Tyler Hynes

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

My Christmas Family Tree

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Too Many Questions

**Spoilers**

Overall, this was a very good Hallmark. A young 30-year-old woman does a DNA test along with her best friend and discovers she has a paternity match. Her mother had died when she was 9 years old, and she never knew her father. She and her father decide to meet. The casting and the performances were excellent and the plot was compelling. First of all, there was no Hallmark Christmas set piece that wasn’t crammed in somewhere. I know some people enjoy the obligatory clumsy ice-skating scene and the gingerbread house making, etc. But I find them to be just filler most of the time: tedious and lazy. I’ve learned to live with them though.

There were several aspects, however, which took it down a notch or two for me. The idea that a DNA matching company would mix up the DNA results just because the two clients had the same name is way over the line. Did they also have the same birthdate? Same place of birth? Same social security number? And then according to the story, their desperate phone call to Vanessa was just another big oopsie, they were right the first time, and Vanessa really is Richard’s daughter? Not because of another phone call from the DNA company admitting their mistake, but just because he finally had the revelation that both “Patty” and “Trisha” are both nicknames for “Patricia.” OH, and he found a picture of the girlfriend in question and she bore a strong resemblance to Vanessa?

And what about that? So Richard had completely forgotten what his girlfriend looked like until he found her picture? A girl whom he was in love with, had meaningful sex with, and whom he had tried to find after he got back from his tour of duty? Whose picture he had kept in a box for 30 years? Because as soon as he saw Vanessa, wouldn’t the phrase, “you look just like your mother?” been uttered as soon as they met? Apparently, when he first met Vanessa, she didn’t even look vaguely familiar! What about the other Vanessa? Is she going to show up at some point? As another reviewer pointed out, didn’t Richard and the other Vanessa get the same phone call from the DNA folks that Vanessa got?

And how cruel to reveal that she wasn’t Richard’s daughter in front of the whole extended family. If she just couldn’t take it anymore, leave the room and ask to see Richard and Mrs. Richard privately so he could maintain some dignity. And so he could break the news gently to his young children. She is not twelve, she is thirty.

They should have had a “1 month later” where all these dangling loose ends were made palatable with some kind of explanation and closure, no matter how lame. I didn’t care about the romance, it was definitely secondary to the main story. The script gave Andrew Walker very little to work with.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

November 16, 2021

On the 12th Date of Christmas

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Well Done! A Cut Above.

At first, our heroine, played by Audrey Hepburn lookalike, Mallory Jensen, got on my nerves with her lack of gumption, and too-sweet personality. At first I thought she was miscast as a girl with a mousy personality when she was so gorgeous. I guess she was, really, but the actress did somewhat overcome it with a nice performance. Then, to make it worse, Tyler Hynes, a favorite of mind, also got on my nerves. He was closed off, anti-social, and not a team-player. Even though he wanted a promotion to a position that necessitates the opposite of those personality traits! Oblivious. He, on the other hand, was cast perfectly, as he usually brings a gruff edge to his roles.

I stuck with it though and I’m glad I did. As Aiden and Jennifer started to work through their differences, and he learned to work with her, appreciating her talent, their opposite personalities added to their chemistry. Quite early on, Jennifer started to be more assertive, so it did not descend into never-ending frustration for me.

This was well written with an interesting sub-plot of Aiden’s family home needing repairs he couldn’t afford, and a very clever scavenger hunt through Chicago that the two were working on together. Definitely well above average.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

November 8, 2020

Roadhouse Romance

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Country music fan Callie is determined to continue her late grandfather’s legacy. While TV director Luke is in town, he teaches her that sometimes it’s best to look forward instead of back.

Lauren and Lockheart

This was very enjoyable thanks to the charisma and southern charm of Lauren Alaina and her chemistry with Tyler Hynes. The plot wasn’t much, but I do love a fish out of water story and two loves being from different worlds. Lauren is back home from her stint in the army and is upset to find that things haven’t stayed the same as when she left her small southern town of Lockheart, Tennessee. Her boyfriend has found someone else, and her family’s charming barbecue roadhouse is on the verge of failure. If that weren’t enough, her dead grandfather’s barbecue sauce recipe has been lost and they now use store-bought (!!!) Because it’s Hallmark, only a festival can save them, but ticket sales have been slow. Enter Tyler Hynes as a Hollywood TV director who gets stuck in town while driving his girlfriend’s birthday present to her in Nashville. Tyler’s gradual thawing to the ways of a small southern town, and coming to appreciate Lauren, was involving. The shallow girlfriend threatening from the background kept up the tension and suspense.

Unfortunately, the conclusion left a lot of loose ends and questions. Bad girlfriend agreed to give the festival a social media push in exchange for Tyler directing her movie. She holds up her end, but he welshes on the deal! Not Good. Another thing that bothered me was the dissonance between the plot and the theme. The moral of the story seemed to be that change brings good opportunities as well as sadness and disappointment. Yet instead of developing her own recipe for BBQ sauce, which would have symbolized moving forward and a fresh outlook, she just finally finds her grandfather’s. And finally, how are Tyler and Lauren going to make their relationship work when they live in different worlds? Will Lauren leave her small town to develop a singing career? Or will Tyler give up his successful profession to hang around Lockheart Tennessee? Neither option was given any time at all. Like Lauren’s own BBQ sauce, and Tyler’s lack of integrity,  it was left dying on the back burner.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

September 15, 2021

Falling for You

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Taylor is Actually Quite Likable in This

I was never a fan of Taylor Cole, but in this one, playing against type, I quite liked her. For one thing, and I realize this sounds very shallow, her hair has gone out and got itself a makeover. It used to be thin and lank to the point it was quite distracting. At least the style she chose made it seem that way. In this one, it has some body and natural flow and her beauty is undiminished by her “crowning glory.” Tyler Hynes has always been a favorite and the two have quite a bit of chemistry.

Unfortunately, the bake sale plot is a bore. An extra star for having the heroine move out of the small town she loves to pursue her career dream. What a concept usually foreign to the usual Hallmark ethos!

Rating: 6 out of 10.

September 21, 2020

The Mechanics of Love

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Dude, Run for the Hills!

I’m used to dumb stuff to choose to overlook when I am looking at Hallmark or Hallmark-style movies. But this one takes the cake for the most petulant, stupidest, most incompetent bride ever. With about a week to go before her wedding, Emily Tennant plays the bride who hasn’t done her seating arrangements, hired a caterer, purchased flowers, decided on a cake, or chosen her colors yet. All she does is sit around and whine about how her wedding is “out of control” as far as complications, guest list, and expense. All things she has complete control over. Oh, and she’s an artist, so it’s not like she has an inflexible 48-hour-a-week time-suck of a career.

She viciously turns on her sweet fiance who had the utter gall to give her a fun jokey gift of muffin tins for a surprise extra gift for getting their marriage license. She sulks for days over this and almost cancels the wedding. She is petulant and unreasonable over everything. She selfishly and thoughtlessly disappears on her wedding day throwing her family and her fiance into a panic just so she can sulk some more.

Luckily, the engaged couple was not the main couple. The main lead, her sister, Shenae Grimes, arrives to save the day and while she is back home, dump her bad boyfriend, quit her engineering career as the head of design to become an auto-mechanic, and find a new boyfriend. Tyler Hines is as reliable and attractive as the new guy who has loved her since middle school.

The only thing I loved about this disaster was the bride’s headdress which was gorgeous and very unusual. Yes, unfortunately for the groom, the wedding took place.

Rating: 4 out of 10.

June 28, 2020

Wedding March 5: My Boyfriend’s Back

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For the Love of All that’s Holy! Will Someone Please Help Josie?!

Although the plot is tired and the writing unoriginal, this one was worth looking at due to the principal love interests. Cindy Busby has been a favorite for quite a while. Tyler Hynes caught my interest as soon as he appeared in a Hallmark last year. He has now become a big favorite. I will give any Hallmark a chance if they have one of these two actors.

On the other hand, poor Josie Bissett’s hair situation has become a concern. She is a lovely woman who has aged gracefully and plays women of her own age. The pairing with Jack Wagner works. I am not sure what is going on with her health or her hair, but there are plenty of attractive wig options out there for those who are in need of some extra assistance. If she has been wearing wigs, they are frightful: stiff and cottony looking. If that’s her real hair, please buy some conditioner or go back to the darling pixie haircut she was once famous for. Sorry, but this is something is totally fixable. I am being cruel to be kind.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

June 9, 2019

Flip that Romance

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Too much Fighting!

Yeah, maybe it was the mood I was in, but I got very tired very quickly of the constant bickering and over-competitiveness of the two principals. It was particularly egregious on the part of the woman, who let her emotions run away with her and bid more than she could afford and over the maximum she agreed on with her partner. Just to get one over her ex-boyfriend. She was too hostile for me. I was really frosted by the immaturity and foolishness. Julie Gonzalo was okay as the female lead, but I loved Tyler Hynes as her love interest. He’s responsible for most of the stars I gave this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

March 17, 2019

Sweet Carolina

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Tragedy sends big city marketing executive Josie back to her small hometown to become guardian to her niece and nephew. With help from her ex-boyfriend Cooper, she and her family find a new way forward, together.

Hallmark Takes a Daring Step Forward

It’s not often Hallmark actresses get to portray anguish on camera. Luckily they have a real pro and bona fide actress in Lacey Chabert, who did a very credible job. I can think of very few in the stable of regulars who could have pulled off the scene where she learns her beloved sister and brother-in-law have been killed. I cried. The whole ensemble handled the story very well. You can tell they pulled out the “big guns” to meet the challenge of a script that actually called for a range of emotions: Gregory Harrison and Teryl Rothery as the parents, good ole Peter Benson as the city boyfriend who gets dumped for the small-town coach, who was played by the always welcome Tyler Hynes. I appreciated that they got a normal-looking kid who could act to play the introverted son.

There were very real problems and conflicts that had to be resolved. The father was a good guy, but too controlling. Gregory Harrison managed to keep him likable. I groaned when they were setting up for the customary Hallmark food fight ( or snowball fight if it’s winter) but it was actually funny, thanks to the performances.

It was good to see Hallmark break out of its own box a little bit. Fear not, most of the usual templates were still in place, but baby steps! Kudos.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

May 17, 2021

P. S. I just noticed that Lacey Chabert was actually one of the writers. You go, girl! **8 stars out of 10**