Not in the Stars
Despite being led by a favorite Hallmark actress, Sarah Drew, and her charming and attractive costar Matt Long, this one did not meet expectations. It’s hard to create an engaging romance when, after an initial sweet and sparky meeting in the first 10 minutes of the movie, the main couple don’t even see each other until less than 15 minutes left to go. I’ve only seen this done successfully one time, in The Santa Summit. And this one filled the time in between the two encounters with about a bazillion near misses, each one more annoying than the last. I thought the Hallmark last minute bust up due to a stupid misunderstanding (patent pending) was bad. Well, I’m here to tell you, it’s even worse when the couple don’t even meet up again until the very end of the movie.
Kim, an astronomy hobbyist, has a chance encounter with Malcolm, a PhD candidate in astronomy, while on a hill top in Carbondale Illinois for a viewing event of a total eclipse of the sun. Does Carbondale Illinois even have hills? I’ll put a pin in that one to research later.* It is an immediate and undeniable connection, even though Kim is engaged to be married. They part when Kim’s habitually late fiancé finally shows up. 7 years go by. Kim is a divorced single mother living with her Mom. She works behind the scenes at a TV station in Chicago, Illinois, waiting for a chance to cover the news in front of the camera. She actually blew her first chance by freezing with nerves on live TV while covering a big fire. This has earned her the nickname “Freezer Burn.” So a second chance does not seem too likely, until an experienced reporter is exposed to pink-eye so cannot cover the upcoming eclipse which will occur, once again, in Carbondale. For one place to experience this twice in only 7 years is extremely rare but possible. (In case you were wondering.) Malcolm is now a professor of astronomy at a junior college in Arizona, but is, of course, back in Carbondale, because, you know, it’s a total eclipse and he is an astronomer. He has written a book about eclipses and their effect on culture through the ages and he hopes to meet his idol and former professor to help him get it published. Because as you may have heard, it’s “publish or perish” for academics. The professor, Dr. Stanley Longford, is kind of a rock star in the field, kind of like the late Carl Sagan was, may he rest in peace. Kim and Malcolm have never forgotten each other. They bring each other up when they have personal conversations about chance encounters, instant connections, and lost soulmates. In fact, it is even hinted that Kim’s memories of Malcolm may even have partially contributed to the demise of her marriage. And it is Kim who inspired Malcolm to be a teacher. Yet it never occurs to either of them that this second rare event might again attract the other to be in the same town they met.
Kim, her friend and camera-person Claire, and their incompetent producer, Reed, do their TV spots for the station (Kim and Reed both incompetently). Malcolm and his fellow professor and friend, Travis, set up for the eclipse and try to find Dr. Longford. Claire and Travis meet and fall in love just like Malcolm and Kim did many moons ago. Pun not intended. The young producer who only got the job because he is the brother-in-law of the station head, screws up over and over until Kim finally loses her temper and unloads on him. They end up having a heart to heart, and getting a lot off their respective chests which causes them to, thankfully, become competent at their jobs. Reed even snags an interview with Malcolm’s famous astronomer for Kim which will go national and make or break her career. He does this right out from under a bad guy from another TV station who is a chauvinist pig and really dastardly (Hallmark mainstay, Ben Wilkinson). Yay Reed.
Through all of this Kim and Malcolm keep missing each other in the usual ways. One turns their head when the other walks by. The other sees a photo of him with their friends but the head is cut off. These almost-encounters happen a lot and as I mentioned, are very frustrating and annoying. But it really got to be remote throwing time when they actually meet and have a conversation during an eclipse party but because it is a masquerade and they are wearing teeny tiny Lone Ranger type masks they don’t even recognize each other! Despite Kim having long red hair just as she did 7 years ago! At this point I through my hands up in disgust and would have thrown my remote if I could’ve reached it. But I did yell.
After Kim and Reed carelessly lose the professor (because they allow him to wander off to the bathroom unsupervised 15 minutes before they are about to go live nationwide), Reed substitutes Malcolm to do the interview with Kim. Phew. They finally come face to face live on TV. Where they both commence to behave very unprofessionally by mooning and flirting with each other very cheesily instead of talking educationally about the eclipse. Needless to say, this is a big hit with the viewers. However, If I were a prospective employer of a fulltime TV reporter, her unprofessional display would not inspire me with a lot of confidence. But since Malcolm lives in Arizona and Kim lives in Chicago, maybe she will be the one to move and put her ambition to be a TV reporter on hold. First though, Kim needs to tell Malcolm about her 5-year-old daughter after they stop kissing.
I’m still giving this one 5 stars due to the acting and general appeal of all of the main cast members.
*It does. It’s actually famous for its hills in the second flattest state in the U.S.
