April Telek

I’ll Be Seeing You

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Follow the Leaves

Despite including S’mores,  the phrases, “It’s Complicated,” and “ You’ve got this”, I enjoyed this script’s overall intelligent dialogue and sparky banter between the four main characters.  The plot as a whole was the usual, unfortunately.  Over-planner and career oriented Amy goes on her journey to work/life balance while communing with her grandmother and falling in love on an actual journey. Needless to say she has to simultaneously get a contract signed upon which a greatly desired promotion and her whole career rests. The love interest is Mark, the activity director at her grandmother’s assisted living facility and he is, of course, a stop and smell the flowers, live in for the moment, breezing along with the breeze, tumblin’ tumbleweed type. While Mark and her grandmother are showing Amy that there is more to life than her career, he has to learn to stop going from pillar to post, forge a lasting relationship and put down roots. Fan Favorite Tyler Hynes (Mark) and and the lovely and charming Stacy Farber (Amy) lead a foursome which include the Tony Award-winning actress and singer Christine Ebersole as Amy’s grandmother, and Hallmark frequent flyer BJ Harrison in her usual role as a warm and wise elderly friend.  Both of the older actresses were sheer delights. The casting in this was great. I even liked Tyler Hynes’ character for most of the movie which is not usually the case. He does play a version of his usual charming misfit role, but in this one he is responsible, not weak, and good-humored rather than tortured. He had a natural and easy rapport with Stacy Farber which made for a good romance.  The whole foursome worked very well together which made for an enjoyable and engaging 84 minutes.

**Spoiler Alert**

Hard-working and ambitious Amy, her grandmother Vivien, and Vivien’s best friend Sue, have decided to spend their weekend together going on a 9-hour road trip down the Pacific coastline. Vivien wants to visit the charming town she has fond memories of where she met her first love, Teddy, in her youth. As they are ready to depart, Amy gets a call from her high-strung boss. She must, simply must, get a prospective client’s signature on a contract in person before Monday or no promotion. Luckily, the town that he lives in is in the general vicinity of their destination. On the way they get a flat tire and the seniors call their good friend Mark to come to the rescue and also to promote a match between him and Amy. The Three Musketeers become a quartet and, along with Mable, his VW micro-bus, they continue on their adventure. With no seatbelts, I might add. The usual ensues including a horoscope reading in which Sue is advised to “follow the leaves” which indeed do pop up from time to time to guide them on their way. In the town, a leaf guides them to look in a hole in a tree in which they find a message in a bottle left by her lost love Teddy. What. Are. The. Odds. This part could have been set-up much much more credibly.  The message “It’s in Teddy’s handwriting!!!” is for Vivien(!!) and tells her to come find him if she ever comes back to the town and finds the bottle. I mean…. Anyway, the road trip becomes a mission to find Teddy as well as get that contract signed.

Throughout the journey, Tyler (Mark) pretty much behaves himself being a good friend and support to the two seniors and falling in love with Amy (and vice versa). Their relationship and personal growth and journeys are believable and just nice. However, after some set-backs in both the Teddy and contract-signing fronts, Amy finally meets the client with contract in hand. He wants her to spend the afternoon with him walking him through the agreement and answering his questions. In other words, doing the job that she is being paid for. He hints that there are other parties interested in his invention. (She’s in Patent Acquisitions, which is a new one.) This presents a dilemma as this means Amy will miss Vivien’s big reunion with Teddy. She goes outside to explain to Mark who advises her to ditch her job responsibilities and leave with him right now (for no real reason other than his guilty conscience. No spoilers, but we get a bit of “Tortured Tyler” here) Thankfully, she does not, and Mark leaves her stranded with apparently no way back to Grandma in time for her big moment. So after an hour and 15 minutes of Tyler playing a character that I liked and had no beef with, he disappointed me once again. Mark and Amy get their heads on straight and It all turns out OK for all, including the inventor. But no apology from Mark. 🙁

Still, thanks to everything else good about this movie, and mostly due to the performances of all 4 actors and the characters of Vivian and Sue, this one is very well done.  It even includes good scenery which is almost a necessity on a road-trip romance. **7 1/2 stars**

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Big Sky River: The Bridal Path

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Welcome to the Teenage Years

The first Big Sky River didn’t seem to be a likely candidate for a sequel. Everyone was all sorted out with a pretty seemingly trouble-free straightforward path forward to happily ever after. Especially when a little research revealed that the book this is based on is the third and last one in the series. Now there are a few Hallmarks that would make good fodder for a sequel ( Five Star Christmas and Ghosts of Christmas Always for two) but not this one. But they do manage to eke one out.

And it manages to be quite watchable thanks to the relationship challenges between Boone and Tara and their family dynamics. Also, the kid actors were all great. There is a halfway engaging side story between Tara’s BFF, the country star,  and her former professional partner who is now divorced. Emphasis on the halfway. Most of the drama and conflict come from raging teenage hormones and fragile emotions threatening to break out and run rampant at every turn. So the stakes are pretty low in the scheme of things. “This too shall pass,” and all that, you know. Tara’s stepdaughter Erin starts the ball ruling with an overreaction to her New York-based father’s thoughtless and clumsy remark at the gender reveal party for his due in 6 weeks wife. She is nice, in this one, BTW. He bursts out with joy that he has always wanted a boy which Erin interprets as “he never wanted” her and “doesn’t love” her. Kids! AmIright? On the boy side, Boone’s 11-year-old son is struggling with the upcoming changes to his life now that his Dad is  (finally) engaged to Tara. Not prone to tantrums, unlike Erin, he shuts down and is sad remembering his dead mother and being told they will be moving out of the only home he has ever known. Unfortunately, Dad seems to just want to not deal with his pain and instead of really talking about it and paying attention, just gives lip service. The younger son, by the way, by the way, is an oasis of calm and sense throughout. Sawyer Fraser is a charmer as Fletcher. Both Boone and Tara are also not immune to missteps along “the bridal path.” Boone forgets to pick up the kids while Tara is heavily immersed in parent-teacher conferences. He has to deal with a shutdown interstate but doesn’t even call. He just forgets. Although he apologizes, he really seemed to discount Tara’s distress (much like he discounts his son’s emotions) despite saying all the right words. On Tara’s side, when Boone rightly calls Princess Erin out for screaming at him disrespectfully and for maybe being a teensy bit spoiled, she overreacts giving him the ole “don’t yell at my daughter” routine which leads to a 1 or maybe 2 day break up. (Boone had to haul her friend Dawson in before a judge for breaking the law-don’t worry it’s not that bad).

Boone and Tara maturely heal the breach, and the almost break-up brings the kids to their senses. By the end of the movie, the little family is beginning to look like the Brady Bunch of the West. The reconciliation between Boone and Erin is very satisfying. I’ve never been a particular fan of Kavan Smith, because I prefer romantic heroes to be above average in height. But I do like him much more after his authentic good-humored performance in this one. Near the end, in lines that were obviously written in, his older son remarks to him “that he is almost as tall as you” and his younger son retorts, “That’s not saying much!” Kavan Smith responds laughlingly with an “Ouch!” Good for him.

Rating: 7 out of 9.

A Picture of Her

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Delete.

Oh, Goody! Another Hallmark romance based on lies! How many is that this month? Three? Four? This one had a bit of promise since it stars Tyler Hines who usually brings an edgy cool masculinity to his roles. He is also very popular so Hallmark usually gives him better-than-average scripts. The script did have words in it, but they forgot the plot.

Tyler Plays Jake, a once idealistic photographer full of dreams of people buying his photos for their art. However, when he published a book of arty scenic photos, he only sold 5 copies, 3 of them to his mother. He is still a photographer but now makes his living as a jaded paparazzo with an occasional gig doing legit photo spreads for a weekly Los Angeles magazine. This state of affairs has made him sad and tired which is right in Tyler’s wheelhouse, acting-wise. While on one of his respectable assignments, he takes a picture of a lovely girl sniffing a rose and it goes viral. It is a very pretty picture of very pretty and sweet-faced Beth played by very pretty Rhiannon Fish. He is quite taken with her and coincidentally meets her at a dog park and they go out on a date. Or at least half a date, because he leaves right in the middle of it to take a picture of a celebrity shoplifter. He is partners with a girl who looks out for celebs doing embarrassing things and whenever she sees one, she calls Jake who hops on his motorcycle to get to the scene of the crime to take pictures of the unsuspecting famous person doing the bad thing. Why she just doesn’t whip her cell phone out, and keep all the money for herself I don’t know. Maybe her button-pressing finger is broken.

The next day, Beth and Jake meet up again and she takes him to have dinner with her Aunt Dody. Beth is just visiting her from her small seaside town where she is first mate on her dad’s fishing boat. I think that profession is a first for Hallmark. As soon as Aunt Dody and Jake are alone, Aunt Dody pounces on him and asks what his intentions are in a very aggressive and threatening manner. Sweet and vulnerable Beth has been lied to and hurt before and he better not break her heart or act dishonorably in any way. Oops. Too late. He has already lied to her that he is not “one of those fellows who hides in the bushes and takes pictures of famous people.” Plus, Jeez Aunt D. they’ve only been on half a date. Back off.

And that’s about it. Beth tries to find the mysterious photographer who invaded her privacy by taking her picture without permission, and gets an agent because now companies want to hire her to be in commercials. So she’s mad, but not really. They go on more dates but when Jake has the opportunity to come clean about the picture and his profession, he lies again. This guy. On Beth’s first commercial shoot, they put so much makeup on her that she gets scared and disgusted. (Too much makeup? On a Hallmark?) While running from the set, she meets Jake and finds out that he is the low-down sneak that took her picture! She is betrayed and heartbroken and goes back home to the fishing boat. Tyler is even sadder and tireder than he was before.

Even the news that Daniel Bacon, who usually plays small-town mayors in Hallmarkland, but in this one is the head of the weekly mag that he does occasional work for, wants to dedicate a whole issue to his arty photos doesn’t perk him up. His dream has come true, but he just blows him off to chase after Beth with that old book of his. That book thing is very mysterious. Earlier in the day he got a call from Aunt Dody because an unknown person sent her Jake’s book. She calls Jake because she thinks he did it. He didn’t and denies it. She decides that Jake’s a nice “boy” after all and asks him to personally deliver his book to Beth up in Washington for some reason. So he does, apologizes to Beth, and finds out that it was Beth herself who found a copy and sent it anonymously to Aunt Dody. Why? Don’t know. Anyway, she has it back again and they make it up and all is well in the romance department. Can’t say the same about the job department because Mayor Daniel is still waiting on his offer to rejuvenate Jake’s career as a respectable photographer at last. I hope he is patient because the happy couple is too busy riding off into the sunset on Jake’s motorcycle. This is one of those “Happy for Now” endings.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

Big Sky River

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A Parable for Step-Parents.

**spoilers**

This was a low-key pleasant way to pass the time while also serving as a cautionary tale for loving step-parents. There’s not a whole lot of action, but then again it also avoided a lot of tired tent pole scenes and tropes that Hallmark is famous for. This was on Hallmark Murders & Mysteries, and those usually have something a little more to offer than the usual stuff that Hallmark churns out like an assembly line.

Tara is a recent divorcee whose ex-husband wants to distance her from his daughter, her stepdaughter, Erin, so she can bond with his new girlfriend without Tara in the way. Tara and Erin love each other dearly. Of course they do. Tara is the only mother Erin has ever known, and Erin has been Tara’s daughter for 10 of her 13 years. But Tara has no rights now that she is divorced from Erin’s father. This is a sad and scary situation for both of them, but being a mature, reasonable woman Tara respects James’ wishes (not that she has much of a choice) and is leaving for the summer. As a young girl, she spent a vacation at a dude ranch in Parable, Montana with her parents and she has always thought back on that time fondly. No, surprisingly, this is not a Dude ranch story. The dude ranch is now defunct but she is renting a house nearby.  

While in her summer home she takes care of the resident chickens, rides horses, makes friends, and dances, but more importantly meets a handsome next-door neighbor who is also the local sheriff, and his two boys. They form a connection right away, but being parents they are cautious and careful. And, as they both know, Tara will be leaving at the end of the summer. Meanwhile, the ex-husband, Hallmark’s longstanding never-the-romantic-lead-and-also-director Peter Benson, is not having a smooth time with his daughter. She has chased off 4 nannies and the agency won’t send anymore. He basically wants to just get rid of her and she won’t go to camp. He calls Tara and asks her to take Erin for the rest of the summer. Both Tara and Erin are thrilled and Erin happily joins her mom and makes herself at home in Parable.

And that’s about it until the big crisis. I won’t go any further, but it results in Tara finally putting her foot down with James and James caving in immediately. It was the highlight of the movie.  By the end, Tara and Erin will be together in Parable with Tara and Boone pursuing their promising relationship and hopefully forming one big happy family.

I appreciated late 30 and 40-somethings dealing with age-appropriate situations. Too often, Hallmark has had their 40-year-old actors dealing with life situations more common to twenty-somethings. The moral, or parable, if you will, of this story is, that if you’re the loving parent of a stepchild, better go ahead and adopt them. Marriages are not always forever but parenthood is. Don’t lose your rights to your child.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

August 18, 2022

Just One Kiss

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Too bad They’re All Not This Good-but then, It wouldn’t be Hallmark.

I knew this was going to be a 10 out of a 10 in the first 10 minutes. The dialogue was sharp and witty from the get-go. The stars were appealing and didn’t have the usual GQ male model vibe for the male or beauty pageant runway vibe for the female. Upon our first meeting with the striking Mia, an English professor, she is delivering a bitter cynical lecture on romantic poetry. Two students comment on her diatribe: “Professor Rivera needs a date.” …” Or a drink!” The girls make a few more appearances throughout the movie with their astute conclusions on the state of her love life going by the tone of her lecture. Very cute. We learn she is on her way to her lawyer to divorce her too handsome husband. He is 90 days sober but was a lying alcoholic who lost their house. He wants her back. And her tween daughter wants them back together too. She meets cute (a couple of times) with our leading man who is handsome but in a normal guy kind of way instead of looking like he just stepped out of a Vanity Fair ad. He is a lounge singer (now isn’t that an unusual profession for a Hallmark hero!?) and the music is wonderful. He is a bit of a flirt and plays the field but thanks to his conversations with a good friend and bartender we know he is a good guy and a keeper.

Despite her suspicious hostile attitude toward love and romance they bond over a love for old movies and he gradually thaws her icy sarcastic façade. The romance is facilitated by their two mothers who meet in the movie theatre the two frequent and know they would be perfect for each other. “He likes her! And she HATES him!… It’s perfect!”

Despite being wisely advised and cheered on by her best friend and his husband, all does not go smoothly in their enemies to friends to lovers journey. Mostly thanks to her jerk of an ex-husband and the inevitable misunderstanding with 20 minutes to go. I loved the unusual-for-Hallmark creative touches. The authentic New York vibe, the black and white dream sequences, the songs, the Greek chorus-like moms and the two female students, and even the original movie poster (not pictured but you can still see it on IMDb as of this writing)!

There is a cute twist at the end that was telegraphed early and often, and it just added one more unusual touch to the whole wonderful production. The cast of fresh faces have outstanding resumes, including Illeana Douglas. There were a few Hallmark veterans (Matty Finochio, David Ruttle, and Peter Benson in a short cameo.) and to my surprise, this was written by a veteran Hallmark writer. They must have told her to “do the opposite of what you think we want” or something. A movie like this is one of the reasons I doggedly look at almost every Hallmark movie. In addition to the crazily predictable and boring, there’s always a chance they shock with a truly excellent romantic comedy.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

April 3, 2022

Cut, Color, Murder

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Dye, Die, Don’t Bother

I don’t have a bad word to say about the actors in this new Hallmark mystery series. Gonzalo and McPartlin were just fine, and they had a good rapport. But boy oh boy was it dumb. This is a new entry in Hallmark’s spunky female amateur detective line. They usually run their own “womanly” business so they can take off whenever one of their acquaintances or customers gets murdered in order to catch the killer. We have flower shops, bookstores, antique stores, and bakeries. We also have matchmakers(!?), wedding photographers, crossword puzzle editors, and podcast hosts. Strangely, in two of my favorites, Aurora Teagarden and Mystery 101, the spunky female amateur detectives actually have mainstream professions. With the arrival of Cut, Color, Murder, we now have a beauty shop owner. What took them so long?

In this one, Julie is taking her talents to the world of beauty pageants in which her younger sister is a participant and she is doing hair. The bitchy showrunner gets murdered and there are plenty of suspects because she was evil to absolutely everyone. Julie is the widow of a policeman who was killed in the line of duty (or was it an unsolved cold-blooded murder?). So she has ties to the police department primarily through the chief of police who she has wrapped around her little finger. Enter new guy, Ryan McPartlin, a handsome hotshot detective with whom she butts heads because he is a professional. After Julie meets an anonymous text messager alone in a spooky abandoned house at night because he/she has info about her husband, it was remote throwing time. Except I had to find it first because I had already thrown it after all the laws she broke and chain of evidence procedures ignored in the meantime.  She is rescued from certain death by Ryan and let’s just say this show leaves no cliche unincluded.

We know this is a series because after the mystery is solved we have a bit of a cliffhanger while Julie is having a pow-wow with her dead husband at the cemetery because she has decided to move on (is that something you just decide to do?) and wants to give him a heads up ( I guess?). We know that there is going to be an over-arching mystery of her trying to solve her husband’s murder and getting into all kinds of trouble. Not a spoiler, because I’m not psychic, but I predict that the murderer of her husband turns out to be the indulgent good-guy/father-figure/police chief in an unknown number of episodes hence.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

February 9, 2022

Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas

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A Road Trip to Remember

Amnesia stories usually provide rich material for a nice story, and this one is no exception. Jessy Schram, a favorite of mine, plays a young woman who gets dunked in a river after being bumped by a car. We next see her in the local hospital near the Canadian border with amnesia. Her luggage has been lost. The only clue to who she is is an ad for a Christmas Tree lighting in Charleston, SC that she left behind at a local diner. It has a handwritten message on the back saying “Please Come” and signed “Mark”.

“Jane Doe” is an immediate hit at the hospital due to her friendly, spirited, and outgoing nature. Jessy conveys all of that with the underlying vulnerability that she is so good at. She makes a friendly connection with a nice nurse, Paul, who offers to drive her to Charleston as it is on his way to his family’s home. It is almost immediately apparent that Paul is hiding some secret pain as he is very conflicted about going home. Jessy and Brendan are perfectly cast and their performances are spot on. I like that they made Paul a nurse instead of a doctor, thus it made sense when he drives her in an old dilapidated car that conveniently breaks down on the way. A doctor would have flown.

On their road trip, they have a positive impact on all of the people they meet along the way. Including Alison Sweeney in a brief cameo appearance! This is a real thing this year. This is the third movie I have seen in which other Hallmark stars appear briefly in another movie not their own. I think it’s really cool. And very smart given the competition other networks are giving them for the attention of the Christmas movie-viewing public.

The movie keeps you engaged at all times what with the mystery behind Paul’s sadness and conflicted feelings going home and Jessy’s real identity. Jessy starts having flashbacks which hint that she may be married and have a child! Why would she leave a husband and child? Is she a bad person? Is he a bad person? It won’t be a spoiler to reassure you that she is not a bad person and her future lies with the nice and attractive Paul.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

November 29, 2021

Holiday Date

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And for Something a Little Different…

This is a genuinely amusing little variation on the usual Hallmark template. It starts off with all of the clichés in place: Nice girl gets dumped before the holidays when she is expected to bring the dumper to meet the family for the first time. she can’t bear the humiliation or to disappoint them so she falls in with a plan to substitute an actor to impersonate the architect “Mr. Christmas” ex-boyfriend. He is a born and bred New York City actor who is anxious to visit a small town to get a feel for a role he is up for. One problem. He is Jewish and far from being an architect, he can’t even build a gingerbread house. The chemistry between the charming leads was great, and there was ample support from veteran actors Bruce Boxleitner and Teri Rothery. The talented Anna Van Hooft, who usually plays the villain in Hallmark movies, does a credible job in a throwaway part as the supportive sister, for a change. And let’s not forget the contribution by Hallmark stalwart Peter Benson as the brother-in-law and all of his helpful advice.

This was a nice romance with some good laughs fueled by the tension of when will the truth come out, and what will happen then, and the cluelessness of fake fiancee Joel, played with aplomb by newcomer Matt Cohen.

One of the best this year. Hallmark Christmas movie fans: Don’t miss it!

Rating: 9 out of 10.

December 16, 2019

Mingle All the Way

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Mom gets Burned by the Boyfriend, Sees the Light, and Drinks Eggnog

I love the Hallmarks where a hero or heroine we like is not appreciated by their family or their boss and is not treated as well as they deserve. We know that, with the help of the love interest, they will finally be appreciated and valued. It always makes a nice satisfying sub-plot to the romance, which is, of course, the main event. Thinking back, many of my favorite hallmark movies have this element. Mingle All the Way does, and they do it very well. I guess I’m just a sucker for comeuppances and nice people prevailing over mean people.

I loved the chemistry between Jen Lilly and Brant Dougherty. The plot device used to get them together was clever and really worked. Molly has to personally test out her new app which, instead of matching couples interested in romance, finds the perfect “plus-one” for functions for those with no time or interest in a relationship. The writers did a good job of making the viewer understand their initial antagonism with the fight over the angel ornament. They really invested me in their situations by making me root for them and by well-written antagonists that you loved to hate. Also, the viewer sympathizes with them being focused on their goals, while all their family and co-workers are interested in is whether or not they have a boyfriend or girlfriend. How disrespectful!

The scene where our hero really tells off her mother was a gem. And I loved the way the angel came back into play in that scene as well. He was truly a knight in shining armor. Lindsay Wagner did a great job of making us really dislike her. She was terrifying. And then, after the hero told her a few home truths, showing us a sincere change of heart. I loved the way the eggnog played into that: very good writing. That whole scene at Molly’s house was worth the price of admission. I wish we had had more of it.

And the same goes for Jeff’s work troubles. She took a less proactive approach to helping him in that department, but she had his back as well as he had hers. And it did the trick. I love the way his rival was taken down. What a jerk and contemptible human being! Good writing and acting on the villain’s part. I just wish Molly had done the taking down.

The only low point was Molly’s silly petulant overreaction to Jeff meeting his ex by chance at a party. But that’s par for the course in Hallmark romance. It’s a plus when it’s avoided. All in all, though, one of the best this year.**8 out of 10**

Rating: 8 out of 10.

December 9, 2018

Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade

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Doris and Rock 2.0

This was a charming romance with the talented and funny Autumn Reeser and the too handsome to live Antonio Cupo. Despite his fictionally good looks, he managed to be appealing and a worthy match for one of my favorite Hallmark actresses. They had great chemistry. This older effort (2012) is so heads and tails above the romances that Hallmark is spewing out these days. No cheesy cheap looking decorations or the phony Christmas tree. No small town with the Christmas name. I absolutely loved that Autumn’s character loved and wore vintage clothes. That was a great imaginative detail written in that wouldn’t even occur to whoever is writing the efforts of the last 2 years. And it really added even more to the homage to an old Doris Day romance. Her stupid boyfriend was not evil, but such a loser that it was fun to hiss and boo at him. There were a few little glitches, such as Henry dressed up as Santa at the end and making out with Emily in front of everyone at the parade. WTH? but other than that, Great writing, a sense of humor, talented stars, a good supporting cast, and lack of Christmas cheesiness made one of the best Hallmark Christmas movies ever.**9 out of 10 stars**

Rating: 9 out of 10.

November 17, 2017