Niall Matter

We Met in December

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Google is Your Friend

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Autumn Reeser and Niall Matter, both with very lengthy Hallmark resumes individually, are finally in a movie together. And it was a pairing I didn’t know we needed. They were a good match and in a movie where age and singleness was not an issue. Usually Hallmark ties itself up in knots trying to justify why the female and/or male leads are not already “with someone”. Most of the regular and popular Hallmark actors are either pushing 40 if not 50 years old. So if the plot doesn’t call for the death of a spouse they have to engineer a traumatic break up with a long term partner causing a paralyzing inability to trust again and move forward in the romance department. Or, they push these mature actors into stories obviously written for characters in their 20s or early 30s, just getting started in their personal and professional lives. In this one Autumn and Niall play two mature, successful, and well-adjusted professionals not hobbled emotionally by unhappy love stories. Why they are still single is not explained or even  addressed. So refreshing. If it was mentioned, I sure missed it.

The movie’s structure is also kind of unusual. We are thrust right into the action with Annie and Dave having a love at first sight moment while both in a city not their own due to a airline layover. No laborious info dump in the first 2 minutes. They learn that they both are on the way home to Chicago, and spend the day and half the night together cementing their relationship. They are secure in the fact that they have seats together on the flight home in the morning to get to know each other even more. But Dave misses the plane. And since during their time together they only talked about their individual Christmas traditions and warm and fuzzy things like that, rather than more pedestrian topics like phone numbers, last names, and employer’s names, they both are challenged with finding each other for the rest of the movie. The romance part is handled with flashbacks to their time together in this unnamed (to my knowledge) city. The Christmas part is seamlessly tied in during these flashbacks and as the couple, in the present, treks around Chicago visiting places they remember are a part of each other’s Christmas traditions hoping to run into them or someone who knows them. There are false leads, coincidences, and near misses for our viewing pleasure. But it is not until the end, needless to say, after they have each pretty much given up, at least temporarily,  that they are brought together in a church during midnight mass on Christmas Eve. I am always kind of a little moved when church scenes appear in Christmas movies. Home Alone being my favorite.

In addition to the romance, both Dave and Annie, thanks to their time together, get a handle on some personal challenges that have been holding them back. It is the first Christmas that Dave and his family are spending without his late father. He is so wrapped up in recreating all of his family’s Christmas traditions that he forgets that the important thing is to spend time with his family and to be in the moment, rather than controlling, organizing, and otherwise not dealing with his father’s death. Thanks to Dave, Annie is inspired to pursue her first love, fashion design, rather than just being on the outside looking in as the lawyer for a fashion design company. Did you know that Fashion Law is a real legal specialty? I didn’t. And according to Dave’s “Swifty Seek” search for “Annie, attorney, fashion, Chicago”, there are over 67,000 of them in Chicago alone! Of course that is absurd. As is Annie’s “Peep-Look” result of 48,302 financial advisors named Dave in Chicago. Try Google next time, guys. At least Dave’s lack of success with The World Wide Web is explained by Annie’s real name being “Mary Anne”, not Ann-something. But if they found each other right away, there wouldn’t be a movie. And that would be a shame, because this was a worthy, if low-key, addition to Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas slate.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Providence Falls

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It Fell

Am I the only one in the whole wide world who did not absolutely love this 3 part mini-series? Apparently so. Oh, there were some good things about it, for sure. I liked the actors: 4 new fresh faces in lead roles, an old favorite (Matty Finochio) in a pivotal role, and 2 Hallmark mainstays in small but important parts. Kudos to Niall Matter who played a bad guy against type. The set direction and production values were top notch, and there were parts of the script that were just fine. But the whole thing felt forced and manufactured around a very faulty premise. It didn’t make sense and was just wrong. And I’m not talking about the angels and devils, the dual timeline, the time travel, or the reincarnation. I usually like that stuff. Some of Hallmark’s best movies have been based on those kinds of plots. And part of what bothered me was that they dropped the love story and all the supernatural stuff right in the middle of a police procedural for no reason I can think of that made any sense. Except to stretch maybe 3 hours of story into 6 hours. 

Cora and Liam are star-crossed lovers in 1844 Ireland who met when Liam, a thief and a rogue, broke into her father’s country estate to steal some things. They fell in love and were running away together, when, chased by dogs, torches, and pitchforks, Cora fell off a cliff and died. Liam is miserable and blames himself, but instead of being reincarnated or sent to heaven or, as they call it here, “H.E. double hockey sticks”, he is put in Limbo for almost 200 years due to a clerical error. Doesn’t heaven have some kind of quality control department? That was disturbing. Of course he had to die first and I am afraid I am a little fuzzy on how that happened. He comes to our attention because they are “clearing Limbo out”. Liam is given a chance to make up for cutting Cora’s life short and taking her away from her soulmate (who she barely met) and her important destiny and earn his way into heaven. Somehow, her death is all Liam’s fault, not her own nor the trackers chasing her over hill and dale and off the cliff. Or just an accident for that matter. All he has to do, in the present time, is to get Cora, who has been re-incarnated, back together with her so-called soulmate that she barely met, who has also been reincarnated. Cora is now a newly promoted police detective in Providence Falls, and Liam is a visiting detective (Ha!), her new partner. Her soulmate Finn (Evan Roderick) is an Assistant D.A. and is a good guy and very attractive. But despite Hallmark trying to fool us, savvy Hallmarkies know he is not the one because instead of coffee he drinks tea with sugar in it, is a lot shorter than Liam, and is a little too well-groomed. Also an old cohort of 1844 Liam is back and has been re-incarnated as the police chief. And maybe some other people? I don’t know. 

So we have 6 hours including commercials of Liam getting used to cell phones, cars, and other 21st century things and pushing his beloved Cora into the arms of Finn, who she really is not all that interested in. Just as she did back in Ireland, she has fallen for Liam at first sight. And Finn likes her best friend Suzette. Could it be possible that it is Liam and not Finn who is Cora’s soulmate? Nope, nope, nope, absolutely not. Destiny and Fate cannot be wrong, and Destiny has spoken. Even though against all of the rules in the Destiny Rule Book, Cora has started to remember her history with and love for Liam in her former life. So Destiny is wrong about some things then. But according to the angel Samael, the lady in charge of this fiasco, if she reunites with selfish bad Liam, instead of good and decent Finn, she will not be able to continue to help at-risk youth and keep them on the straight and narrow. Somehow this capable woman cannot do her good works unless she’s with the right man. I think Miss Samael got her centuries mixed up. Meanwhile Liam is proving over and over what a reformed character he is. But no, according to this angel Samael, he is selfish and bad to the end even when he is rescuing Finn from an old mine shaft and throwing himself in front of a speeding bullet to save Cora’s life. Repentance? Forgiveness? Grace? Free Will? Fuhgettaboutit. And all through this, there is a very drawn out murder mystery/burglary/criminal conspiracy to solve that was right out of the usual Hallmark Movies and Mysteries playbook.

I understand why everyone really liked this. It was a well-done ambitious production for Hallmark, and the trappings were off the usual beaten track, even though the love story was predictable and the mystery was tedious. I just couldn’t get past that damn angel Samael being so blind and misguided: Insisting that poor Liam could not get into heaven despite his proven goodness unless Cora ended up with Finn against both of their wills. I know it was to create tension and keep the thing going for 6 hours. But it was just wrong and flew in the face of what angels are supposed to be about. I couldn’t believe it when the Angel Gabriel (Brendan Penny) showed up to save the day, and he told her what a good job she did! He left Liam’s fate up to her as long as she first finally listened to the one good angel with some sense, her assistant, Agon, Liam’s handler. She should have been fired and threatened with H.E. double hockey sticks.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Come Fly With Me

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No, Not that One.

**spoilers**

Congratulations to Hallmark which somehow managed to make a black woman joining the white male-dominated Thunderbirds boring. Totally understandable since this was apparently made with the full cooperation of the Air Force. They wouldn’t want anything but clear skies for our heroine. I totally get it. It was made even more dull by having her love interest totally unrelated to anything to do with her own exciting profession. He owns an Outdoor gear mega-store. Ooof. Isn’t there some way they both could have been Thunderbirds or have had him been otherwise associated with the team in a leadership or other heroic role? I mean, look at him in the poster!

Emma “Blitz” Fitzgerald has been relocated to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas having earned her place on the prestigious Thunderbirds fighter aircraft squadron. Formerly stationed in Japan, she has joined her mother in the suburbs. How fortunate that her mother, a nurse in a doctor’s office just happens to live in the same city that Emma is assigned to! Emma’s daughter Lucy spends her time after school at her grandmother’s workplace until it is time for them to go home. What did she do for child care in Japan? This is where lonely Lucy meets lonely Alice, a young lady who is under the care of a doctor at the practice. She is crazy about aviation and the girls immediately bond over an anime (I think) show called “The Pilot Girls” and the impressive fact that Lucy’s mom is a vaunted Thunderbird.

Emma and Alice’s dad, Paul, meet and, at least on Alice’s dad’s part it is love at first sight. Niall Matter is great at conveying this. Stars practically shoot out of his eyes. It’s hard to tell with Emma, played by Heather Hemmons, because for some reason her acting in this one is as flat as a pancake. I really liked her in Pinch of Portugal, so not sure what was going on here. One thing was probably that given the subject matter, there was no real opportunity for comedy and as a fighter pilot she has to be cool as a cucumber most of the time. Everything goes silky smooth for Emma on the Thunderbirds, with her whole team being supportive and complimentary despite her worries about her performance. So no turbulence there, although the flying sequences in which The Thunderbirds’ repertoire is displayed are beautiful and awesome.

Meanwhile, her love life is also soaring along as smoothly as anything as well. The two girls do a Parent Trap number on Mom and Dad and the two girls bond pretty solidly with each other and their respective parent’s sweetie pies. That is, until Emma gets cold feet having to do with needing to focus on her flying and that she will be re-assigned in two years. It’s very ho-hum until poor Alice has a heart attack and a heart transplant is called for. This has always been a specter in the background as we have learned why Alice is such a frequent visitor to the grandmother’s practice. The two young actresses, especially Georgia Acken as Alice, do a fine job. And the makeup department managed to make Alice look subtly pale and sickly. It’s just something I noticed and wanted to mention since the Hallmark makeup department usually gets failing marks from me. They miraculously find a heart right away, but it is stuck in Arizona due to bad weather and the clock is ticking. We finally get some drama and tension as Emma steps in to save the day. Her heroics are straight out of one of those old-timey movies when aviation was in its infancy. I refer to those movies where our hero/pilot is the last and only hope of getting the life-saving whatever to the child/community, fighting time and dangerous weather with the threat of crashing.

Unfortunately, Emma is not successful. She does not get the heart there on time and all is lost.

Ha Ha just kidding. OF COURSE she fights through danger and bad weather to get the heart to Alice and triumphantly wins the day. Alice is just fine, and Emma and Paul find out that it is very possible Emma will be reassigned to Nellis Air Force base, right there in Las Vegas in a non-Thunderbird capacity when her term is up.

One year later the fighter pilot and the store owner marry in front of a giant version of the American flag, strangely reminiscent of the movie, Patton.

They say some cheesy vows with no officiant or clergy in the vicinity that I could detect, to the cheers of her fellow pilots, families, and presumably Paul’s customers and sales force. And now that they are married, Emma can disclose what her handle “Blitz” means. I almost gave this movie a 5 out of 10. but I have to give credit for the Thunderbird aspect, and the heart attack and transplant drama. Also, instead of flirty shenanigans such as the usual boring baking, flour throwing, or, in the winter, playing in the snow, we get Heather taking Niall up in her jet. So…

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

When I Think of Christmas

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I Got Distracted From the Story

**spoilers**

This had some good things about it. I really like Niall Matter and I saw Shenae Grimes in a few things a while back and also liked her very much. She plays a lawyer in the big city who comes home for Christmas to help her mother downsize and move into a new condo. She comes across her old music partner (Niall Matter) and we learn that she used to be a talented musician and singer like her late father. Niall gives her the cold shoulder and there is a lot of anger behind his eyes. They have a fight and the truth comes out. She won a scholarship to Yale University and abandoned their dreams to go to Nashville together and try to make a go at music. She didn’t discuss it with him and just left with no warning. She basically ghosted him after a long relationship. But after she got to Yale, she wrote him and tried to call him numerous times and he just ignored her. The best he could do on his own was be part of a band. He couldn’t attain any degree of the success he dreamed of without her, although he did make a little name for himself. He has been blaming her all this time for his lack of success and for choosing Yale over him and leaving with no discussion. He is back in town directing the town’s big amateur Christmas concert. They air it all out and forgive each other and start to work together.

To be frank I was so busy trying to figure out how old the Niall Matter character was supposed to be, that I kind of lost interest in all the ins and outs of the story. Shenae’s character is definitely 28 years old. She got her scholarship as a senior in high school and it’s been 10 years. The 10-year gap between 18 and present-day is confirmed several times. Given the situation and what we learned about their relationship, it appears that Niall is about the same age. They were a music duo and were singing together since she was about 15. They were young and in love and making plans to leave town together to make a go of it in Nashville. It is mentioned later in the movie that they were in 6th grade together. But later, when it becomes obvious that his career is not going well Shenae asks him what happened. He says he got tired of just playing national venues as just part of a band and wanted to strike out on his own. At this point, Shenae confirms that this was when he was 29. As if 29 was several years ago. He says he put everything and every dollar into it, but just failed. He is still a performer, but he is not a success. He is so beaten down and discouraged that surely he struggled for at least a few years? (He even churlishly refused to join a singer on stage during the tree lighting, when given a shout-out, publicly turning his back on her) I figured he was 31 to her 28 at the youngest. It just didn’t hang together chronologically or logically. My guess is that the part was written for them both to be 28 or so years old, but it was too much of a stretch when 42-year-old Niall Matter was cast, no matter how attractive he looks. So they added some lines to age him up a bit. My head hurt trying to make it all make sense. I don’t know, it just bothered me.

They both behaved badly and they were whiny about it. For a 30 or 31 (or older) year-old man, Niall was very immature and did not seem to have much gumption or a firm grasp of the realities of the importance of being able to make a living. Shenae blamed her mother for her very successful career in New York as a lawyer. She made her feel guilty about being a responsible caring mother and guiding her teenage self to make the choice of the Yale scholarship rather than probably throwing her life away on a big gamble in music. They both just acted like babies. The mom actually ended up apologizing to her. So that was just so wrong as well. Especially when we find out more about her Mom’s struggles before and after her husband was killed.

The performers at this all-important concert were not good. The whole thing was like high school amateur night. Peter Benson’s cameo rapping A Christmas Carol was a treat, though. For all of the build-up, Niall, Shenae and her mother were not great at performing either. They all had very pleasant serviceable voices, but not professional quality by any means. I liked Mom’s new romance, but there was too much involvement in past history.

The end didn’t help. Shenae decides to follow Niall around, take up music again, and maybe practice law on the side (?). Meanwhile, Niall buys a plane ticket to New York to be near Shenae and her big career as a lawyer. The end is very vague as to what they end up doing and how. But one thing’s for sure, actor Daniel Bacon has a lock on the post of the official Mayor of Hallmarktown. This is at least his fourth turn in that role in as many years.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

Rip in Time

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Hall of Fame Worthy-It’s About Time!

I had very high hopes for this one, and I was not disappointed. It debuted on Hallmark Murders and Mysteries which serves as the home of more serious movies that don’t fit the usual Hallmark Romance mold. It was written by C. J. Cox who penned one of the best Hallmarks in recent years, Love Strikes Twice, as well as the Reese Witherspoon favorite Sweet Home Alabama and Rene Zellweger’s New in Town. It starred Niall Matter as Rip Van Winkle’s estranged son who travels from his time to ours and meets single mother Torrey DeVitto, and her son and father, the current owners of the old Van Winkle property.  Time Travel stories are always a safe bet and Niall Matter is a favorite of mine. Torrey DeVitto, not so much, but she was fine in this. Niall seems to have an air of melancholy behind his eyes, which was perfect for this role.

The fish out of water aspect was well done with enough shock and awe at the modern conveniences to make it believable and entertaining, but not so much as to distract from the story and relationship building.

When Torrey, armed with a rifle, and her son first discover Rip cowering in the barn, they flip on the light:

“Are You a Witch?!”

“She was, last Halloween.”

“Please do not shoot me, Witch!”

“Keep Calling me that. Give me a reason.”

…

“Oh. You are a spinster forced to wear pants to protect your family. I did not mean to offend you.”

“I am not a spinster, and I am offended.”

There really wasn’t much of a plot, other than the family not believing his story, trying to figure out who he is really, hiring him as a temporary farmhand rather than having him locked up, and their adventures in New York City to a hypnotist. It is there that he is taken to a doctor which results in a musket ball being removed from his leg. A musket ball that has not been manufactured since 1830 from an old (Revolutionary) war wound. Explain that one, doubters! Because of that musket ball, their last stop is with a quantum physicist (Ben Wilkinson) who posits that time travel is possible and Rip’s story might be true.

Most of the movie is relationship building with Rip helping Torrey’s bullied son, dealing with the jealous suspicions of his rival for Torrey’s affection, a police deputy, and of course the slow burn romance. Also, a festival. Of course.

The writing was full of authentic details, including bringing in Washington Irving’s classic tale and a lecture on farm machinery of the era. Glad to learn about flax breaks.  Not to mention Ben Wilkinson attempting to explain the science behind time travel to a stunned Torrey and a bewildered Rip.

The romantic conclusion was a little too pat, with many future challenges remaining unaddressed.  But the reach across time, by means of a backpack, provided a reconciliation between Rip and his misunderstood father that was touching and satisfying.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

May 24, 2022

Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater

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It Wasn’t Bad, But Nothing Out of the Ordinary

I’m a fan of both Ashley and Niall. They both bring credibility to any project they are in. However, lately, Ashley has apparently heard or read once too often about her own famous megawatt smile. Some of her scenes have a definite “insert smile here” feel. This was well made and Hallmark pulled out their A-Game for two of their most popular stars. They put a little more work into the plot, this time. Not one of their cookie-cutter jobs, although they couldn’t resist the usual flirty snowball fight. However, truth be told, the story was a little boring, and Ashley’s character was a little too sweet and good. Sometimes her behavior with grumpy-pants Niall was kind of cringeworthy. She just would not leave him alone. For me, it did not rise past the slightly above-average rating. Kudos for having her ex-husband and his wife make appearances and her daughter was very appealing. Oh, and I do like Brendon Zub. He needs more starring roles. Oh Oh. The search for the out-of-print book was true to life and exactly right. Loved that.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

November 9, 2020

Falling For Christmas

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Above Average

Nice chemistry from Hallmark fave Niall Matter and his costar put the cherry on top of this one. Good story with some tension and suspense and the bad guy turns out out to have some comic potential as well. Lisa Whelchel is charming as the Mom and her secondary romance with Niall’s brother? Uncle? fills the time nicely. Fits in with the Hallmark ethos without the usual themes of saving the (fill in the blank), town v. country, or royal imbroglio.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

November 5, 2020

Country at Heart

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Above Average, But didn’t Quite Make it to Re-watchable

I am a Niall Matter fan and a Jessy Schram fan so this had a little bit more going for it. Add a plot that is a bit off the usual template, and it should have been a big winner. It wasn’t. But it was definitely above average. The Lucas Bryant plot line was interesting and added a bit of suspense. Was he going to be even a bigger jerk than he started off as, or would he turn over a new leaf? An 8 star and above Hallmark, for me, is one I will watch again. This did not earn that 8th star. Perhaps it was the lack of humor. Lack of focus? Lack of a really bad villain or real charm in the characters. The characters were lackluster. Not talking about the actors.

And one more thing. Jessy is a TERRIBLE singer, bless her heart. But I seem to be in the minority opinion there. When she was doing her audition, I thought they were making her bad on purpose for the plot. But nope. Niall wasn’t great either, but he wasn’t really supposed to be.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

October 4, 2020

Christmas Pen Pals

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Great Casting and Acting Count for a Lot

Despite the female lead (Sarah Drew) being extremely unlikable and annoying at the beginning, this turned out to be one of the best of the Christmas entries in the Hallmark sweepstakes this year. Probably because it’s not really a Hallmark, but on Lifetime. They use the same actors and writers and probably directors, but they always seem to be just a cut above the Hallmark movies.

The plot had a lot of holes and some questionable elements. Almost the whole town agrees to be matched up to a pen pal by one woman postmaster? What are her qualifications? How does she go about this? How does she handle last-minute entries? Do they just get the dregs? How will Hannah and Sam work out the logistics of their coming marriage? How will she incorporate and sell people on the idea of writing letters before meeting face to face per her failing app/ social media company? Will Sam ever follow Hannah’s advice and get WiFi for his coffee shop? These burning questions and probably more go unanswered.

This movie ended up high on my special Hallmark rating scale because of good acting and appealing actors and actresses. Especially the male lead and Hallmark veteran, Niall Matter. My, was he appealing and had great chemistry with Sarah Drew. Michael Gross of Tremors and Family Ties added his veteran acting chops. The cast of secondary characters was exceptional. A special shout out to Latonya Williams who lit up the screen with her smile.

By the end, there were 6 match-ups that had some potential. Great job, Santy Claus… uh…Madam Post Master!

Rating: 8 out of 9.

December 16,2018