It's rare to see any critical reviews of Hallmark movies which sometimes makes me question how authentic they are - or maybe the bar is just set way too low for what constituents a good movie where Hallmark is concerned. After watching this movie I was compelled to add an honest review.
What a waste of an excellent cast. Usually Barbara Niven is wonderful and she generally chooses her movies better than this; and Kimberly Sustard - while her movies don't always hit it out of the ballpark regarding story line or writing quality (Godwink is an example) - her enigmatic personality and acting skills usually salvage an otherwise bad movie. Sadly, nothing but an entirely new set of writers could have salvaged this movie.
Tragedy, loss, heartbreak, confusion, and indecision run from the opening scene to the end with barely a break. There are no feel good or redeeming moments to be had, save for a weak attempt at the very ending which was completely predictable.
There are other reviews to give you an idea of the storyline so I won't go into detail but generally Hallmark movies dealing with family relations and even dramatic subject matter still manage to bring in lighter elements to breakup the tragedy, instead, this played out like a soap opera, and a really bad one at that. It seemed like the writer, and Hallmark, were shooting for one big cry-fest. It got to the point where your thinking "okay, we get it, this is sad, but healthy people don't dwell daily on a tragedy that occurred 25 years prior".
Summary: Waaay too melodramatic. If you want to watch a movie that makes you feel like crap from beginning to end then this is it!
What a waste of an excellent cast. Usually Barbara Niven is wonderful and she generally chooses her movies better than this; and Kimberly Sustard - while her movies don't always hit it out of the ballpark regarding story line or writing quality (Godwink is an example) - her enigmatic personality and acting skills usually salvage an otherwise bad movie. Sadly, nothing but an entirely new set of writers could have salvaged this movie.
Tragedy, loss, heartbreak, confusion, and indecision run from the opening scene to the end with barely a break. There are no feel good or redeeming moments to be had, save for a weak attempt at the very ending which was completely predictable.
There are other reviews to give you an idea of the storyline so I won't go into detail but generally Hallmark movies dealing with family relations and even dramatic subject matter still manage to bring in lighter elements to breakup the tragedy, instead, this played out like a soap opera, and a really bad one at that. It seemed like the writer, and Hallmark, were shooting for one big cry-fest. It got to the point where your thinking "okay, we get it, this is sad, but healthy people don't dwell daily on a tragedy that occurred 25 years prior".
Summary: Waaay too melodramatic. If you want to watch a movie that makes you feel like crap from beginning to end then this is it!