Paul Campbell

Three Wise Men and a Baby

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Three Very Popular and Attractive Actors and a Baby

**Spoilers**

This was cute with some good lines and good physical comedy. Three bickering brothers all live with their Mom, Margaret Colin, who was in the original Three Men and a Baby and Independence Day. She was a welcome surprise. Luke, the well-adjusted and responsible fireman  (Andrew Walker) is there just temporarily while his house is being built. The immature tech guy and gamer (Tyler Hynes)  unsurprisingly lives in the basement and the shy pet therapist (Paul Campbell) in a small house in the backyard. These actors are three of the most popular Hallmark actors, and the script gave each of them an opportunity to shine and show off their appeal. I’m sure this will be very highly rated with high ratings.

In the familiar plot, a baby is left at the firehouse with a note addressed to Luke to take care of him until Christmas Eve, when she will be back. Luke takes the baby home for his mom to take care of but Mom has to leave for a family emergency, which leaves the unemployed Taylor (fired for being a loudmouthed jerk) to bear the brunt of the babysitting. Paul who is self-employed pitches in and predictable shenanigans follow predictably if amusingly.

Penned by the multitalented Paul Campbell and Kimberley Sustad (who makes a brief cameo appearance, along with Preston Van der Slice), this one had some good lines of which curmudgeonly Taylor got the majority. There was some contrived physical comedy consisting of dressing up in elf costumes for no discernable reason, and the re-creation of a Christmas dance performance the boys made up as kids (which was cute as heck). Taking care of the baby helps the brothers reconcile and work together. In a dramatic scene after a scare at the hospital, they each admit their share of the blame for their estrangement. Taylor in particular comes forth with a much-needed apology for his past behavior. They also realize and appreciate what an awesome mom they have. They have trouble enough with one baby, while their mother raised three rambunctious boys, damaged by their father’s desertion, by herself.  They decide to enter the neighborhood Christmas light decorating contest. Both to win a cruise for their mother as a special Christmas gift and to beat the former school bully who lives across the street and has been taunting them throughout the picture. Unpredictably, they don’t win due to a last-minute technological malfunction. They compensate with an off-the-cuff no-tech retelling of the Christmas story which, although only vaguely resembles the gospel version, is much more authentic to the true spirit of Christmas. Even though they lose, Mom is more than compensated by the joy of seeing her boys being close friends again.

Oh, and there’s some romance too. After the human “wrecking ball”, Taylor, makes up for his behavior at work he is reconciled with his workmate and former girlfriend, Ali Liebert, who has been popping up throughout the movie. Stephan, the reclusive brother, gets together with a single dog-mom who has pursued him relentlessly throughout the movie. It was a bit of a surprise when she turns from a man-hungry cliche into a nice woman. Still, his declaration at the end That he is “enraptured” by her was very much over the top and came out of nowhere. We see in the “One Year Later” epilogue that Luke has gotten together with the down-on-her-luck young mother of the baby. It turns out he helped deliver her which was why she left it with him while she found a job. Even their former nemesis, Mark the neighbor, is included in the festivities.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Dating the Delaneys

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Very Punny

The dating adventures of three generations of Delaney women make for great entertainment. It’s a treat when Hallmark’s romantic comedies are actually romantic and actually funny. And this one has a nice message as well. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting a relationship, but it’s better when you discover you don’t need one.” The main focus is on Rachel Boston with her daughter as a side story. Widowed Grandma is already happily dating a nice pickleball enthusiast when the story begins. Rachel, as bakery owner Maggie, also has a son whose function is to demonstrate what a terrible father her ex-husband is. Brendan Zub added some edge to the thankless role. Maggie is friendly with a widower, played by the talented and funny Paul Campbell, whom she sits next to at her boy’s high school basketball games. They discuss how hard it is to get used to dating after many many years of marriage. One thing leads to another and they decide to “pretend” to date for “practice”. LOL. These two kids have obviously never seen a Hallmark movie or any romantic comedy of any kind.

There was so much to like about this one. First of all Rachel Boston was really good in this, and her rapport with Paul Campbell was easy and sweet and, in my view, much more successful than an earlier pairing. She makes a great mother. She should play one more often. In fact, the whole family dynamic was a big plus, adding humor and warmth as well as a bit of drama.

The disastrous blind dates were genuinely funny. When Maggie’s rude pig of a dinner date gets up for the restroom the waiter zooms in to tell her to just leave while she has the chance. ”Blind Date, right? How did you know? The whole restaurant knows!” She looks around and everyone is nodding at her. I actually laughed out loud. Besides the funny situations, the banter was fun as well. Her likable and savvy assistant can’t believe Maggie is not using a dating app. “You went on a blind date? What in the 1986 is that?” I loved the family’s love of corny puns. It was cute and quirky but also served to show how important a shared sense of humor is in a relationship.  Both of the Delaney women are as clueless as their hopeful suitors are smitten.  The daughter’s slow realization that the dorky Josh Groban lookalike is the one for her rather than the popular loser she has a crush on is just as sweet and engaging as the grown-up romance. Other than the terrible puns that just won’t quit, this one shone in every way. But I love terrible puns, so it’s a 10.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10.

Love, Classified

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All About Emilia (or Trudy or Jan)

This one started off extremely well. The writing was intelligent, and Melora Hardin (A.k.a. Trudy Monk) delivered her lines with verve and vivacity. It was clear that this was going to be one of the Hallmark 2.0s that the network has been flirting with lately that eschews the usual fill in the template set-pieces and characters. Paul Campbell in a cameo appeared as a bartender who serves to introduce the main character, Emilia, played by Melora. So I was set to enjoy this. We later see an uncredited appearance by Ashley Williams and a welcome cameo by Michael Kevin Anderson. And Steve Bacic is a big favorite of mine as well.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past the mother, Emilia’s, past abandonment of her children after the death of her husband. Yes, people make “mistakes”. But a 5-year absence is not a “mistake,” it is a heartless, selfish, cowardly choice. And while I know that health crises do cause people to rethink the importance of family and old ties, I thought it was significant that she didn’t come back to see her children until she felt personally vulnerable. Apparently, when everything was going well, her children were not very high up on the priority list. And as for self-centeredness, her hurt daughter was a chip off the old block. She was very unlikable. I don’t fault her for her feelings towards her mother, but I didn’t like her childish acting out, especially towards her very faultless and innocent love interest, Her mother’s doctor. Her son, on the other hand, handled everything perfectly. He was cautious about his mother’s reappearance in his life but willing to give her a chance. When she (predictably) was set to run away again, he called her out on her propensity to run from trouble and conflict instead of sticking it out. I liked his anger.

As the movie went on, Melora Hardin’s performance started to grate on my nerves more and more. Her over-the-top emoting was just hammy. Her speech at her book signing was just cringe-inducing. The self-involved airing of all of her bad behavior and embracing her children’s successes was not an apology to her children, it was another “all about me” TMI performance. So, what promised to be a more sophisticated (lesbian romance front and center instead of a brief hint in the background) version of family-friendly fare, just fizzled, for me. Stars for the good things about it.**6 out of 10**

Rating: 6 out of 10.

April 24, 2022

Wedding Every Weekend

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Way to Go, Hallmark!

I agree with all of the positive reviews regarding this movie. Kimberley Sustad is a very likable and talented actress and does comedy very well. I liked the plot and the slow-building realistic growth of her feelings for Paul Campbell and his for her. It’s been a long time since I have looked forward to the inevitable happy ending with such anticipation in a Hallmance. Too often it’s just a big yawn. They did avoid most of the usual Hallmark tent poles in the plot although the “big misunderstanding” was front and center.

Yes, the diversity was laid on with a trowel. Jewish, Black, multi-ethnic, and gay weddings. But sometimes the politically correct thing is also the right and good thing. In fact, the only “normal” (Ha Ha) couple was the lead couple, now that I think about it. Hopefully, the religious right can take some comfort in that. As for me, I hope Hallmark doesn’t think they’ve done their duty for the time being as far as diversity is concerned and non-WASP non-straight people go back to being relegated to tokens. I choose to give them the benefit of the doubt that they will be guided by the praise and not the invective.

Rating: 9 out of 10.

August 17, 2020

The Last Bridesmaid

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Bad Vibes

I am a fan of Paul Campbell so I thought I’d give this a re-watch, even though I didn’t remember being overly impressed the first time around. Paul was fine. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel. I used to like her all right. She used to be one of the go-to Hallmark actresses. The more I have seen her in recent years, the less I like her. She has a real stagey acting style. She says her lines like she knows there is an audience watching her. Like she is an elementary teacher role-playing in front of her not too bright students. This is just the way she comes across to me. I know she has her fans, and that is fine.

I found that her interaction with Paul Campbell came across as borderline hostile, especially at the beginning. And it wasn’t due to the story. Her eyes were so cold when she looked at him in a few scenes, I actually got a little freaked out. I wish I knew what was going on there, if anything.

The story wasn’t all that bad, hence a semi-respectable 6 1/2 stars from me. The script seemed well-written and had some cute and clever lines. I liked that she was playing her age not an almost 40-year-old actress playing a young inexperienced girl just starting out in her career. The jewelry-making subplot was interesting and added a lot to the usual love story. The message was a good one: Follow your dreams, do what you love, but stay sensible and grounded. The romance as scripted did not come out of nowhere, the relationship developed naturally and realistically.**6 1/2 stars out of 10** *

May 26, 2021

Rating: 6.5 out of 10.

Surprised by Love

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Slinkys and Twinkies

This Hallmark non-holiday romance has all of the prerequisite Hallmark clichés: Stuffy boyfriend, quirky true love, visit to well-off but mean parents, heroine caught in the wrong career, and troubled sister. It manages to overcome them all, thanks to the whimsical charm of Paul Campbell as Quigley, and Tim Conway as the grandfather pretending to have dementia in order to escape being drawn into the various family dramas. The redemption of her parents is well done and accomplished with a slinky and a Twinkie cake. The secondary romance of the sister, played by Leanne Lapp, and her next-door neighbor and son of the Mother’s nemesis is a nice touch. The sister was tons more likable and interesting than the primary heroine and actually is more compatible with her love interest. But a match-up between them would not have provided the necessary “opposites attract” dynamic and her eventual character arc where she has her epiphany regarding her love life and her career. ** 9 out of 10 Stars**

Rating: 9 out of 10.

January 6, 2015