A Ranchy Romance

I’m afraid I am somewhat of an outlier on this one. Kimberley Sustad, with her acting and authenticity was a queen, as usual. The script was a good take on 2007’s Steve Carell dramedy-romance Dan, In Real Life with the leading roles reversed. Some funny lines were made funnier by Kimberly Sustad’s comic timing, as always. And when emotions and angst are called for she is always more than equal to that as well. The plot had some good elements, both amusing and poignant. Rebecca’s ( Kimberley Sustad) relationship and banter with her two sons and her mother were well drawn mostly due to the acting of all concerned. But unfortunately, I just couldn’t get over the way the romance part was handled, the behavior of Rebecca’s flaky free-spirit younger sister Cassidy, and how the college issue with her 17-year-old son was resolved.

Rebecca is a university professor and widow with a teenage son and a 9-year-old who is told by her family that she needs to get a life and start dating again. Meanwhile, they are set to join her mother and sister at a dude ranch for a family vacation. When they get there, she learns that her sister has arranged the whole thing to follow a guy she has gotten serious about and thinks might be “The One”. She met him in upstate New York but he works there in Colorado as the horse guy for the ranch. She wants her sister to meet him and give him her Seal of Approval before she takes it any further because she isn’t a good judge of character like her sister is. Also, her mother hopes to set Rebecca up with a childhood friend who has grown up to be a real hunk. To add to the fun,  her 17-year-old son has invited his girlfriend along without her permission or knowledge until the young lady shows up with her luggage the morning of their departure. I’m not even going to go there because it turned out to be a very minor ripple in a sea of trouble.

Rebecca has yet to meet Jake, her sister’s boyfriend, when she goes into town to buy a cowboy hat. She meets a ruggedly handsome cowboy-looking dude there whom she takes to be the store clerk. The immediate electricity between the two just crackles. He flirts with her very seductively including getting all up in her space. This was not harmless fun and jokey flirting, but in earnest. He pretends he is the store clerk and proceeds to help her find the perfect hat because the hat should reflect the inner self. Whatever. The Sorting Hat routine continues as he places 3 hats on her head to choose from, looks deep into her eyes, and spouts off lines such as “Tried and true… When others grow weary, you grow stronger…Tough and tender…and strong enough to ride the land but gentle enough to warm the hearts of anyone lucky enough to know you.” Ick. Now I couldn’t tell if Lucas Bryant was kidding with his performance of a laconic, growly-voiced cowboy type, but I am up to here with every actor who plays a cowboy trying to channel Sam Elliot, kidding or not.  One of the funnier lines was Rebecca’s reaction to his hat-fitting methodology. “Oh. It’s a hat AND a horoscope.” But she is smitten, and buys all 3 of the hats after which she goes out for a 3-hour coffee break with him and they exchange numbers. Later, back at the ranch, her sister’s boyfriend shows up and she introduces him to her family. Guess who. Now I didn’t blame Rebecca at all. She was shocked, disturbed, and embarrassed. But I didn’t like how Lucas Bryant’s part in this was glossed over and ignored. He actively pursued her while still in an at least semi-serious relationship with another woman who turned out to be her sister. And he didn’t seem to care or have any sense of regret or chagrin over his behavior. He was very passive about the whole thing like her sister’s feelings had nothing to do with him. Either he had no empathy which I hope was not the case (because there is a word for someone who has no empathy) or he just didn’t show any. He was pretty inscrutable. He doesn’t break up with the sister until the movie is almost over and after the two boys had grown attached to him and he and Rebecca were hot and heavy emotionally.

Speaking of the sister, she  stupidly and obliviously persisted in throwing Rebecca and Jake alone together so Rebecca could get to know him. It was so bad, I thought that she was trying to match-make between the two having decided he was not for her after all. If only. That would have been fine and kind of funny. But no, when she finally figures out the two are well on their way to being seriously involved, she gets all mad at her sister! When she did nothing but throw them together at every opportunity! Why didn’t Rebecca tell her the truth about him putting the moves on her behind her back and their mutual attraction when her one job was to alert her sister to any red flags she sussed out? No clue.

I don’t want to pile on about this movie because there were so many great things about it. I will only briefly mention the third thing that didn’t sit right with me. What was with Rebecca giving her son her blessing to follow his girlfriend of 4 months to an out-of-town and lesser university rather than stay at home to go to a better school? And one to which he presumably would not have had to pay tuition since she was a professor there? That seemed way too irresponsible and indulgent to me.

Believe it or not this was a good movie with good acting from all concerned except I didn’t know what Lucas Bryant was trying to do. Probably the direction he got. Besides Kimberley Sustad, Lynda Boyd as the mother made an impact despite her few lines and small part. The side plot of Rebecca’s youngest son being obsessed with ghosts was amusing and quirky until we found out what was behind his interest, and then it was poignant. Azriel Dalman as the youngest son was wonderful as always. He is a regular Hallmark actor.

I didn’t see this movie until 3 days after the premiere for reasons I won’t go into but I wanted to love it going by the many glowing reviews and positive feedback. I just couldn’t get past the way the main characters were written. I was disappointed. Oh and by the way, the next time a Hallmark actor says “It’s complicated.” I won’t be responsible for my actions.