Tyler Hynes

Three Wisest Men

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“Nothing like a trilogy to make people happy.”

It is the Christmas after the last movie and two of the three brothers have not shown much of the hoped for growth and wisdom which we are promised by the end of the second film. But there is some progress! 

The “worst” brother, Taylor (Tyler Hynes), has flourished in his career and is being offered a partnership in a successful tech company in Silicon Valley. But we know by his perpetually pained expression (a Tyler Hynes trademark) while the head honcho is offering him the moon and stars to come on board, that he still has “issues”. Taking the fabulous opportunity would involve moving out of state and out of his mother’s (huge and luxurious) basement.  But there is hope. He is still with new girlfriend Caroline, “the love of his life,” who was such a bright spot and force for good in the second movie. The actress, Erin Kurpluk’s, star has not dimmed in this one.

Stephan (Paul Campbell) and Susie are planning their wedding, but he still lives in his Mom’s guest house in her backyard. This is a magic guest house. It morphs from small and sort of modest to ginormous and luxurious from one scene to another. Unless there are two “guesthouses” in her backyard. This kind of lack of attention to detail that Hallmark is famous for does not have any affect on plot or character but it is very distracting. As is the borderline weird product placement. Stephan’s wedding plans are not going well thanks to his skittish behavior and shilly-shallying over decisions. Also his prospective father-in-law is visiting for Christmas and they do not get along.

 Luke (Andrew Walker), the third brother is just fine, if a little tense, being the fire chief, the father to Thomas, the titular child of the first 2 movies, and husband to his pregnant-with-twins wife. He’s nervous about his impending fatherhood, which a very ranty and unpleasant birth coach in the first scene did not help. She needed to go back to birth-coaching school.

To get the ball rolling, the boys learn their mother Barbara a.k.a. “Gigi” (Margaret Colin) is selling her huge house which not only throws Stephan and Taylor’s living arrangements into disarray but spurs the boys to make this Christmas, their last in the childhood home, “The Best Christmas Ever.” Thus, the lion’s share of the time remaining is devoted to a rather random string of over the top hijinks, shenanigans, and frenzied activity/disasters which added nothing to the actual story (was there one?) and provided all too few chuckles, unfortunately. 

However. There were a few high spots that kept the movie in watchable territory. The well-written dialogue (by Campbell and Sustad) flows smoothly thanks to the rapport of the actors playing the three brothers. Jerry, the talking cockatiel, was pretty funny, and I liked the callbacks to the previous two movies: Mr. B of the Christmas Pageant, Mark Laclark, and Kimberley Sustad’s cameo as the wry local doctor, for 3. Even Fiona (Ali Liebert, yay), Taylor’s girlfriend in the first movie, pops up in a pivotal role. At first I thought they had forgotten about Roy, Gigi’s new boyfriend in the second movie, but his mysterious absence is finally mentioned (I may have missed something) and he returns in a climactic scene. I liked Roy. There is a heartwarming scene or two where Taylor acknowledges his fear of change, and Stephan finally makes it all better with Susie. Best of all, her rude Dad gets told off by a disgusted Gigi very satisfactorily and he is suitably abashed and apologizes. At the end, the trilogy is wrapped up with the two problematic brothers making mature decisions about their future, and Luke welcoming twin daughters to the fold. This ended up being a good wrap up of the trilogy. As Dr. Kimberley Sustad says, “3 is the magic number.” And enough is enough.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Christmas Above the Clouds

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God Bless Us, Everyone

It’s Countdown to Christmas and time for another remake of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This makes the third fantasy movie this year for Hallmark and half of its offerings so far. And that’s great, if, like me, you enjoy a little fantasy with your Christmas Romances. But you can stop now, Hallmark. This modern adaptation of the Christmas classic was well done. Ella Neezer is the worst sort of scrooge as the C.E.O. of a successful travel agency (Great Expectations Travel). It is in a huge high rise in New York City with a huge staff, so apparently that business model is not as defunct as I thought it was. Her latest crime against humanity is turning down a marketing campaign that highlights couples in love. “Why can’t we see a nice high powered single woman having the vacation of her life without anyone else around?”. This means that her staff has to work through Christmas on a new one, while she flies first class to Australia on a business trip (turning down, once again, her loving sister’s invitation to spend Christmas with her family in Utah.) Spending Christmas on an airplane suits her just fine as she has nothing but contempt for the holiday. But she is dragging along her personal assistant, Bobbi Cratchet (Emily Tennant), stuffed in coach, poor kid. Bobbi not only will not be able to spend Christmas with her loving family, but with all of the last minute duties Ella gives her, will not even have time to say goodbye to her little son, Tim, who struggles with severe asthma.

Once on the flight, she is barely keeping it together as the flight turns out to be a special Christmas edition full of merry holiday making with a relentlessly cheerful (and singing!) flight staff. All Ella wants is to be left alone peacefully wallowing in her solitude. But to her dismay, she finds herself seated next to her ex-fiancé, Jake (Tyler Hynes). 

Let’s skip to the ghosts. The first one, of course, is Christmas Past, the perkiest flight attendant ever played by Faith Wright, who is adorable. We get a glimpse of Ella and her sister Frances’s neglected childhood, her happy college days with Jake, and how they broke up over her workaholism on Christmas 6 years ago. She learns the reason why Bobbi was late for work one morning which caused Ella to almost fire her. She was in the emergency room all night with her son. Bobbie is struggling financially due to the company’s less than generous health plan. Ella starts to show a bit of humanity and remorse. But just a bit.

The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Ella what her employees and her family really think of her. Her employees hate her and conspire behind her back. Although her sister still loves her, the rest of the family is glad she did not join them for Christmas. Even the kindest of the people she comes in contact with only pity her. She sees that Jake, for some mysterious reason, is still hung up on her and doesn’t date. Up to this point, she is only partially seeing the error of her ways. She is still complaining and tries to defend herself (Why didn’t Bobbi tell me her little boy was so sick? Why did she “agree to skip Christmas”?) Christmas Present is like “Oh really?!” and sets her straight.  Enter Christmas Yet to Come. This ghost is played by a big black dude dressed in black complete with sunglasses. Unlike peppy and chatty Past and Present, he is very scary and does not say a word. It is Christmas a year from now and she finds out that she is dead! How? How did she die? We are not told but inquiring minds want to know. Jake is now a lonely librarian “like Donna Reed?!” And also poor little Tim is dead too! Jeez, Hallmark. Needless to say, Ella, threatened with death, finally sees the light, and makes up for her bad behavior.

I have to say that Erin Krakow did a good job in this one. She used to be more of a miss than a hit with me, but in the last couple of years, she has won me over. I am no longer on edge when I see her cast as the leading lady. That cannot be said about Tyler Hynds. He seems to have found a niche of playing tortured weak characters who have a lot of work to do on themselves, ideally in therapy. But I am happy to report that he played a normal good guy in this one and I liked him. The script provided nice dashes of humor both during the ghostly visitations and between them, when she was trying to process what was happening to her and interacting with Jake. On a final note, I have to say that I hated the roomy white athleisure lounge wear Erin wore throughout almost the whole movie. I’m sure it was comfy, but it did nothing for her at all. Despite that outfit however, on the Christmas Carol remake scale, this was a “God Bless Us Every One.”

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Three Wiser Men and a Boy

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Christmas is Saved!

It’s 5 years later, and we’re back with the three Brenner boys. On the surface, everything seems fine. Luke is married to Thomas’s mother Sophie and being a Dad. Thomas was the baby in Three Wise Men and a Baby who was foisted on the three brothers by a complete stranger to temporarily take care of. Which they did, and by doing so managed to heal a breach that had developed between them, learned to appreciate how great their mother was, and grew up a good bit themselves. Thomas’s mother, I’m happy to report, is now gainfully employed and being a success at her job. She is going to some kind of work conference and Luke is going to be taking care of Thomas on his own while she is away. Stephan, former pet psychologist, has now written a self help book for humans about conquering his own crippling anxiety. He is still seeing Susie, whom he got together with at the end of the previous movie. When we first see Taylor, he is pitching the new video game he has created to an investor on a video call in what appears to be an office in his own company.

But all is not what it seems. To make a long story short they still have a lot of work to do on themselves. Especially Stephan and Taylor. Luke, who has been promoted to Fire Chief,  still pretty much has it all together although he is as tightly wound as ever. He has dropped some balls at work and at home but that’s parenthood for you, right? The corporate representative that Taylor is pitching his game to wants to buy the game for a large amount of money, not invest in it. Taylor refuses his offer because he views it as selling out. After the call, we see that Taylor is using a coffee shop as a front for an office and he and his props are kicked out. He goes home to his apartment and is met with an eviction notice for not paying his rent. Stephan has been neglecting Susie in favor of promoting his aforementioned book and their relationship is showing some cracks. As does his new calm and collected facade. Susie wants to get married like a grownup and Stephan is oblivious. Taylor, due to his being homeless, suggests that all three of them move back in with Mom as a Christmas treat for her and so they all can take care of Thomas while his mother is away. Of course we know that many challenges are on their way and by the end they will result in “the boys” getting back on the right track once again.

Since they have the parent and uncle thing pretty much nailed now, the challenges come in the form of Mom’s new boyfriend and them taking charge of Thomas’s school Christmas pageant. While visiting a rehearsal, they had accidentally destroyed all of the sets and props and served the children “poison” cookies so half of the kids quit, along with the director. Mom’s new boyfriend, who is a pastor and pretty much the perfect man and in all ways worthy of their wonderful mother, is very much resented by the boys and is not exactly welcomed with open arms into their Mom’s life. Taking charge of the pageant does not go well as all of the kids who had any talent are gone, and the boys think the whole thing has to be rewritten. They are determined not to let this pageant be a disaster that will scar the kids’ lives forever, but true to form, they screw it up even worse by calling in “the big guns,” Mark LeClark,  the Christmas decorating champion from the previous movie. He is all about Christmas glitz, giant inflatables, smoke machines, and disco lights. In short, everything not in line with the true spirit of Christmas. After the set burns down thanks to a blowtorch and an overloaded circuit board (way to go there Mr. Fire Chief-maybe not so together after all), they finally listen to the advice that all the adults in the room have been trying to tell them and go back to the original simple plan. The pageant is a success and, to borrow a line from the show, “Christmas is Saved!” The play is called “The Grump Who Ruined Christmas” to avoid copyright infringement which was a humorous touch.

Besides this basic plot, there was a lot more going on in this movie, including Taylor finding  romance with one of the volunteers. She is described as female version of himself including a predilection for constantly sucking on a candy cane. Only she is a much better more mature version of him and he learns a lot from her. The character and the actress were real bright spots, and it was an very clever idea for the love interest. She was funny and my favorite character even though she replaced Ali Leibert as Taylor’s girlfriend. There are a lot of pep talks in this. The “boys” give a lot of them and get a lot of them. They also get told off a lot by virtually everybody at least once, even Mark LeClark. At first I really wasn’t feeling this movie, as the growth we thought we saw in the brothers at the end of the first movie seemed to be more of a one step forward but two steps back situation. A lot of it was a rehashing, but the script was funny. Not really in a laugh-out-loud way but with clever lines and terrific visual comedy. So, well written (by Kimberley Sustad and Paul Campbell) and directed. Cute cameo appearance by Ms Sustad, btw. The obligatory heartwarming scenes were there of course, but I could have done with one or two less of those. No complaints about the acting of the three co-leads or the supporting characters, even the kids. Everyone was great, but Paul Campbell was a stand out as always. The true meaning of Christmas was learned once again. I hope we don’t have to learn it a third time because there just might be a third movie next year as the door was left open just a crack. Can we see some real steps forward with no backward ones? Can they be men and not boys? And can we keep Taylor’s girlfriend next time around? (If there is a next time.)

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

Shifting Gears

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Dead Battery

After more than several Christmas movies that surprised and delighted and a February slate that really went outside their usual wheelhouse with their tributes to Jane Austen, it’s back to, if not the salt mines, at least bland and boring reality for Hallmark. Oh, this one will probably get decent reviews and good numbers because it stars the ever-popular Tyler Hynes who does his usual growly low-talking and vaguely rough around the edges thing. Also, as usual, his character’s character leaves a lot to be desired (i.e. weak). But it was a Hallmark that went strictly by the Hallmark playbook: Where do I start? Shy and afraid of “getting back out there” and stepping-outside-her-comfort-zone heroine, who is still recovering from dead mother syndrome meets the ex-boyfriend who broke her heart in High School. They compete with each other in a contest whose prize money will save her father’s business from failure. The boyfriend, who is dissatisfied with his desk job, works for an evil corporation owned by his father who is trying to (double whammy!) put her father out of his already struggling business. Also, I couldn’t believe it when the compulsory winter bonding activity of ice skating was replaced with…roller skating! Cuz it’s not winter anymore! It’s spring! And this is the kick off to “Spring Into Love!” What is it with Hallmark and skates?

Even though the foundation of the plot was the same old same old, I will say that the accessories were kind of interesting. The business in question is a car garage and our heroine, Jess, is the mechanic who also restores vintage cars. (That’s what the reality show/contest is about.) We have a lot of love for and information about cars from the 1950s and 60s which was definitely more interesting than some of the usual professions that we are subjected to in Hallmark movies. Also worth mentioning is that this is the first movie in Ashley Williams’ Make Her Mark program which fosters and provides the opportunity for women who aspire to be directors. Hallmark has been very good about giving women the opportunity to write and direct their movies, from what I can tell. And this program just reinforces this effort. Well done, Hallmark! Also Kudos in the acting department to Ray Galletti who did such a great job playing “Wayne LaRouche” the host of the reality show that I actually googled “Wayne LaRouche” expecting to see that he was a real guy who owned a chain of classic car restoration shops.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

Never Been Chris’d

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It’s Complicated.

This one is not for the old-fashioned Hallmark purist. If you want lots of simple Christmas cheer, happy tears, and a feel-good romance to wrap around you like a warm blanket, this one isn’t for you. Neither is it if you want the characters you root for and root against clearly defined.  Like a previous one, it is fast and furious. There is also a lot going on. Romance is not the focus, and to stir the pot even more, it is not clear that the love interest (played by the ever-popular fan-favorite, Tyler Hynes) is completely on the up and up with benign motivations. And we are not sure which of the women who both have crushes on him is going to “get” him, or if either one will, or indeed if both will (!). Now that last option is really not on the table, cuz it’s Hallmark, dear. But for a chunk of time, It shore looks like he is trying to romance both of them! To be honest, I think the romance would have worked with either of the two leads. I think the scriptwriter may have just done an eeny meeny miny mo.

Essentially, the story is about 2 best friends (adroitly played by Janel Parrish and new comer Pascal Lamothe- Kipnes) who need to disentangle themselves from each other’s lives because they have become co-dependent. Now I’m not exactly 100% sure I have a handle on what co-dependent looks like, but they both sacrificed their own needs to be the friend and supporter each has needed over the years. And they have no clue. They love each other. They have been best friends (even each others’ only friend, really) since high school. They went on to college where they were roommates, and founded a tech company together which has made them rich and famous. And they both have unhealthy relationships with their mothers. One pair is resentful and passive-aggressively hostile, and one is too attached and boundaries are needed. These problems can only be uncovered and fixed at Christmas time in their old hometown surrounded by the very people who contributed to their mess (including the high school cool kids who ignored these two outsiders throughout their teenage years). Can you go home again? Do you want to re-live the past and make different decisions? It’s really complicated, because in our heroines’ case, if they hadn’t been so dependent on each other and so unhappy in high school, they wouldn’t be the wealthy successes they are today.

As layers are uncovered and secrets are revealed, I went back and forth in my opinions about many of the characters. For just one example, The hero, Chris, is vocal about being a vegan complete with a virtue-signaling story about why he became one. As one of his old buddies pipes up, “And what Vegan isn’t vocal?” Yet one, eventually both, of our heroines catch him eating fish, one time right off her plate in a restaurant. Now this sounds kind of funny and harmless. But his lie is discovered right when we are trying to make up our minds about him and what his deal is.

And through it all, we have creative graphics ( real photos of the characters in high school as they are introduced), funny jokes and banter, and amusing physical comedy. Some of the situational comedy works and sometimes it gets too silly. But above it all is the chemistry between our two female leads without which nothing about this one would have worked. If you like Hallmarks you actually have to look at and listen to, not play on your phone during, you just might like this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

A Picture of Her

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Delete.

Oh, Goody! Another Hallmark romance based on lies! How many is that this month? Three? Four? This one had a bit of promise since it stars Tyler Hines who usually brings an edgy cool masculinity to his roles. He is also very popular so Hallmark usually gives him better-than-average scripts. The script did have words in it, but they forgot the plot.

Tyler Plays Jake, a once idealistic photographer full of dreams of people buying his photos for their art. However, when he published a book of arty scenic photos, he only sold 5 copies, 3 of them to his mother. He is still a photographer but now makes his living as a jaded paparazzo with an occasional gig doing legit photo spreads for a weekly Los Angeles magazine. This state of affairs has made him sad and tired which is right in Tyler’s wheelhouse, acting-wise. While on one of his respectable assignments, he takes a picture of a lovely girl sniffing a rose and it goes viral. It is a very pretty picture of very pretty and sweet-faced Beth played by very pretty Rhiannon Fish. He is quite taken with her and coincidentally meets her at a dog park and they go out on a date. Or at least half a date, because he leaves right in the middle of it to take a picture of a celebrity shoplifter. He is partners with a girl who looks out for celebs doing embarrassing things and whenever she sees one, she calls Jake who hops on his motorcycle to get to the scene of the crime to take pictures of the unsuspecting famous person doing the bad thing. Why she just doesn’t whip her cell phone out, and keep all the money for herself I don’t know. Maybe her button-pressing finger is broken.

The next day, Beth and Jake meet up again and she takes him to have dinner with her Aunt Dody. Beth is just visiting her from her small seaside town where she is first mate on her dad’s fishing boat. I think that profession is a first for Hallmark. As soon as Aunt Dody and Jake are alone, Aunt Dody pounces on him and asks what his intentions are in a very aggressive and threatening manner. Sweet and vulnerable Beth has been lied to and hurt before and he better not break her heart or act dishonorably in any way. Oops. Too late. He has already lied to her that he is not “one of those fellows who hides in the bushes and takes pictures of famous people.” Plus, Jeez Aunt D. they’ve only been on half a date. Back off.

And that’s about it. Beth tries to find the mysterious photographer who invaded her privacy by taking her picture without permission, and gets an agent because now companies want to hire her to be in commercials. So she’s mad, but not really. They go on more dates but when Jake has the opportunity to come clean about the picture and his profession, he lies again. This guy. On Beth’s first commercial shoot, they put so much makeup on her that she gets scared and disgusted. (Too much makeup? On a Hallmark?) While running from the set, she meets Jake and finds out that he is the low-down sneak that took her picture! She is betrayed and heartbroken and goes back home to the fishing boat. Tyler is even sadder and tireder than he was before.

Even the news that Daniel Bacon, who usually plays small-town mayors in Hallmarkland, but in this one is the head of the weekly mag that he does occasional work for, wants to dedicate a whole issue to his arty photos doesn’t perk him up. His dream has come true, but he just blows him off to chase after Beth with that old book of his. That book thing is very mysterious. Earlier in the day he got a call from Aunt Dody because an unknown person sent her Jake’s book. She calls Jake because she thinks he did it. He didn’t and denies it. She decides that Jake’s a nice “boy” after all and asks him to personally deliver his book to Beth up in Washington for some reason. So he does, apologizes to Beth, and finds out that it was Beth herself who found a copy and sent it anonymously to Aunt Dody. Why? Don’t know. Anyway, she has it back again and they make it up and all is well in the romance department. Can’t say the same about the job department because Mayor Daniel is still waiting on his offer to rejuvenate Jake’s career as a respectable photographer at last. I hope he is patient because the happy couple is too busy riding off into the sunset on Jake’s motorcycle. This is one of those “Happy for Now” endings.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

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.

Always Amore

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The Recipe Needed a New Twist

**Spoilers**

This was well-acted by the talented and beautiful Autumn Reeser, as always. She has never disappointed and I approach a Hallmark movie featuring her with optimism. The same goes for Tyler Hynes, who gives a warm and natural performance. For once, he’s a strong guy who doesn’t need therapy. He plays a kind of restaurant whisperer hired by the primary investor in Autumn’s restaurant to turn things around.  Kind of like Chef Gordon Ramsay in Kitchen Nightmares but super nice and not swear-y. Unfortunately, this one is the done-to-death “save the restaurant” plotline. Autumn plays a still-grieving widow who is struggling to keep her late husband’s legacy, which is his restaurant, alive.  The problem is that doing that means keeping herself, the restaurant, the menu and recipes, and the staff mired in the past. Case in point, as pointed out incredulously by Tyler, despite being on the verge of bankruptcy, they are still expensively importing their tomatoes from Italy because that’s what her husband did. I sincerely doubt that Italian tomatoes are any better than good ol’ American tomatoes. And so does Tyler, who is exceedingly compassionate and patient despite some very trying hostile attitudes. He finally convinces her that there is no legacy without a functioning restaurant. A restaurant emphasizing love, family, and tradition is all very well, but there is none of that if a profit is not being made. Once that pilot light is turned on, it’s just a matter of convincing the bank to give her a loan to buy out her main investor who is going to sell to a big corporate entity. But the bank is not going to do that until the restaurant shows some signs of life. She has to convince her husband’s protege, himself a brilliant chef, to enter a food competition to generate buzz.  He is reluctant because he perceives that as being disloyal to his mentor. After plenty of annoying waffling, he agrees. And Autumn contributes her awesome baking skills to the effort. But what about when intimidating but beloved Mother-in-law Patty “Bad Seed” McCormack finds out what they are up to? Is she going to be like lovely wise “Nonna”, or scary Rhoda?

Besides the talented cast (including a personal fave, Latonya Williams, as the contest head, and the talented child actor, Erica Tremblay, as Autumn’s daughter) the food photography is gorgeous and the menu items look delicious. Or as they describe in the movie, “glorious, stunning, delectable, genius, a miracle, etc.”. Heavy on the tension and distress, as well as the thesaurus, and light on the wit and humor, the script is the same old retread of the same old “save the business” story with nothing special to set it apart. Autumn’s recovery from grief and finding her own path and a new love was fine, but it was hardly anything new.

Despite the finest freshest ingredients, if the recipe isn’t good, neither is the dish.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

April 7, 2022

It Was Always You

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Good Hair!

Elizabeth is engaged to a fellow dentist, safe boring George, a childhood friend. They go to their old island neighborhood to throw a party for George’s mother and to prepare for their upcoming wedding. George’s brother David with whom she has had a stormy relationship with is also there. When George is stranded on the mainland, Elizabeth and David are thrown together planning the party.

I did not like the relationship between Tyler Hynes (David) and Erin Krakow who played Elizabeth. Tyler Hynes was his usual rough around the edges attractive self. I really usually like him. But his character in this one was irritating. He was out of line about things that were none of his business. The whole relationship bordered on the inappropriate and stalkerish. She was engaged to his brother and he needed to lay off and leave her alone.

And why did the fiance brother not just get a boat over to the island when the bridge was under repair? Ridiculous.

I disagree with the apparent majority opinion about Erin’s hair. I liked the different cut from the way her fans are used to seeing her on When Calls the Heart, which I’ve never seen, (with the inauthentic modern flowing locks in 19th century Canada). It gave her an edge that improved her usual placidly wholesome look.

I did like the end. I’m a real fan of the “One year later” endings. I like that Erin followed her dreams of travel. Tyler’s childhood note to Erin was really sweet and romantic. And I liked that the stick-in-the-mud brother had finally loosened up with the right woman.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

March 2, 2021

An Unexpected Christmas

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Unexpectedly Overwrought

**Spoilers**

Jamie and Emily have broken up their long-term relationship. Jamie has headed home for Christmas in small-town Fulton, Illinois. Coincidentally, Emily is also heading there for work. They arrive at the terminal at the same time and Jamie’s family, who love Emily and haven’t been told of the break-up, are thrilled that Jamie has brought Emily home to spend Christmas. Emily needs a place to stay and Neither wants to ruin the family’s Christmas so they continue the deception that they are still together.

There were some good things and not-so-good things with this one.

The Good:
Bethany Joy Lenz and Tyler Hynes’s performances and their chemistry together. Bethany was very funny in the comedy parts and very touching in the emotional parts. Tyler Hynes’s performance made an essentially weak and troubling character tolerable.

The script had some unusual aspects and was witty.

The banter between Jamie and Emily was good.

Tyler’s new hairstyle.

The cameo walk-through blink and you might miss it of Bethany’s frequent co-star, Andrew Walker.

I like the scope big families provide in Hallmarks and this one had one.

The Bad:
That big family? They were so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o energetic, loud, and overbearing that it became exhausting.

Jamie’s character. He dumped Emily because she was more successful than him and he didn’t want to hold her back. OK. However, his self-esteem problem was rooted in his need to be perfect in everything and vice versa. Even though we are told that his Grandfather also was a perfectionist, he grew up in a happy, stable, and supportive family. This debilitating complex did not seem to be founded on much. It also causes him to be afraid of being honest with his family about his break-up and why. BTW he never does get the backbone to be forthright about it. He is caught out. And he’s a liar. And not for any reason one could justify. He lied for cowardly reasons or to save himself: To his family, his boss, and to Emily.

Jamie’s struggles with writing the governor’s speech. He was unable to write a word. His paralysis (again, it had to be perfect)was like a big depressing specter over the whole movie. He spent the whole movie goofing off to avoid getting back to the typewriter and fulfill his commitment so many people were counting on.

The plot was all over the place. The Christmas play his sister directed was needless and was a distraction. Bethany’s project came to nothing. The lightening-bolt like lesson of the newlyweds’ rocks in the fountain was not used in the governor’s speech, or Emily’s theme for her project (what it was is unclear) the speech itself was short and lame. All that angst over THAT?

Some of the happenings were too silly. The Christmas play and the scene in the restaurant with the waiter. I don’t mind silly sometimes, but silliness is not comedy.

A lot of negatives were outweighed by the acting and appeal of the two leads, and strong production values. I did not approve of Jamie’s actions or inactions, but it did lend some depth and complexity to his character. I’m just not sure I want all those problems in a Hallmark hero.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

November 28, 2021