Emilie Ullerup

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.

Retreat to You

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Off the Beaten Path

This was a genuinely funny romantic comedy and one that I was happy to see had Hallmark moving even further afield from the list of Family-friendly “No-Nos”. Now that they have ventured into the once forbidden territory of gay and interracial romance, this movie tests the waters of normalizing premarital sex and swearing. Or at least a suggestion that premarital sex might be within the realms of possibility for two consenting adults and kind of very mild swearing. Baby steps.

Rachel, likably played by Meghan Heffern, has duped Abby, our heroine, into joining her at a “Lifestyle Wellness Retreat”. Early on, we learn quite a bit about Abby, played by Emilie Ullerup. She is a Public Defender, is very stressed out, and likes to argue. She is a “glass half-empty” type of person, cynical and closed off. But she is quick-witted and loves candy, her best friend Rachel, and that’s about it. The movie starts off with a lot of genuinely funny banter, which continues throughout.

While at the “Wellness Retreat” (for God’s sake do not call it a “Camp”) they meet two of the other campers, a bickering older married couple, the very funny director of the camp, and the very cute head Chef, whom immediately catches Rachel’s eye and vice versa. This secondary couple is Hallmark’s nod to interracial romance as he is Chinese. No Gay couples or black people this time. Or actually, there might be a gay couple but they are deep background. Down-to-earth Abby is not a joiner, nor a fan of nature, or places that call meals “nourishment gatherings.” And, to seal the deal on her bad attitude, Abby meets Sean, her former childhood best friend from whom she has been estranged for 17 years. She tells Rachel that he is a monster who abandoned her at a bus stop as they were getting ready to leave on a long-planned cross-country hiking trip. True to form, Abby has never been in contact with him since, never caring to find out why he did that. Interestingly, the viewer learns bit by bit that Abby is not really telling Rachel (or us) the full story. While finally agreeing to “talk” about what happened 17 years ago, the two hike to an isolated scenic lookout. It is revealed that Sean was actually in love with Abby but didn’t have the guts to tell her. Abby tells him she was in love with him too. They have a pretty hot kiss and fade to black. When we come back to the couple they are lying on a blanket together. Now I’m not saying they did the deed or anything, but it is pretty obvious that they didn’t stop at that one kiss. This is pretty groundbreaking for Hallmark as kisses are usually only interrupted almost kisses, and the actual touching of lips is restricted to the last 30 seconds of the movie. On the way back to camp, oops, the “retreat”, they get hopelessly lost in the wilderness for two days and and two nights. Abby manages to remain in full makeup during their ordeal including falling face first into a mud puddle, and a lot more about their lives, feelings, and that fateful day is gradually revealed to each other and to the viewer. We learn that Abby’s parents were terrible which explains the walls she puts up, and the recent death of Sean’s beloved mother. There is also some pretty good comedy. In one scene, Sean doesn’t want to help Abby catch a fish to eat because he is a vegetarian and he thinks he couldn’t eat “anything with a face.” Abby yells, “Well, I’ll give you the butt!” Abby leaves a trail of candy wrappers to guide possible rescuers only to find that Sean has been picking them up, then to top it off, gets a lecture on “littering”. Abby pulls out candy she has been hiding in her clothes, and Sean quips that she looks like a “sarcastic pinata.”

Meanwhile, Rachel has discovered that Abby didn’t sleep in her bed that night, and is very worried. When Hot Chef suggests that maybe Sean and Abby are together, they go knocking on Sean’s door, looking for them. Yes, the possibility that they might have spent the night together crosses their minds. Groundbreaking, I tell you!!! When Rachel tries to rally the troops into a rescue party, it sets off an argument between the Bickersons, and the wife ends up yelling back at her husband, “Screw the class!!” This counts as swearing in Hallmarkland. No, it’s not the F word, but still! I can guarantee you would not hear such a thing on the Great American Family channel because that would be smutty.

Towards the end, Abby shuts down Sean when he wants to explore continuing the relationship. Sean leaves the retreat without saying goodbye, in a history repeats itself scene. Rachel talks some sense into Abby and Abby has an emotional breakthrough. Sean has some sense talked into him by a teenage gas station attendant in a very cute scene, and the Happy Ending is not far behind.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Don’t Forget I Love You

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Very Smiley

This was very nice, pleasant, and boring. We meet our heroine, Emilie Ullerup, listening to daily affirmations with her earbuds as she is getting ready for work, going to work, and arriving at work. Already, I’m disconnected and struggling to stay awake. The lady’s voice is very soothing. Emilie is the head of her own company which specializes in neatening and organizing peoples’ spaces.

Despite her roots showing, we get that our heroine leads a sterile life that is very planned out with no surprises or spontaneity.

On her 30th birthday, she visits her father who has a time capsule from her dead mother. It contains 5 beautifully calligraphed challenges for her daughter to accomplish to enrich her boring dull life. Even though she seems perfectly happy and very cheerful. The first one is “Meet Someone New”. The last one is “Tell Someone You Love Them” (presumably someone not a relative, single, and of the opposite sex). So we know that her mother has reached out from the grave to get her workaholic daughter A Man. But we don’t know that yet because the last edict is not revealed until the end. LOL.

She meets her super cute neighbor, a single dad (widowed) who is a bit of a slob and has just moved into the neighborhood. He is the target and he will not escape. She helps him unpack his boxes and it’s on. They do the rest of the challenges together. The only hiccup is another predatory female who also has her eyes on him. Who is gorgeous and nice, by the way.

We’ve seen this all before but Emilie and Clayton James (formerly Clayton Chitty), who plays The Man, bring nothing to the show, although Emile tries very hard to be super cute and endearing. A little too hard. Clayton is very cute, like I said, but doesn’t move the needle as far as personality. The whole shebang is about as contrived as the photo of the mountain scene that is propped up behind them during one of their last “adventures.” It just goes through the motions but without even a fan to ruffle the hair.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

January 24, 2022

Love & Glamping (Nature of Love)

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Cringeworthy, but Gorgeous Scenery

Christopher Russell seems fated to be paired up with pregnant co-stars distractingly striving to hide their condition. But that’s neither here nor there. What we have here is a by-the-numbers Hallmark plot unredeemed by interesting character development, outstanding acting, or sparky writing. In fact, the writing was cringeworthy. Will is touted as some big expert/consultant in conservation, but no university education is even mentioned. Katie is the daughter of a corporate lawyer and university professor yet she acts very ignorantly and the samples of her writing we are treated to are inane and insipid. Her behavior is childish. I think she’s supposed to be perky and funny, but she comes across as just silly. Also still another case of too many cosmetics for the type of role. As for chemistry, it’s not good when you want to look away when the leads are having “a moment.”

Christopher Russell. What can I say? He is so handsome that it’s like he stepped off the cover of a paperback romance. Unfortunately, It seems like he always plays mellow, rather passive romantic heroes. In most if not all of the roles I’ve seen him in, He seems detached and like he’s just going through the motions. Maybe that is because Hallmark just plugs him into roles where hunkiness is more important than personality. I’d love to see him in another type of part. It’s too bad if they are just taking advantage of his good looks because in real life he seems like an authentic, nice, and private happily-married-for-years father of two. In fact, a real-life Hallmark hero 10 years down the road.

Rating: 4 out of 10.

April 20, 2020

Winter Castle

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Sn-o-o-o-o-o-w Boring.

This was a very poorly written Hallmark. I’m not talking about the plot, which usually goes without saying in Hallmarkland. The dialogue was sub-par but my main problem was the character of the love interest and his little girl. Neither one of them had all of their marbles. What kid of her age would even be vaguely interested in the stupid lost polar bear and orca bedtime story that the heroine started to tell her? Let alone transfixed in wide-eyed wonder. No kid of normal intelligence. I predict a very disappointing career for our heroine, an aspiring children’s author. And what single guy would invite his helpful single neighbor to a destination wedding unless he was committed to their future, and not “confused?” An idiot, that’s who. Once again we are expected to be interested in spending two hours with pleasant and attractive but boring cookie-cutter characters whose stories have nothing to engage the viewer. I can tolerate humdrum characters if the story is involving, or an indifferent story if the characters are appealing. But not the lack of both. Three stars for the reject’s nice song, and the crazy Ice Castle, and real snow.

Rating: 4 out of 10.

January 15, 2019

Hearts of Christmas

/ Rebekahrox / 4 Comments

Mis-Matched

This was a decent Hallmark script-wise and acting-wise. And it certainly was a tearjerker due to a surprise reveal at the end. But it suffered from a couple of things. First off, the character Emilie Ullerup played, Jenny, a neonatal intensive care nurse, was naïve and closed-minded. That alone would have made her unsympathetic, but unfortunately, her “nemesis” the CFO whose job it was to keep the hospital from failing by cutting expenses and laying off a few senior employees, including her mentor, Alice, was played by Kristopher Polaha. He is possibly one of the most admired and loved of the Hallmark male leads. He is very attractive and sexy as well as conveying strength and gentleness. Those eyes! That voice! Yes, I’m a fan. If the character he played wasn’t quite so likable, reasonable, and so obviously a good guy, It would have made Jenny’s belligerent behavior more relatable and sympathetic.

I also had a problem with the CFO of the hospital romancing a nurse. He is in a position of power over her. She is for all intents and purposes, his employee. He is firing people and deciding whose departments get their expenses cut. It was inappropriate and dangerous for both their careers and reputations. It would have taken one jealous colleague of either of them to cry “favoritism!” to make a whole lot of trouble. What if they got seriously involved and it didn’t go well? Once she jumps into his arms in full view of the whole hospital in the end, she has sealed her fate as far as working with him at the same beloved hospital. So not such a happy ending for one of them. Probably her.

I just don’t know what he saw in her. She was cute looking, but she came across as a spoiled teenager to his mature successful bachelor who could have had his pick of beautiful exceptional women. Why was he even single in the first place?

Trying to end on a positive note, what a treat to see some actors who are now Hallmark regulars in bit parts: Kimberley Sustad as Matt’s sister, and Brendan Zub and Chris McNally as two worried fathers. Of course, Sharon Lawrence as Alice, the focus of all of the angst, was wonderful as always. And speaking of Alice, what was up with Jenny and her cohorts diverting all Alice’s personal Christmas cards to the point she thought she’d been forgotten by all of her old patients? It was for a good cause, I guess, but not very nice in the moment. Nope. Did not care for Nurse Jenny.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

July 6, 2021