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Reviews
Sense & Sensibility (2024)
A Sensible Movie With A Run Time That Makes No Sense
If a movie deserved a director cut, it would be this one!
I've never read Sense & Sensibility, so this was my first exposure to the plot. The movie is gorgeous with fantastic locations and a wardrobe that fits well with the time period. The acting is top notch throughout the movie with each lead selling their character traits and flaws perfectly. I could feel the tension and emotion in every scene that sold that 'longing for love' theme.
What this movie suffered from was the Hallmark mandatory run time. This story has so much going on in it that it unfortunately leaves the movie jumping from scene to scene. This really doesn't allow the drama or character development to breathe as nicely as it could have with a much longer run time. If you're unfortunate enough to walk away or look away for five minutes, you may miss something critical. Each scene is tied together loosely and requires active attention to make sense of everything. The only thing that made me wonder "why?" was the Victorian inspired violin solo of Seal's "Kiss from a rose". Great song, but doesn't fit the movie theme.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie however, it is my second least favourite this Jane Austin season. If you've not seen the other Pride & Prejudice movies (except Love and Jane), do yourself a favour and give those a watch.
An American in Austen (2024)
A Message Worth The Watch
Out of all the Jane Austen Hallmarks (2024), this one has impressed me the most.
Harriet is a struggling writer with a supporting boyfriend that loves her deeply. Despite their short on screen time, their chemistry is unquestionable and is more enjoyable than most couples in recent Hallmark feature films.
Harriet, after a series of events, finds herself in the story of Pride & Prejudice living out the plot of the book as the American cousin of the Bennett girls. Her involvement in their story brings many twists and turns, especially since she knows the story.
The humour in the movie is clever and current, with the lead actress being an absolute star in the movie. She delivers an outstanding performance that sells Harriet wonderfully. By the end, you're rooting for her and her quirkiness.
Moreover, the set and costume of this film is OUTSTANDING. Undeniably, one of the best dressed Hallmarks I've seen in a long time. They captured the time and location wonderfully, as if you were watching a feature film of Pride & Prejudice. It made me wish I were booking a flight overseas to experience what I watched in the movie.
Overall, this Hallmark is a fun watch with an ending that is different by Hallmarks standards. Even if you're not too familiar with Jane Austin's work, this movie does a great job with capturing the emotion, comedy and romance of some of the best.
Love & Jane (2024)
Written By Chat GBT
This Hallmark feels so disconnected. The soul is missing from this movie. There are some interesting concepts, but they never connect where it feels like a good pay off.
The acting was decent despite the jarring script. This feels more like a concept that someone couldn't piece together completely just for Jane month at Hallmark.
It really is so camp that by the end you are cringing wondering how was this not written by someone using AI?
Jane could have been removed from the movie altogether and you wouldn't have noticed a difference in the plot. I thought at one point that Jane would have become the love interest.
To quote the movie, "a risk is only a risk if it doesn't pay off." Hallmark, this was a risk. Unless you want a good caring laugh saying "oh no" by the end, save your time.
Holiday Date (2019)
Did Someone Spike My Eggnog?
This movie began with an interesting premise, but loses it's stride a quarter of the way through. Each scene feels like a series of related shorts pasted together without any resolution.
There are too many times the main characters get into an extremely sticky situation and find themselves carried by the plot. It gets to the point where it is nauseating. The story then proceeds like nothing happened at all!
"Ethan" decorates the tree when it's a family activity? Queue the next scene!
"Ethan" gets stuck giving bad advice on the sister's new house? Queue the next scene!
"Ethan" gets caught giving acting lessons? Queue the next scene! Now he's magically walking out for a jewellery store with a gift and is spotted by the sister! Queue the next scene!
Then before you know it the character's are both falling in love with each other without any of the classic hallmark magic.
The fact that the production team captured the feeling of drinking too much and blacking out is impressive. It's a shame there wasn't more of a cohesive flow to the movie. It could have turned this movie into a season regular.
The Mistletoe Promise (2016)
An Unfortunate Ending
The Mistletoe Promise is a movie about two business focused individuals who dislike Christmas. Both Nick and Elise have their own past tragedies that made them into the scrooges they are today. Nick and Elise meet in the mall and strike a business contract to help each other succeed in their careers during the holiday. Emotions creep in fortunately and get the best of them both.
This script was original and imaginative. The pacing with their emotions is decent, however unfortunately the pacing of the script is off base. There are moments where you see the natural progression of their feelings, but the actors turn into robots because of their contract.
The first three quarters of the movie lays out a decent story, but last quarter felt very rushed and confusing. This continued off and on long enough to prescribe emotional whip lash. The number of cuts in between scenes made it feel very rushed to meet a specific movie length. There are even scenes that are laid out (like Nick helping Drew or Nick looking over Elise's contract with her ex) that don't even lead anywhere. These moments dilute the plot, the ending, and confuses the story altogether.
Overall, this movie had good promise but was a major disappointment when the lead characters finally get their happy endings.
Chocolate Covered Christmas (2020)
Holiday Music Madness
I managed to make it through 14 minutes through this movie before hysterically shutting it off.
Start your season off right and watch a different movie. I managed this stomach Netflix's Santa Girl, but I couldn't make it through this one.
Who ever made the choice decision to have music in every moment of this movie made a terrible decision. It overtakes each scene to the point where I couldn't easily hear or remember what the characters were talking about. The acting is very monotone which does a great job in highlighting the music as well.
If you're into listening to ambient holiday music, log onto Spotify and throw on a random holiday playlist. The ad breaks are much less aggravating than this movie's audio balance.