Romance to the Rescue

It’s All about the Dog

The human cast was OK but the dog stole every scene. He was adorable and hilarious. What an actor! Hallmark better get “Nova” locked down with an ironclad contract before GAC comes a-callin’. Just saying.

Andrea Brooks plays Kyra, a young and ambitious marketing person who works in a pet store. In order to impress her new boss, who she is also crushing on, she lies about having a dog. In order to cover her tracks, she goes to a local rescue organization to adopt a dog. The owner (Marcus Rosner-Kevin) is very picky about who rescues his dogs. She has to lie to him about her qualifications in order to fulfill his strict requirements. She really had to jump through a lot of hoops. Believe me when I tell you that Nova, who plays Sam, the dog, was absolutely pure liquid joy.

On a home visit(!) to Kyra’s house, to make absolutely sure Sam and Kyra are doing OK, it is obvious to Kevin that she doesn’t know what the hell she is doing as far as discipline and training are concerned. Sam has trashed her house in 10 seconds flat. Kyra goes through an amusing montage of prospective dog trainers. They range from militaristic to a holistic new-age approach, and none are a good match for the dynamo that is Sam.  Kevin ends up with the job and the rest is history.

Andrea Brooks was energetic, perky, and cute. I liked her, but I can see that a little of her could go a long way. After many many secondary roles in the Hallmark factory, she deserves the promotion to head girl. Marcus Rossner was fine, but I felt he was a little miscast. I feel like the part was written for a nerdy underdog type (no pun intended), and Marcus is anything but. But he carried it off.

Anyway, this was a perfectly serviceable Hallmark as far as plot and character, but OMG, that dog!

Rating: 7 out of 10.

May 23, 2022

A Harvest Wedding

Very Nice. And Breaks the Mold in a Few Instances

A Harvest Wedding was above average due to the likability and good acting of the leads, Jill Wagner and Victor Webster. They played age-appropriate, mature, and sensible characters with good heads on their shoulders. Because of this, the plot was not packed with silly misunderstandings, stupid behavior, or battles between good and evil. Jill Wagner has a real Scarlett Johannsen thing going on, though much more down-to-earth looking. Victor Webster was almost too handsome, which made him an unlikely farmer, but his acting was good.

Jill played a wedding planner, Sarah, given the gig of a high-profile society wedding which would really put her on the map career-wise. In addition, a prestigious wedding magazine is doing a piece on the wedding because of the prominence of the family involved despite the fact that the bride, a super nice down-to-earth girl (Andrea Brooks), chose Jill over much more established wedding planners. To add to the complications, the bride does not want a super-fancy formal spectacle, but a simple country wedding at her fiance’s family farm. I liked that the mother of the bride was set up to be a momzilla, but knock me down with a feather, after a heart to heart talk with Sarah and her daughter, she stepped up and helped give her daughter the wedding she wanted, not what fulfilled her own elite society wedding dreams.

In addition, the ending was a refreshing breath of fresh air. Without fail, In Hallmances, the big city career girl gives up all of her professional progress and achievements and moves to the country to be a wife. In this one, the farmer, thanks to his development of a method of rooftop gardening, divides his time between the country and the city, allowing Sarah to pursue her dreams. This is a real departure for Hallmark. The final scene was a treat.**7 stars out of 10**

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

October 26, 2017