This one started off extremely well. The writing was intelligent, and Melora Hardin (A.k.a. Trudy Monk) delivered her lines with verve and vivacity. It was clear that this was going to be one of the Hallmark 2.0s that the network has been flirting with lately that eschew the usual fill in the template set-pieces, and characters. Paul Campbell in a cameo appeared as a bartender who serves to introduce the main character, Emilia, played by Melora. So I was set to enjoy this.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the mother, Emilia's, past abandonment of her children after the death of her husband. Yes people make "mistakes". But a 5 year absence is not a "mistake," it is a cold-hearted, selfish, cowardly choice. And as for cold-heartedness her hurt daughter was a chip off the old block. She was very unlikable. I don't fault her for her feelings towards her mother, but I didn't like her childish acting out, especially towards her very faultless and innocent love interest, Her mother's doctor.
As the movie went on, Melora Hardin's performance started to grate on my nerves more and more. Her over-the top emoting was just hammy. Her speech at her book-signing was just cringe inducing. The self-involved airing of all of her bad behavior and embracing her children's successes was not an apology to her children, it was another "all about me" performance. So, what promised to be a more sophisticated (lesbian romance included) version of family-friendly fare, just fizzled, for me.
As for all the Hallmark fans who toss about the term "woke" for Hallmark's attempting to correct their past of ignoring of a good chunk of the population, I have to laugh. Woke means "aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)." The Oxford dictionary adopted it the same year, defining it as "originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice." I don't think Woke means what they think it means, to paraphrase Inigo Montoya.
Unfortunately, I couldn't get past the mother, Emilia's, past abandonment of her children after the death of her husband. Yes people make "mistakes". But a 5 year absence is not a "mistake," it is a cold-hearted, selfish, cowardly choice. And as for cold-heartedness her hurt daughter was a chip off the old block. She was very unlikable. I don't fault her for her feelings towards her mother, but I didn't like her childish acting out, especially towards her very faultless and innocent love interest, Her mother's doctor.
As the movie went on, Melora Hardin's performance started to grate on my nerves more and more. Her over-the top emoting was just hammy. Her speech at her book-signing was just cringe inducing. The self-involved airing of all of her bad behavior and embracing her children's successes was not an apology to her children, it was another "all about me" performance. So, what promised to be a more sophisticated (lesbian romance included) version of family-friendly fare, just fizzled, for me.
As for all the Hallmark fans who toss about the term "woke" for Hallmark's attempting to correct their past of ignoring of a good chunk of the population, I have to laugh. Woke means "aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)." The Oxford dictionary adopted it the same year, defining it as "originally: well-informed, up-to-date. Now chiefly: alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice." I don't think Woke means what they think it means, to paraphrase Inigo Montoya.