Erik Athavale

Christmas on Call

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911

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This one premiered a couple of days ago, but I didn’t have a chance to watch it on the day. It is one of my favorite types of Hallmarks: an ensemble piece with many stories going on at once. But it is very different for Hallmark. It is about first responders at Christmas time: emergency room doctors and nurses, EMTs, Firefighters, and Police. It is set in Philadelphia and is very Philadelphia-centric even though it was not filmed there, but in Canada as usual with Hallmarks. A lot of Phillyness is incorporated into the movie including Cheesesteaks, nods to Rocky, The Mummers Parade, and the Eagles (Go Birds!). Philadelphia is almost a character in the movie (And ladies and gentleman, for tonight’s performance, the role of Philadelphia will be played by Winnipeg. Or, “Winnipeg IS Philadelphia!”, if you prefer.) Lots of shoutouts to the sites and culture. Even Jason Kelce’s mom, Donna, makes a cameo appearance playing a deli owner who serves our main heroine Hannah her first Cheesesteak.

She is an emergency room doctor who has recently moved to Philadelphia from Seattle. She meets an EMT wheeling in an accident victim and there is an immediate spark between them. Hallmark gets a diversity gold star, which have been few and far between lately, for featuring an interracial romance. Actually, they really lean into it because there is a second one between two police officers. So yay.  Also, the Hannah and Wes relationship is kind of a stand out because of the physicality of Wes, the EMT. He is huge! 6 foot 4 and built like he could have played offensive tackle for the Eagles himself. Hallmark guys are usually not that big. Anyway, I really liked the out-of-the-box choice and the match up. His character is practically a saint.  Anyway this one weaves the individual stories of the emergency workers and the people that cross their path with lots of Christmas celebrations, duty, and do-goodery. While Hannah and Wes try to find time in their demanding schedules for their incipient romance we get to know two police officers who had a romantic encounter, a misunderstanding, and a second chance to reconnect. In between, we meet a nurse who is missing her daughter in the military, two neighbors feuding over Christmas decorations, a lonely asthmatic who needs more than just medical help, A new EMT who is not confident in her abilities and whom Wes is mentoring, A fire chief whose family is supportive despite the time demands of his dangerous job, and a son worried about his widowed mother once he goes off to college. The big climax with 15 minutes to go is not a conflict or misunderstanding, but a brave rescue of the fire chief from a burning building by Saint Wes who is also trained as a firefighter.

All of the stories, though not really connected with each other are smoothly incorporated into a pretty cohesive unit. Although the pace is speedy, I never felt that any of the stories were given short shrift. There was never a dull moment. There was also a lot of heart and a little humor. Sara Canning is a Hallmark regular, but used too sparingly, in my view. I have always liked her. Another stand out was Reena Jolly who played Danielle, the prickly police officer who gets a second chance with love. If you love Philadelphia, you really shouldn’t miss this. Or even if you are neutral, like me. Philly-haters should also watch and take comfort in the fact that it wasn’t filmed there.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Haunted Wedding

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Scooby-Don’t

This one started out great but lost its way, got pretty confused, and floundered around aimlessly to the inevitable happy conclusion. It’s a shame because the premise was a fresh one for Hallmark, the two lead actors were good and likable as were the characters they played, and in the beginning, there were several cute lines in the script. It opened with a spoof of Ghost Hunter-type reality shows with which I am very familiar because a lot of reasons. Ghost hunting is our couple Jana and Brian’s hobby and the movie opens with them doing just that. They really nailed the usual lingo and crazy machines that all respectable ghost hunters would not be without. It turns out that on this occasion Brian has lured Jana into a haunted insane asylum to propose marriage. It was cute. I really liked their relationship and that they were so enthusiastic about the unusual hobby that they shared in common. 6 months later they arrive at the (3-tombstone rated!) Keystone Manor, a haunted inn that they have chosen as their wedding venue. And this is about where it all starts to go downhill.

The house is haunted by the bougiely named Angelique DeMorney whose revolutionary war-hero true-love was ambushed and killed the day before their wedding. The anniversary of their planned elopement is coming up on Brian and Jana’s wedding day and Angelique is determined that there will be no wedding in her house unless it is hers to Malcolm, her dead lover. Jana and Brian decide to find out whether Malcolm is out there somewhere in ghost form (he is) and reunite them so they can cross over into the great beyond together forever. After “research” they find him at a pub which used to be the old jailhouse where he died of his wounds. It turns out that Malcolm was an ancestor of Brian and they look exactly alike. This familial connection is why Brian and Jana can interact with the two ghosts. New-to-Hallmark Dominic Sherwood was effective in the dual role, distinguishing the slightly goofy Brian from the serious and sad Shakespeare-quoting Malcolm very nicely.

Hardly anything in this movie made sense. For over 200 years Angelique has not been able to communicate with or be seen by anyone until the arrival of Jana and Brian. They are her one chance to finally be reunited with Malcolm and they vow to help her do so. They are ghost hunters. Brian is an ancestor of Malcolm. What could be more coincidentally fortuitous?  Yet Angelique is spiteful and hostile off and on (mostly on) throughout the movie. She sabotages their wedding preparations and plays mean tricks like turning their wine into vinegar. This ghost has powers outside the realm of the usual poltergeist activities. She whines all the damn time. She would have been well served if Jana and Brian left and had their wedding at “The Radisson (like normal people)”.

Brian calls in a disgraced TV medium recently exposed as a total fraud. (Why does he do that?) It is immediately apparent that he is a big phony and is rude to Jana and her more scientific approach to boot. Why don’t they throw him out on his ear immediately? But they put up with him until his stupid scheme literally blows up in their faces.

Why does Jana continually bring up her former fiance who left her at the altar years ago and often in Brian’s presence? She and Brian are a solid couple but Jana starts to doubt him for no reason. The conflict did not make sense in the context of their otherwise loving and fun relationship. Plus it was hurtful to Brian. Brian accuses her of trying to purposely sabotage their relationship and he’s probably right. It was meaningless manufactured drama and unnecessary.

And most importantly of all, why do they send their parents on a hayride when Jana’s father has debilitating allergies?

The script is full of overused trendy catchphrases like “We got this!”, I finally felt “seen”, and “I really get you”. Some of which come out of 200-year-old Angelique’s mouth. The one they thankfully forgot was “It’s complicated.” I usually ignore this stuff but I am up to here with these lazy word crutches. The whole thing, once the ghosts got involved, was more like a Scooby-Doo episode than the promising self-aware comedy-romance it started out to be. It’s almost like they changed writers mid-stream. I’m not saying they did, but the thought occurred to me.

Skipping through a lot of scenes, it all ends with a double wedding of the humans and the ghosts with the ghost couple going off together into the light. I strongly suspect that once Malcolm gets to know petulant and bitchy Angelique a little better they will be heading for Heavenly Divorce Court.

Rating: 4 out of 10.

The Santa Summit

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Finding Waldo was Easy Compared to This

I didn’t think I’d like this one when I saw the previews. It seemed self-consciously goofy and manic. And the idea of a romance movie where the couple spends the whole time apart looking for each other just does not float my boat. Boy was I wrong. Thanks to the funny script, out-of-the-box plot, and the lovable cast, this one was a winner.

The story centers around our main girl, Jordin, and main guy, Liam, played by Hunter King and Ben Hollingsworth, trying to find each other during a big day-long Christmas party/celebration called “The Santa Summit.” Everyone dresses as some version of Santa Claus and goes from fun activity to fun activity throughout the whole day. The two strangers, dressed as Santa clauses meet and during a 5-minute conversation form a real connection. Unfortunately, they are parted before they can get each other’s names and details and end up searching for each other in a sea of other Santas, finding clues along the way, for the whole movie. What makes the search so enjoyable and entertaining is Jordin’s two friends who go with her to the Summit and the people they meet throughout the day. Although Jordin and Liam do not meet up again until the end, there are encounters between Liam, his brother, and the two friends, Ava and Stella, and other miscellaneous coincidences and near misses that contribute to the final happy ending. Ava is a nerdy Lord of the Rings quoting math teacher, and Stella is a grumpy Grinch of a former music teacher. Along with Jordin, each finds love and learns some valuable lessons along the way.

This, like two other Christmas movies this year was very high energy with quick amusing throwaway lines, running jokes, and clever banter. It was tightly knit and every scene seemed to contribute to the plot or the character arcs of our likable ensemble cast. At least I can’t remember any needless silly montages or boring tentpole scenes that serve no purpose other than to stretch the movie out to its required 88 minutes.  The friendship of the 3 women was front and center, as well as the relationship between Liam and his brother. But the charming sweet romances were not relegated to the back burner in this one. Shy Ava (the always-welcome and talented Amy Groening) has been secretly in love with a fellow nerdy teacher for a couple of years and finally finds the courage during the Santa Summit to confess her love to him. Of course, it turns out he has always felt the same way about her. Stella’s grumpiness is a wall she has put up to protect herself from more disappointment since she hasn’t been able to teach music anymore because of budget cuts. She meets the mysterious stranger Freddy who challenges her to embrace music once again. Stephanie Sy who plays Stella was the star of the show in my opinion. Her sour disgusted tone of voice and facial expressions throughout the day are priceless. And when she finally gets up on stage in public and busts out with one of the most joyful versions of “Jingle Bells” you can imagine, it was the highlight of the movie.

It all came together beautifully at the end with the help of a lovingly constructed Gingerbread House, a silent disco, a hapless mascot dressed as a Christmas Tree, and a Reindeer bicycle taxi driver who never gets paid, but who gives our heroine a stern lecture near the end that provides a wake-up call and restores her hope and joy. When I saw Jeff Beesley was the director of this gem, I wasn’t surprised. The attention to detail was impressive as always. And was that Niall Matter in an uncredited cameo at the end?

Rating: 9 out of 10.

Made for Each Other

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Careful What you Wish For…

**Spoilers**

When I saw this starred  Matt Cohen, I was prepared to love this, and it didn’t let me down. I loved him in Holiday Date, and his funny delivery and endearing demeanor were on target in this one as well.

Rachel, played by lovely new-to-Hallmark, Alexandra Turshen, is a sculptor and art teacher who is content in her life but has always wanted to be an artist, rather than just a teacher. She also would not be adverse to a serious boyfriend, but she is very very picky. “Her ideal man is a complete fantasy. If you’re human you don’t stand a chance.” Too picky for her obnoxious almost bullying mother who wants nothing more than for Rachel to get married and have babies. Veteran Hallmark actress Teryl Rothery as the mother has never been so unpleasant and unlikeable. God, she was terrible. Teryl overplays it a bit. Thank goodness, Rachel has a backbone, does stand up to her, and refuses to be manipulated into dates with men her mother relentlessly arranges for her. One evening, Rachel and her best friend, played by Illeana Douglas, are in her studio and Rachel shows her her life-sized sculpture of “her perfect man” who is “ Kind, smart, loyal, dedicated, and someone I can bring home to my Mother. He’s a hopeless romantic, we are always on the same page, No conflicts, A best friend.” Illeana tells her the Jewish legend of the Golem, and with the help of an ancient amulet, Rachel’s “perfect man” comes to life the next morning. Meanwhile, we have met David Cohen, Rachel’s soon-to-be brother-in-law’s best friend. We know right away that he is the one. Although he is a lawyer, he is following his dream of being a professional stand-up comedian. Besides being very attractive in a slightly unconventional way, he is funny and smart. He seems to like Rachel, but kind of sees through her tough exterior as well. Another point in his favor is that Rachel’s mother does not like or approve of him.

Rachel and “Clay,” the statue come to life as her perfect boyfriend, become an item. Funny scenes ensue, including the introduction to her mother, his love of eating all the time (he turns out to be a wonderful cook), and generally just being a fish out of water. He becomes a model because he has a perfect body thanks to Rachel’s skill as a sculptor. The humor flows naturally from the fact that he really is perfect. He is smart and kind, loyal and dedicated. He loves Rachel, is a hopeless romantic, and is even a good kisser. Rachel is enamored. At first.  Rachel also gets to know David, who has well and truly fallen for her (those longing looks!)  but believes he does not have a chance against her perfect boyfriend.  Even he cannot help but like the guy! But she likes David. “He is blunt, sarcastic, and doesn’t care if he annoys me. He is the opposite of Clay, but I like talking to him. He makes me laugh.”

 It all comes to head as Rachel is trying to get up the courage to enter a prestigious art contest. She confides that she is afraid to risk rejection. Clay tells her not to do it because he doesn’t want her to be sad if she doesn’t get in. “If it makes you feel bad, it must be wrong.” David challenges her to follow her dream despite the risk, just as he is doing in his own life. At last, Rachel realizes that a partner that always agrees with her, likes everything she likes (or pretends to,) and will never challenge her, is not what she wants.

When Rachel wins the Art Contest, Clay cluelessly steps up to propose in the middle of her big moment thank-you speech. It is a funny and chaotic scene with friends and family either thrilled or incredulous. In the confusion, David, who was supposed to be across town having his big break, runs up with a half-dead bouquet of flowers and confesses that he is in love with her. “This is the most exciting exhibit we’ve ever had!” says the museum director.   A flower breaks off (symbolically) and Rachel has found her happy ending with the perfectly imperfect guy. Clay is gracious in defeat. David remarks, “he’s even perfect when she’s breaking up with him!” The highest compliment I can give this Hallmark is that it does not have a lot in common with a typical Hallmark except for familiar faces and a happy ending. Very satisfying wrap-up as well.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

Love Strikes Twice

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22 Going on 37

What did I just see? It was on the Hallmark Channel but was it really a Hallmark movie? It was a time-traveling romantic comedy but that is all it had in common with the usual Hallmark. No pageant-worthy hair, wardrobe, and make-up here. Just great writing, attention to detail, talented acting, and fresh faces.

We enter this rare territory zeroing in on a 37-year-old childless corporate lawyer, whose marriage is about to fail because her main priority is to make partner in her firm so she can “swim with the sharks”. She is troubled about her marriage and confides to a friend that the crossroads in her life seemed to be when she worked with a childhood friend, now her unhappy husband, to try to save the local library building. After an unexpected encounter with her old boyfriend, now one of the “sharks” she yearns to swim with, she wonders if she should have chosen him rather than the humble high school teacher she is now married to and has so little in common with. If only she could go back in time and with her sophisticated skills and knowing what she knows now about the law, be successful in saving the building. That would certainly change everything for the better and set her life on the path it was meant to be on.

I won’t go into the ins and outs of what happens, because there is so much that happens both personally and professionally. The details and the authenticity make the movie complex, heartfelt, funny, and very entertaining. It is tight and action-packed. There is not a boring minute in it. No usual meaningless filler or tired tent pole scenes. It borrows from many other time travel romantic comedies too numerous to list, but I was most reminded of the delightful 13 Going on 30. Needless to say, when she goes back 15 years to save the library, she also saves her marriage, her husband’s career, her father’s health, and turns her brother’s and her best friend’s lives around. It all culminates at her parents’ 25th anniversary when she hits her head again and she shoots forward to their 40th, and her real, now transformed, life.

The acting is great all around, but the star of the show is Katie Findlay, whose looks and talent brought even more life and charm to the role that was already well-written. Had she not been cast, the movie still would have been wonderful, but she made it a 10 out of 10. I fear she will soon be going on to bigger and better things. Sadly for Hallmark-land, I predict we will not be seeing her again on this Channel.

Rating: 10 out of 10.

October 4, 2021

Follow Me to Daisy Hills

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Another Delusional Store Owner Without a Lick of Business Acumen or Common Sense

Cindy Busby, a small-town girl, runs her dead mother’s general store which is going bankrupt. Her Dad calls her ex-boyfriend, a New York City wunderkind who specializes in saving businesses from failure, to come home and help them keep the store from failing. For free. Cindy resists all of his sensible advice until she doesn’t. She won’t even move the candy away from the front door where shoplifters and moochers can reach in and steal it. Because God forbid the elderly patron has to step into the store, pass what tempting merchandise there is, and go to the register to actually pay for her candy. Oh no, her not having to cross the threshold to get her Snickers is the “highlight of her day.” How dare he suggest customers have to pay for their merchandise?! He is a hard-hearted capitalist and all he cares about is money and profit. I kid you not. This store owner’s father has a heart attack from the financial stress and he is about ready to use his life savings to keep the store afloat. She is totally unaware that there is not enough cash to pay the bills, college for her young sister costs money, and an online presence is not an instrument of the devil. She is a menace to her family and the business.

It is easy to see that it didn’t take a marketing genius to save the store, which had little to offer customers except for the 10 bags of Cheetos and 15 cartons of oatmeal that were skillfully arranged on the otherwise empty shelves. What finally saves the store is her getting hit with a clue-stick after successfully dodging it for the whole movie. Her fellow townspeople can use the store to sell their own homemade products from BBQ sandwiches to baked goods to art! Let’s hope she understands that she gets to take a cut of their revenue without being a greedy money-grubber. A real go-getter of a business owner would have realized this years ago. An energetic ten-year-old playing with their “Little Tykes Let’s Go Shopping” play store would have done a better job of merchandising.

I usually like Cindy Busby, but her character in this one was so technophobic, ignorant, unpleasant, and stubborn that my eyeballs practically fell out of my head from all of the eye-rolling.

The only other aspect I want to comment on is the weirdness of the way they groomed the hero. His colorless hair was slicked back from his pale forehead in a way that would only be acceptable if he had had a ponytail. but since men with ponytails are verboten on Hallmark, He looked like a dang Nazi. He’s probably a nice enough-looking guy in real life, but he was downright creepy-looking in this.

Also, this movie is in IMDb under Hearts of Down Under. I think someone confused this with another Cindy Busby Hallmark that actually was set in Australia, Hearts Down Under, now called Romance on the Menu. Somebody really screwed up.*

*Since corrected.

Rating: 4 out of 10.

September 21, 2020

No Time Like Christmas

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Attractive Leads Make this Watchable

I usually don’t write a review of a movie unless I really loved it, really hated it, or have some points or observations to make that I think might be valuable. But I am really disturbed by the number of reviews that fault the bad acting of the principal characters. The acting is no better or worse than any acting in a Hallmark or happy Lifetime movie. In fact, the one thing that kept me semi-watching was the charm and attractiveness of the two leads.

If anything, it was the writing that kept me from rating this higher. What happened to the ingenue actress who had a crush on Fletcher? Maybe I missed it, but all of a sudden she has a boyfriend she was very loyal to (per magic Santa guy) all while she was making a play for our hero? And, yes, the snow storm that kept her away from the theatre, while rich guy and the whole audience managed to show up? For a 2 minute show? The one thing that really bothered me though was that widower Fletcher told Emma he never stopped loving her. Huh? What about dead wife and mother to his daughter whose demise made made him so sad for years? Out with the old, In with the new, I guess. And this is really picky. But shouldn’t the daughter have had a bit of a British accent? Considering she was born and raised in England by an English (I presume) mother?

Rating: 6 out of 10.

November 4, 2019

Crashing through the Snow

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**Spoilers**

Is Hallmark Growing Up?

This one had an interesting dynamic and was not in the usual Hallmark playbook of magic Santas, country good/city bad, save the town/store/festival, and countless others too many to mention.

A mother finds herself at her ex-husband’s girlfriend’s estate at Christmas locked in a competition with the girlfriend for her two daughters’ attention. I’ll let that sink in. The slightly estranged brother of the girlfriend shows up uninvited and Mom and brother are attracted to each other. The mother and ex-husband are on good terms. The girlfriend, who invited Mom when she found out that Mom had never been away from her kids at Christmas, is not evil. She is really nice and loves the kids and the ex-husband.

So where’s the conflict and drama? That’s the thing. There wasn’t much. They are all just so nice. The girlfriend, anxious to please and trying too hard, overschedules the kids leaving no time for Mom and her daughters’ own Christmas traditions. Mom starts feeling like a third wheel at the Kate, Jeff, and Daughters’ Show. The brother feeds into her insecurity and starts wresting the girls’ attention away from Kate and toward Mom with a variety of activities that aren’t on Kate’s itinerary. Now Kate’s feelings are hurt. But he means well (really). He has a complicated relationship with his sister.

The big crisis is when the oldest daughter runs away when Dad proposes to the girlfriend at dinner without warning. Bad move, Dude. Mom to the rescue, straight out of a romantic hot tub event with the brother. But ex-husband takes ownership of his thoughtless faux pas, girlfriend Kate smooths things over, and all is well.

There is a lot more going on, of course, involving a possible career move by the brother and family complications.

It was well acted by all, although I thought the ex-husband was a bit miscast. The klutzy Mom (spoiler alert) even manages NOT to break the stepmother’s hand-blown Venetian ornament. Yes, there is a stepmother. But she’s nice too! There was some good physical comedy involving the Mom’s klutziness. And good for Hallmark for not basing a Christmas romance on silliness and shenanigans, but the authentic emotion and complicated feelings involved in the formation of new family ties and big change.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

July 11, 2021