Rachel Skarsten

The Christmas Charade

/ Rebekahrox / 10 Comments

Charade…A Nod to a Classic Caper Flick?

Whitney is an elementary school librarian who has always been wrapped in a cocoon of safety by her parents who own a home security firm. Reading a Christmas story to the kids, she concludes with a lecture on the dangers of using incandescent bulbs on a Christmas tree. The kids look at her quizzically. Rachel Skarsten is as appealing as heck in this role. She is single of course, and doesn’t use an online dating app because, you know, Murderers! And she has the stats to back it up. Plus, she is timid and shy, though one senses she wants to break out of her shell.

While on a blind date set up by a trusted friend, she sits down in front of the wrong guy in a green sweater and gets roped into an FBI sting operation. Corey Sevier is Josh, the FBI agent who does not act at all like a blind date should. When she is put in the picture she plays along and gets invited to help plan a Christmas Ball by the FBI target’s girlfriend. The very party that Josh needs to get into to trap his man! Unable to extricate herself without endangering the operation, Whitney agrees to be a part of the sting,  much to Josh’s consternation and objections. Josh is a surly lone wolf type who grew up in foster care, does not have a family, and is not a Christmas fan. “It’s just another day to me”. Cue montage of Josh “training” Whitney in basic FBI survival skills. Since Whitney learned how to defend herself at an early age thanks to her parents, during the martial arts tutorial she whips Josh’s butt. Whitney starts to enjoy herself. In fact, throughout the movie, Whitney proves to be much better at Josh’s job than Josh is. He is played by Corey Sevier, who is as good in his role as Rachel is in hers.  The chemistry between the two was terrific, as it has to be between the two leads in a caper movie. Or was this a parody of a caper movie? When I think about it, I’m going to go with parody. Nothing concerning their mission is grounded in reality and they are laughably inept at everything they do to catch the bad guys. But they never get caught out because the bad guys are even more inept. This theory also covers some inexplicable plot holes that I would have to blame someone for. It was helmed by the directing and writing team of  Corey, who is a favorite of mine, and his writing partner and real-life wife, Kate Pragnell.  What was with that Tango scene that dropped into the movie out of nowhere? And the magic rope that formed a loop in midair? The script was cute and clever. At one point when Whitney and Josh are crawling through the ventilation system, Whitney quotes from Die Hard, “the best Christmas movie ever.” Yes, they went there.

The one strike against this movie, for me, was Whitney’s parents. They made me feel very stabby, especially her controlling father, who smothered her with over-protectiveness for most of the movie. I don’t want to spoil anything (this time) but in a very funny twist at the end, their whole schtick led to the best scene in the movie. All was forgiven by me, (but not Whitney.) That is, until the inevitable reconciliation scene which concludes the story. Of course we also have the kiss at the very end when Whitney and Josh decide to be girlfriend and boyfriend for reals.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Christmas Island

/ Rebekahrox / 4 Comments

I Do Love a Christmas Tree Made out of Lobster Traps.

This one started off great. I am quickly becoming a huge fan of Rachel Skarsten, and of course, Andrew Walker is always welcome as the romantic interest. Rachel plays Kate, a commercial airline pilot. She was perfectly cast and totally believable in the role as she does “professional, respected, and successful” so well. However, her character is stuck on boring regional domestic assignments and her dream job is as a private pilot for corporations and the rich and famous. She snags an opportunity to fly the Sharpe family to Switzerland for Christmas with the opportunity to turn it into a permanent position if things go smoothly and the Sharpes like her.

In the first few minutes, we see that the Sharpe parents and their two children, a teenage girl and a young son,  are desperately in need of a Christmas reset as they have gotten very much off track. The parents run a famous and successful lifestyle empire (think Chip and Joanna Gaines) which has taken first priority over their children. Predictably, Callie, their daughter is glued to her phone (as are her parents, for that matter), spoiled, and resentful. Their little boy Finn is just lonely. They have forgotten how to be a family.

As Kate is about to start across the Atlantic, she is forced to land in Nova Scotia due to stormy and dangerous weather. But not before she tangles with a grouchy Air Traffic Controller, Andrew Walker, who does not appreciate Kate’s attitude. Kate and the family end up in his hometown on Christmas Island, the nearest community to the airport they are forced to land at. And as you might guess, it is far far from the fancy sophisticated milieus the Sharpes are used to. And ever since her father died on Christmas Eve, Kate avoids the holiday, and as you also just might guess, Christmas Island is all about Christmas. Anxious to please Kate takes the kids in hand so the parents can get on with running their empire. But this is Hallmark so the stage is set for a lost family to do the hard work of finding their way back to familyhood and for Kate and Andrew to make their way from enemies to lovers. I was looking forward to some drama, suspense, revelations, and maybe a bit of turmoil as the parents learned how to be parents again culminating in a touching and heartwarming scene or two. And maybe seeing a little of the same from the romance.

Unfortunately, everything got on the right track far too soon for my taste. It wasn’t long at all before the parents saw the error of their ways parenthood-wise and started to get back to the homespun roots of what started their company to begin with. And Andrew goes from grumpy and sarcastic to a jolly Christmas elf (literally) falling in love with equally mushy Kate in record time. It’s just a big giant flirt-fest well before the halfway point. All great for the Christmas cheer, but I like a little tartness with my sweet. The movie was still good: well-written and well-acted with some good scenes. I loved the authentic-seeming setting and traditions of the lobster fishing community. It also managed to avoid what could have been a dangerous pitfall near the end, which would have all but ruined the movie for me. **spoiler**

<<Andrew does not lie about the weather clearing up just to keep Kate and company on the island, thank God.>>

But the romance, plot, and character arcs just did not fulfill the potential that I felt was promised in the initial setup. It was all too easy and therefore not as engaging or interesting as it could have been.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

The Royal Nanny

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Scary Poppins 

**Spoilers**

I do like it when Hallmark goes to England, and this was no exception. Rachel Skarsten is good, as usual, and very striking looking with her hair up. No long overprocessed ringlets, thank goodness. Her English accent was a little distracting, but that was a me problem as she has the accent credentials once playing Elizabeth Tudor in the popular series Reign. But I digress. Enough about Rachel.

This had elements of a typical Nannyfish out of water taking care of precocious Royal Children and falling for the Prince. But this usual template is rescued from dreary business-as-usual by the fact that this was also part MI5 spy story. Agent Rachel helps uncover a plot against the Royal Family and the military intelligence department sends her to protect the family disguised as the new nanny. She is partnered by Tousaint Meghie as Wallace, the new chauffeur. She resists the assignment because she grew up in an orphanage and has zero experience with children. She goes through a whirlwind training by the Nanny Whisperer, Greta Scacchi, who has aged gracefully and settled into character parts very comfortably, thank you very much. Her specialty is weaponizing the ever-present Nanny umbrella. Once she is installed, high jinks ensue with the kids trying to prank her. She is not MI5 for nothing and their amateur efforts are nipped in the bud quite resoundingly with the bucket of spaghetti landing on their co-conspirator, Uncle Colin (the love interest). She wins the kids over by not ratting them out to their mother, the Princess, and even indulging in a prank of her own. The princess is a dead ringer for Felicity Jones, BTW. Of course, we have the inevitable invitation to the Royal Ball and a jaw-dropping entrance. She wins Colin over when he sees her with her hair down (in an unfortunate return to her long ringlets) and in a feminine ball dress. But also by jumping in to help with his charity coincidentally benefitting her old orphanage. The enemies attack as they are exiting and Rachel saves the kids with some ninja umbrella action, but Colin gets kidnapped.

The romance was lame with little chemistry between the two lovebirds and really had no future despite the kiss at the end. The spy part was adequate. I suspected one character, who turned out to be guilty of something, but not of the main threat of harming the children. When Colin gets kidnapped, Rachel’s boss tries to fire her but the princess stands up for her and throws the male spooks out on their ear. Yay! The main bad guy and the motive will be no surprise to anyone with even a passing interest in British mystery and international intrigue stories, but that was totally OK. In a good scene, Rachel has some succinct words for any bad guys thinking that the end justifies the means: “You can never do right by doing wrong.” And her reply to a common defense: “This job. It changes you.” “I think it just makes you more of who you are.” Simplistic, but usually true.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Timeless Love

/ Rebekahrox / 2 Comments

What Just Happened Here?

Megan wakes up from a coma and learns the life she dreamed of wasn’t real. Or was it? Or will it be? Time-slip movies can be difficult as well as entertaining. This one left me with too many questions. This woman dreams up 2 children and they weren’t real? Did she dream the pregnancy and birth as well? If it was just a dream, what was the deal with the clock? Did she go back in time? Were the first couple minutes of the movie just a sneak peek into her future? If it was just a dream why did she meet the dream husband in real life? If she hadn’t had that dream would she have met him anyway and felt the same way about him? Did she have the same kids eventually? Would her real life be forever influenced by her memories of her dream? What about the dream kids? Did they have thoughts and feelings? Souls? Would she have to still live in that same house? decorate it the same way? So many questions. Rachel Skarsten did a great job, and I did enjoy the movie despite it all. Sounds like it’s time for a rewatch. If things become clearer, I’ll revise my review!

Rating: 7 out of 10.

June 23, 2020

Marry Me at Christmas

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Pretty Bad. But I did enjoy Trevor Donovan.

Nothing special here. Same old same old story partially redeemed by the character of Johnny Blake played by a well-cast Trevor Donovan. The secondary characters were played by Hallmark perennials, though the 2 female leads were relative newcomers to the Hallmark stable. Emily Tennant, the bride, who provides the #2 lead was fresh and appealing. I see Hallmark in her future. I wish Hallmark would steer away from extravagantly beautiful heroines toward more down-to-earth girls. I just can relate to cute more than impossibly gorgeous. All though this is a backhanded compliment to the physical beauty of Rachel Skarsten, I was distracted throughout most of the movie by her over-processed long ringlets. What is this? 1989?

The success of these things, for me, depends on the existence of some dialogue with some snap to it, some humor, some surprises(a little suspense?), appealing casting, good acting, enough non-phony not-needless conflict to provide some catharsis or the comeuppance of evil-doers. Do I ask for all of these things at once? No, that would be asking too much. (though it has happened, rarely). But I need at least 2. The “supercute” (gag me) snowball fight kicked off a big fail for me.

On a side note, when, oh when, is Hallmark Inc. going to get on the bandwagon and start starring a few of the talented and numerous black actors and actresses as the romantic leads? And I’m not talking about black bosses, black millionaire clients, or black best friends. A.) It seriously calls into question their values, and B.), It’s super stupid business-wise. The most popular and profitable romances and dramas in the theatres today feature black people in the leads. Tyler Perry anyone? What about Malcolm D. Lee and his Best Man movies? There are dozens of examples. Come on. I have more than a few black women friends who would jump on such a Hallmark movie like a duck on a junebug. I can’t believe they have seldom been called on this. WTH?!**4 stars out of 10**

Rating: 4 out of 10.

November 4, 2017