bigsis_je Reviews

17 Miracles (2011)

Yelling at TV in the First 8 Minutes

[3/10 · 6 April 2024]

How dare the Mormon church "call" a single father with an infant away on a mission for 3+ years! This happens about 7 minutes into the film. It had me shouting at the TV in anger. The God I serve - the Christian God, not the Mormon god - does not rip a baby from his only parent and require the parent to travel to another continent for the remainder of his most crucial, attachment-building years, claiming that it's more important for them to hear the gospel than for the father to raise the son God GAVE him! God said to the Israelites in the Bible, in Deuteronomy 24:5, that a newlywed soldier shouldn't even be required to serve for the first year of his marriage. Along the same lines, I don't think God would send a widower father of an infant far away on a mission. Ugh! The Mormon church is selfish in what it asks of its members, and the members go right along with it because they're convinced the church speaks for God.

Against my better judgment, I went ahead and finished the movie. While beautifully filmed, it was still angering to witness all that these people were put through needlessly. Why didn't they have wagons or oxen? Why were they limited to a certain number of pounds? Why didn't they listen to good advice and wait until spring to start their journey? It seems to me they were being spiritually abused, with this lack of care for the harsh realities they would face.

I hated what was stated in the text at the end of the movie: that their percentage of deaths was *not much higher* than those of other Oregon Trail travelers, and claiming that this was the greatest miracle, considering what they went through. What?!!!!! Their conditions were NEEDLESSLY inflicted upon them!

At best, this story has been twisted to become church propaganda. At worst, this was an extremely abusive PR stunt pulled by the church on its believers. Why not sacrifice a few lives now to gain millions more for the next 170+ years? Despicable!

A Very British Christmas (2019 TV Movie)

Signs that this movie is poorly made

[2/10 · 24 March 2024]

Signs that this movie is poorly made:

1. There is no scene that sets up the female main character's personality, nor one that portrays how she got in the situation of being stranded in a small village. The writers skip all that storytelling by having her write in her diary what happened and narrate what could have been a few comedic scenes at the beginning of the movie. I'm no expert, but this level of laziness is insulting to viewers.

2. The female main character has a really bad American accent, and when she makes it to a little cafe in a tiny village and is welcomed by the owner - who has an even worse American accent - she instantly recognizes her as a "fellow American."

I don't know if I can even finish this movie. It's painful!

What Happens in Vegas (2008)

Love is a Verb

[9/10 · 19 August 2023]

This movie was surprisingly good. It portrayed a deeper kind of love than most rom-coms. Rather than focusing on how the couple *feels* about each other, it showed that real love is an action. You love someone by supporting them, encouraging them, speaking good things about them in front of others, accepting influence from each other (a term I heard on Cinema Therapy), and making sacrifices in their best interest. I don't know why it took me so many years to get around to watching this movie. Perhaps because of the crude humor, I assumed it wouldn't have any redeeming value. But I was so wrong! If you watch this movie for the love story, you will NOT be disappointed!

Lift Me Up (2015)

Beautiful Father-Daughter Story

[10/10 · 30 April 2023]

This was a beautiful, mesmerizing father-daughter story. It was not exclusively sad, which I was thankful for. The writers (or whoever's job it is) incorporated a good amount of subtle humor - enough to strengthen it from purely a tear-jerker to a story of relationships and healing. The father-daughter element was a perfect story idea. They communicated that the best family relationships are not always biological. It's more about who commits to taking care of you in the ups and downs than who contributed to your birth. Call me a sucker for a good daddy story, but I'll take it. It's so touching to watch good men grow into good fathers; the world needs more of them.

A Horse for Summer (2015)

I watched this for Dean Cain

[3/10 · 30 April 2023]

Christian movies had started getting good in the past 10 years, but this one broke from that progression. The idea for the story was good, and approximately two of the actors were good: Dean Cain and Mandalynn (the girl who played Summer). The outdoor scenery was pretty, too. Beyond that, it played exactly like the really cheap Christian movies of the early 2000s, with the brief, disjointed scenes jumping around; characters having a change of heart on a dime; randomly-placed musical numbers; and a lack of follow-through on the minor story arcs. I mean, I don't understand why the boy randomly sang a romantic song during youth group and then never talked to his crush for the rest of the movie. There was a lot of cringey awkwardness like this throughout the movie. Somehow, though, I did finish the entire movie - perhaps because we Christians were desensitized for so many decades thinking this was as good a movie as we'd be able to find with faith and good family values in it. Thankfully there are some better ones to choose from these days.

Church People (2021)

Clever Christian Satire

[8/10 · 11 March 2023]

I started this movie with a cringe on my face, as any Christian does who hopes for Christian movies to be good - and less cheesy - one of these days. While the cringe never completely went away, the reason for it did change. It went from being a dread-induced cringe to a cringe of regret that modern mega-churches are actually like this! The writers didn't embellish by much!

At that point, I started appreciating this movie for what it is: Christian satire. And such clever satire that it just barely went beyond reality. I felt like I was watching all of the Christian headlines The Babylon Bee has written, rolled into a single movie. So much so, that I laughed out loud at the end when a certain character was revealed to be the Holy Spirit when he picked up the fog machine and it started blowing fog everywhere. LOL!

There are also a couple very sweet story lines that made me as a woman like this movie even more.

While this movie is not completely devoid of Christian cheese, I did find it really clever and humorous. And it made me even more thankful for those small, simple, sincere churches that hopefully still exist.

A Love to Remember (2021 TV Movie)

More Depth Than While You Were Sleeping

[9/10 · 10 September 2022]

I know While You Were Sleeping is a classic, and I did like it...but I remember it being kind of basic. Surprisingly, A Love to Remember seemed to have a lot more depth and variety. There were even some plot twists and surprises that I didn't anticipate. Good writing!

And, of course, the new face Rhiannon Fish is just adorable. In both this movie and the Hallmark movie, Journey of My Heart, she brings a cuteness and a comic relief to two roles of highly intelligent - potentially nerdy, awkward, but pulls-off-normal - women. She's a joy to watch!

How many more characters until I get to six hundred?

August Creek (2017 TV Movie)

Cheaters Meets Hallmark?

[3/10 · 8 September 2022]

I was on my way to loving this movie.... The leading lady was cute, the guy was handsome, and it broke from the usual Hallmark formula. However, my feelings about the movie turned south when I realized that the handsome man she was going to end up with...was also the person with whom she had cheated on TWO other men! According to what I've learned in life, previous unfaithfulness doesn't exactly lead to a long, happy, monogamous marriage between the two cheaters. This movie is even more of a fairy tale than most normal Hallmark movies are.

If you can suspend belief in reality long enough to watch this movie, you'll probably enjoy it. In theory, it is a very touching movie.

The one other thing I want to mention is a heads-up for families who expect Hallmark movies to be innocent: This one depicts an unmarried couple sleeping in the same bed on multiple nights, as well as a woman saying she and her fiance haven't "'done it' in x weeks." There is also some drunken behavior and a couple discussions of how drunk a person got to explain why they did/said certain regrettable things.

Our Dream Wedding (2021 TV Movie)

Depressing and Frustrating

[3/10 · 20 August 2022]

This was so depressing for a cute, sweet romance. These time-travel movies that show the female character what her life would be like if she marries or hadn't married the man in question inevitably portray marriage as depressing or, at the very least, frustrating. In addition to that issue, the girl in this movie was terrible at communicating. You would think a doctor would be able to make words come out of her mouth...but not this girl. She could never manage to say anything when just a simple word would have defused the situation.

Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone (2021 TV Movie)

The most hopeful marriage recovery storyline I've ever watched

[9/10 · 29 November 2021]

Wow! This movie was the first "marriage recovery" story I've ever watched that didn't feel at all depressing. In fact, it was beautiful and sweet and full of hope. For me, it was the niece's bright cheeriness and the uncle/husband's precious loyalty and gentlemanliness that made this movie so good.

Notes from the Heart Healer (2012 TV Movie)

Reminded me of a melodramatic Christian movie

[3/10 · 15 September 2021]

The story is good and one that needed to be told. But the whole way through, it just reminded me of your classic low-budget, badly made Christian movie. The emotional background music never stopped. The acting was not natural. You may very well enjoy it, but I'm just saying it didn't feel like a good Hallmark movie to me.

Just in Time for Christmas (2015 TV Movie)

Didn't get the point of the movie

[3/10 · 14 July 2021]

This movie was cute, I guess; but as another reviewer wrote, it was also painful to watch.

First, the initial conflict seemed very contrived. Judging by the scenes preceding the proposal, I didn't notice any character flaws on the female lead's part. And the male lead's angry irrationality came out of nowhere. Hadn't they been friends since middle school? So why would he react so strongly and not give her a chance to speak? And why was she the one who had to learn the lesson in the movie? I didn't pick up on any greed or selfishness regarding her considering the professorship..., so why was she the one who had to go through the learning experience in the movie?

In addition to the fact that I couldn't understand the point of this story needing to be told, it was just plain painful to watch her go through the ordeal of not knowing what had happened to her or her memory without having a "ghost of Christmas future" or wise person to guide her and reassure her that she wasn't going crazy. I hated watching her suffer like that. And all for what? For her boyfriend to not have to ultimately learn some listening skills?

In the end, I'm glad they were both prepared to make some compromises. So I guess I would say the ending is better than the rest of the movie, but still it was painful for me to witness her going through such an ordeal, and I just didn't understand the premise of the conflict and plot.

Love to the Rescue (2019 TV Movie)

Wanted to like it

[3/10 · 25 September 2020]

I wanted to like it, and I wanted the dog's presence to be more prominent in the story. The dog idea seemed more like a plot tool - and a forced one at that. The premise of sharing custody of a shelter dog is very unrealistic. Hallmark has had multitudes of characters fight over dogs and Christmas trees, and somehow they're always able to choose - except this one time?!

I don't enjoy watching Nikki DeLoach. She doesn't come across as natural or Hallmark-cute to me. Also, as others have commented, she always appears older than the male leads. But I went ahead with watching the movie because I wanted to see how the dog story would go.

I liked the male lead. He's handsome, and his character was believable.

I felt like there were too many times when the script had to explicitly describe the characters' personalities to the audience. I think their personalities could have been developed more onscreen/visually. Or maybe if the actors had been more suited to their roles, it would have been more obvious to the audience.

And, as a word enthusiast, there was one line (one missed opportunity for a good line) that completely gave away how poorly this script was written. At the end, the male lead said, "Do you mean that dinner (or a first date) wouldn't be the end of the world?" And she says, "In fact, it would be...nice." *face palm* Why didn't she say, "it would be a beginning"?! What a missed opportunity! Especially considering the final scene that shows they did get married, so that moment after the awards show WAS the beginning of the rest of their lives!

Paris, Wine & Romance (2019 TV Movie)

Hard to Tell if the Main Character was Sincere

[2/10 · 17 September 2020]

I enjoy watching Jen Lilley. She is the only reason I could add the second star.

I just could not believe Jacques or his family. Their forced accents and their demeanors, in any other movie, would have been obvious hints that they were the villains of the movie. Yet, for some reason, I was supposed to believe that Jacques was a sincere person with no ulterior motive???

The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

If you're a Christian and thought this was an "almost-Christian" inspirational movie

[1/10 · 8 August 2020]

If you're a Christian and thought this was an "almost-Christian" inspirational movie with just a few curse words, like I did...I would definitely recommend previewing it before watching it with children. I had to turn it off after 27 minutes of gratuitous cursing. At first I thought the curse words were not too frequent and were - sort of - "necessary" to the story. But then when Shia LeBeouf's character started talking more, he was using multiple unnecessary curse words in every sentence. I was disappointed in this movie, because it turned me off before I ever got to find out if it was truly inspiring and heartwarming.

Jane and Emma (2018)

Visually beautiful, but not a lot happened

[3/10 · 26 May 2020]

Visually, this is exactly the kind of movie I like to watch: American-made, historical, close-up details of the way people lived and dressed. However, story-wise, I was expecting a lot more. I didn't know this history of the LDS church before I watched it, so that might not have helped my opinion. But really nothing actually happened in this movie; no great progress was made; it was hard to tell what the main conflict/storyline was. And the ONE detail that MOST distracted me throughout the ENTIRE movie was that Emma was wearing so much makeup! At this time in history, women of good reputation did not wear makeup; so it was super distracting from the movie's attempt at historical accuracy to see a woman with really bronze blush and dark lipstick visibly caked on her face.