right in her criticisms, you can’t help but feel for both of them. I liked that there were no villains or idiots here. When the sisters said something hurtful to each other or had a disagreement, it was not silly but understandable and they both acted like adults and apologized in a timely manner. And that also goes for Sophie and Cam, the love interest. Sophie decides to shut the place down temporarily and have a grand re-opening on July 4. Whether they sell up or keep on going will depend on that crucial day.

When Sophie goes down to the docks to score some fresh fish, she runs into an old beau who gave her the cold shoulder in highschool, who runs his Dad’s fishing business. They re-fall in love over dinners, field trips, and walks on the beach which serve to showcase the beauty and appeal of Montauk. They seem to have plenty of time on their hands to re-kindle the romance even though she only has less than a week and a half to whip the old restaurant back into shape including a new menu, hiring a manager, establishing a social media presence, and re-decorating. Not to mention planning and preparing a stellar Michelin star level feast for Evelyn’s investors. This is standard operating procedure for Hallmark heroes and heroines when faced with a life altering impossible-to-meet deadline. Thankfully, I no longer get stressed out over the main couple’s poor time management skills and lack of urgency. I just go with it, trusting in Hallmark magic to avoid failure and disaster. At least Sophie comments on how much she has to do and looks stressed from time to time. Needless to say, as we see how wonderful her life could be at home in Montauk it becomes obvious to everyone but Sophie where her happy and fulfilling future lies. Especially contrasted with Evelyn’s unpleasantness and abuse. 

Like last week’s movie, this one was filmed partially in the United States (what’s going on?), but it ups the ante by being filmed right there in Montauk and environs. The show runners took full advantage, and I wish I could go there. Michael Rady, who played Fisherman Cam, and Emilie Ullerup, who played Sophie were a good match. The relationship was built realistically.  Sophie’s overhaul of her family restaurant wasn’t entirely smooth sailing (providing some humor), and the romance with Cam wasn’t either.  It took a while for Sophie to see how happy her future could be running her family restaurant compared with what her life would be continuing to work for Evelyn. Thanks to her heroics planning the meal for Evelyn’s investors, including overcoming disasters not of her making, Evelyn finally realizes Sophie’s worth and offers her the executive chef position at her new restaurant…in Las Vegas. In case it wasn’t obvious what Sophie would ultimately do, that revelation pretty much sealed the deal. Sophie herself doesn’t get it until on the helipad with Evelyn on the way out of Montauk. The confrontation scene was OK even though there was no screaming involved and they both acted like mature adults. Sophie even got back in time to enjoy the 4th of July fireworks with her family and her man.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

A Machu Picchu Proposal

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Which does not take place on Machu Picchu

This is the last of the Passport to Love series before we once again experience Christmas in July at Hallmark next week. Time flies. Dan and Katie are twins and throughout the movie they throw out terms like Twin-Tuition, Twin Talk Time, Sacred Circle of Truth, and put their fists on their hearts as a gesture of solidarity. So that was annoying. They also are alike in that they both have been raised to believe that planning and organization are the keys to a happy successful life. Spontaneity and impulsiveness make them very uncomfortable. No prizes for guessing the kind of people they end up with by the end of the movie.

Dan, who does something with cutting edge technology,  is going to Peru to visit his girlfriend and meet her family before proposing to her at Machu Picchu. That’s the plan, anyway. Katie is a high school Home Economics teacher. That gave me pause. I didn’t know that they even still taught “Cooking and Sewing” in highschool. And that is Katie’s own description of her field. Dan finds her in her classroom testing out Bolognese sauce during the summer break in preparation for her fall classes. He wants Katie to help plan the proposal which must be amazing and spectacular and because she speaks Spanish and he doesn’t. Even though this is a spur of the moment invitation which is just the kind of thing that Katie dislikes, he guilts her into going with him. Something about her weighing one more pound than him when they were born. And off they go.

When Dan and Luciana, his girlfriend, meet up in her hometown, they find that she has surprisingly (yep) invited an old friend from school, Carlos, to hang with them. Carlos, like Luciana, is easygoing, a free spirit, and prone to spur of the moment changing of plans. And, true to form, by virtue of his ability to make friends everywhere, Carlos has without consultation committed the four to a “behind the scenes” VIP tour of Machu Picchu for that very day. Poor Dan! Poor Katie! They are not happy about having to cancel their meticulously planned out visit/marriage proposal that was to take place on Thursday, after Dan has met Luciana’s family and asked her father permission to ask for her hand. Luciana, however, is thrilled with the new plan, and Dan and Katie’s concerns (they have already bought the tickets) are waved away. They go to the ancient lost city, Dan gets altitude sickness, Katie can’t work the camera, and the proposal is thwarted. And so it goes.

That proposal did not work out and neither do the subsequent attempts at other tourist destinations in the area. The brother and sister blame Carlos for these failures, but it is mostly their own fault. Dan gets drunk, gets a rash from an alpaca poncho, drinks a glass full of a milk-based Peruvian drink when he is allergic to dairy, and they lose the engagement ring while making chocolate. In addition to the cocoa bean tutorial, the viewer is treated to all kinds of interesting activities and some great scenery. In no particular order, we visit the Mara salt mines and learn about that, the city of Cuzco, the Sacred Valley, learn about Rainbow Mountain, visit Pisac, the spiritual center of Peru, visit an alpaca farm, make empanadas, and eat all kinds of other local delicacies, including bugs. Katie and Dan decide that they must keep the proposal a secret from impetuous unpredictable Carlos and that the occasion must be photographed with Dan’s state of the art 360 degree live-streaming camera. The upshot is that by the almost end of the movie Luciana is still unproposed to but Katie and Carlos have formed a romantic attachment. Katie has learned to be more spontaneous which leads her to set up the perfect proposal for her brother so, thank God, Luciana gets asked for her hand in marriage. But NOT at Machu Picchu!  And, even though Dan has been kind of a drag throughout the movie (including an ugly and senseless argument with Katie), for some reason, she accepts. Honestly, I fear for the relationships of both couples, once they return to Chicago. Katie learns to appreciate spontaneity, but Carlos doesn’t change a bit. Luciana and Carlos have more in common. They even visit romantic Rainbow Mountain together without their ostensible love interests! I was amazed why neither Katie nor Dan seemed to be at all threatened by their relationship. Which was very mature of them. I guess?

Usually, Rhiannon Fish really leans into a “wide-eyed dorkily hapless” schtick with her acting style. This movie is no exception, though she does tone it down just a bit in this one. Alex Santos, who plays Carlos, is very cute and charming. But apparently my unease over his relationship with Rhiannon will prove justified. He will already have moved on next week as the love interest of Natalie Hall in the first of the July Christmas movies. Glad to see him again so soon, however unfortunately timed, Hallmark.

Rating: 6 out of 10.