deskisamess Reviews

The More Love Grows (2023 TV Movie)

Wow, what has happened to Hallmark

[1/10 · 22 March 2024]

At one time, Hallmark celebrated commitment to marriage, and working thru the tough times. Not in this movie.

Rachel Boston plays Helen, a wife of almost 20 years. After dropping their daughter at college, Paul, the husband, played by Patrick Gilmore, drops a bombshell. He wants a separation. Helen barely reacts. No tears, no yelling, no discussion. She does lay on the couch a bit and eats ice cream.

A stray dog shows up, a chance meeting of Ben, played by Warren Christie, who is also a Veterinarian in training. They keep running into each other, and soon realize they like each other. (This after maybe 2 weeks after husband Paul has walked out.)

At the meeting for the legal aspect of the divorce, hubby wants to work it out. But wifey, after just a few weeks, has decided she likes who she is now, and she has this new guy as well.

The only emotion we see is when the stray dog eats chocolate, and then later goes missing. Not when hubby leaves. Wifey is smiley and chipper, especially after meeting another 40something grunge rocker played by a 50something Lynda ugh Boyd.

Terrible movie, making a 20 year marriage seem like a simple car lease, able to be traded in on a new color.

There is a side story about the new college student, which is unnecessary to the movie. What a stinker.

Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up (2023 TV Movie)

Made it 40 minutes, then was out

[1/10 · 17 January 2024]

Wow, what a huge disappointment. I loved the first movie, it was cute and whimsical, a real joy to watch. But this one? Not so much.

The new neighbors on Evergreen Lane are bullies, plain and simple. There is just no Christmas Joy or Spirit to any of their behavior. I found myself cringing at their obnoxious take-over of the movie.

Even Lacey & Wes couldn't save this one. I'm sure it had a happy ending, but I just couldn't stand another minute. And I'm not sure what the issue was, but I had a terrible time understanding Wes Brown's dialog. Most of what he said was rushed and muffled.

The marriage proposal could have been more front and center, and maybe even saved the movie. It's too bad the focus was on the bully new neighbors. They were just horrible, and I couldn't watch it past about 40 minutes.

Blessings of Christmas (2023)

Could have been so much better

[3/10 · 1 December 2023]

The premise was great. Inherited space, second thoughts about selling, nice guy wants to buy it. Most of the casting was solid, except...for Lori Laughlin. Wow is she terrible. Personal opinion about her aside, I haven't seen her in much since her Full House days. I never realized just how bad she was. I won't watch anything with her again, it's just too painful.

The ending "big meal" for many people was ridiculous. That turkey looked to be maybe 20 pounds, not nearly enough to feed so many people. The tables were all fancy, cloth napkins, wine, and just turkey, because I saw no other foods. The plates they sat in front of them had a lump of something and a couple of green beans. Where were the rolls, stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, noodles...pie or cookies?

Wasn't this supposed to be a meal for people needing help? What charity food kitchen serves wine? And who sits a huge Christmas tree right in the middle of the road?

Loved Jesse H, as always.

3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost (2023 TV Movie)

Adorable, fun, new plot

[8/10 · 26 October 2023]

This is a fabulous Hallmark movie. The premise is silly, but it works. The casting is perfect, costuming brilliant, just a flat out good cute movie.

The actress who plays Ruby was perfectly cast as the 1920's Flapper girl ghost. She is adorable, but doesn't overplay her part. She throws herself into the role and truly nails it.

Julia Gonzalo is always fun to watch, and her pairing with Chris McNally works really well. They have good chemistry.

Julia's father in the movie is a tad overbearing, but he is supposed to be. The protagonist is icky, just like he is supposed to be.

Overall, this is a fun entertaining movie, and nothing like the usual Hallmark fare. What a pleasure to watch. So nice to see a fairly new idea and plot.

Twas the Text Before Christmas (2023 TV Movie)

Not much to see here, love Trevor though

[5/10 · 22 October 2023]

This movie is supposed to span a period of 2 years, and 3 Christmases. But amazingly, none of the characters change in any way during this 2 year span. They wear the same clothes, I think Trevor has maybe 2 shirts during the whole movie, one of which looks very very cheap and poorly made. The character's hair, all of them, doesn't change one iota. A 11-12 year old girl, an age at which there are normally TONS of changes, does not change one little bit.

The restaurant scenes with the female lead and her father are exactly the same all 3-4 times. Same table, same background people, everything the same. Even though the several scenes take place over this 2 year period.

The movie itself is pretty boring. The actress playing the elderly mom would be more suited to play the grandmother, she has to be at least 75. She's fine, but unless Trevor is 50+, too old to play his mother.

Merritt Patterson is exactly the same in every role. Shiny happy face, no depth. Neither her nor Trevor are given much to work with here, just so so boooring, no chemistry at all. He is so wasted here.

GAF need to tone down their set decoration for these movies. It's always over the top and unrealistic. And doesn't anyone use other types of Christmas tree decorations? Why just large shiny balls everywhere? A women who loves Christmas and is 65+ in age would have a ton of more vintage looking stuff.

A Tail of Love (2022 TV Movie)

Lasted 35 minutes, so boring

[2/10 · 30 March 2023]

This movie is soooo flat. No emotion, no chemistry between the 2 leads, no realism either.

A dog shelter that houses large dogs in cute little wooden crates with open tops. Large German shepherds that sit taller than the crates. It would be impossible to keep such crates clean, the dogs would chew them up, and one small leap would get the dogs out of the crates.

A military character no military bearing at all, and a $200 haircut.

There is an urgent need in the movie to find documents that prove sale of the land and house that the dog shelter is on. Other than showing a wall of storage boxes, there are no scenes of searching, nor is there any urgency showing. Just flat walking thru scenes, and bland reciting of lines.

I couldn't take it anymore, it was so boring. And lots more cleavage than you normally get in Hallmark movies, the female lead's clothing was all extremely too tight and small. Why can't they wear the correct size?

Crown Prince of Christmas (2022 TV Movie)

Just no, really bad

[1/10 · 14 December 2022]

This is hands down one of the worst GAF movies I've seen yet. A ridiculous story line about yet another "prince in hiding". He's a prince, pretending to not be a prince, pretending to be a prince. Yep, that bad.

Cindy Busby cannot sing. Please stop casting her as someone with a fabulous voice. I muted the tv every time she sang. If this isn't her real voice, stop using the singer. She's not much of an actress either, I've seen her in many films, and she is always the same character. The lead actor was ok, nice looking, and did the best he could with the dreadful dialog.

The prince's parents were awful, fake accents, horrible wig on the mother, not believable at all, not to mention the actress playing the Queen isn't much older than the Prince. She must have had him when she was 10.

The makeup is terrible and off putting. Applied so thick and cakey, especially on the men. The scenes very fake. The only redeeming thing was the pretty baked goods we got to see a little of.

Christmas on Candy Cane Lane (2022 TV Movie)

Just mediocre

[3/10 · 7 December 2022]

If not for Dan Payne, this wouldn't be worth the time it takes to watch. I'm not sure who decided Andrea Barber could carry the lead in a movie, but they were wrong. She is cute, and would be fine in a supporting role. It actually looks as if they are trying to hide a pregnancy, but at 46, I think she is too old for that.

The movie tries to be heart-warming but just doesn't get there. At times it goes for silly, and doesn't quite make that work either.

Dan and Andrea have zero chemistry as a divorced couple trying to keep things good for their teen daughter as the holidays approach.

Throw in an obnoxious neighbor, a prankster, a female cop dealing with the tragic death of her fiancé, and a veteran trying to woo her, and you end up up with 90 minutes of meh.

One of the worst I've seen from GAF.

Haul Out the Holly (2022 TV Movie)

Funny and light hearted

[8/10 · 1 December 2022]

I think some low reviews are from viewers who took this movie way too seriously. It's supposed to be over-the-top and almost satire. Hallmark movies need to be approached with the proper attitude, especially the Holiday offerings. Don't expect award winning plots or acting. Sit back and just enjoy.

Wes Brown is funny, who knew? He is adorable in this movie. Lacey is charming as always. And Melissa Peterman, whom I usually loath, was also funny and made me almost like her.

So no, it's not Oscar worthy. But it is a fun romp. If all the little details aren't picked to shreds, examined, and found lacking by the plot police.

Christmas Lovers Anonymous (2021)

Wow, just so bad

[2/10 · 2 November 2022]

I'm 25 minutes in, and can't take it anymore. Wooden acting, stilted dialog. The premise of the movie is the lead gal loves loves everything about Christmas. The guy she's been dating for 3 years breaks up with her because of it. Gal is a budding author, with lots of rejection letters. So, the break up inspires her to write a book about saying NO NO NO to doing too much for Christmas.

This all means she now has to wear a disguise to Christmas shop. But she is spotted and recognized, by another another writer for the local rag who decides to "expose" her as a fraud.

But wait...the 2 have "met" online, and begin talking.

Example of dialog...

"You've come to the right place. Ice skating is always fun, there's baking and decorating Christmas cookies, making ornaments, getting and decorating a tree, sledding."

"Wow, she knows a lot about Christmas."

Seriously? My 7 year old grandson could have come up with that list.

As is usual for these movies, everyone lives in perfectly decorated million dollar homes, every single room professionally decorated Christmas decor. The sister overacts every single scene she is in.

Just Add Love (2022)

Really really bad

[1/10 · 3 October 2022]

This new offering of GAF is a snooze fest from beginning to end. April, played by Laura Mitchell, is a wanna-be healthy food blogger/cook. She makes one healthy brownie recipe that is popular on social media, and we are supposed to believe this has garnered her a cook book contract with a publishing company. The trouble is, all of her other recipes are failing with the test groups, so April jets off to Italy, for some inspiration.

She stays with her uncle, played by Scott Christopher, the one bright spot in the entire movie. She meets a tour guide, played by Brad Johnson, who seems much older than April. After losing the ridiculous fake Italian accent, we find out he is a chef in search of a kitchen to cook in.

The plot is boring, the dialog is boring, the acting is stiff, the premise unbelievable. The two lead characters have zero chemistry, they are more like uncle and niece and just don't work as a couple. The movie is a colossal waste of time, there isn't nearly enough screen time for Scott Christopher to save this drek.

Butlers in Love (2022 TV Movie)

Just no, ridiculous premise, terrible acting

[1/10 · 27 September 2022]

I made it about 30 minutes, and had to turn it off. The female lead has spent 10 years aspiring to be a butler, and finally gets into "butler school" and doesn't know how to set a table or iron a tablecloth. Most people who has this goal, would go into the school knowing the "how's" of basic tasks. She spouts lengthy explanations of the history, but can't manage a simple task.

Lead also makes ridiculous claims like, "Butler School is harder to get into than law school."

The male lead knows everything and can do everything, because he is a "legacy butler" as he just one in a long line of butlers in the family, but he really doesn't want to "butle."

Too stoopid for words.

Identical Love (2021)

Portrayal of Filipino people offensive

[1/10 · 27 September 2022]

Did anyone actually do any research of Filipino people? Perhaps the villages portrayed in the movie are made up poor people, but would they also all be filthy? Smudges of dirt on their faces and torn clothing seemed to be the only direction given to the costuming and makeup people on the movie.

By comparison, the white saviors in the movie, the beautiful doctors all have perfectly applied eye liner, lovely coiffed hair, and designer garb.

There also seemed to be a lot of down time for these visiting doctors. Sitting by the ocean, sitting by a pool, while the doctor in charge runs around doing all the prep work for the next village they will travel to. The actual doctoring portrayed really cut in to the leisure time and chatting.

Totally unrealistic, and totally offensive too all things Filipino.

Home for a Royal Heart (2022 TV Movie)

Dreadful

[1/10 · 27 September 2022]

Just awful. Movie starts with female lead floating down Main Street, shimmering and greeting everyone she sees. Over the top happy happy happy. Male lead stops in for a salad to the local fish joint. His British accent brings juvenile harassment from an employee to say the word "herb", then ridiculed for not wanting fish in his salad.

Why do the male characters in these movies all wear the same horrible wig, greasy slicked back wouldn't move in a wind storm.

I had high hopes for movies from the GAF channel, but so far have been disappointed. Not expecting great theater, but this was a train wreck.

Once Upon a Holiday (2015 TV Movie)

So very boring

[2/10 · 29 July 2022]

I turned it off about one third of the way through. The plot moves along at a glacial pace. The "princess" is too old to be so clueless.

There is zero chemistry between the 2 leads. There is just nothing here to see.