Three Weeks, Three Kids

Jennifer Mills (Anna Chlumsky) is a 25 year old freewheeling single with commitment issues and an aloof boyfriend. Her older sister Mandy and husband are going on a European vacation for 3 weeks. At the last minute, their mother can't babysit the 3 kids due to an injury to their father. Not everything goes smoothly with the cool aunt. The eldest daughter Alice Norton (Tiera Skovbye) has boy troubles. The younger girl has mean girls troubles, and the boy is a neurotic mess being bullied. Will Johnson (Warren Christie) is the handsome new next door neighbor who lends a hand. It turns out that her mother isn't really truthful.

It's a Hallmark movie with nothing special. It's shot like every other second rate TV movie. There isn't much to recommend other than that there isn't anything objectionable going on. The acting is unimpressively reasonable. The dialog is pedestrian. The movie could do with some hijinx. The kids' problems are good drama. The little kids almost save this movie. The parents in Europe is not so good drama because there is no real danger of a breakup. The romantic chemistry between Jennifer and Will could do with a bit more heat but it's sweet anyways.

Although not the best I ever saw this is still remarkable good, Yes I recommend it. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 2/9/2021

This is a typical fish out of water story. Jennifer is living a carefree life. Her sister and brother-in-law have hit a rut in their relationship and decided to take a vacation to try to rekindle the romance that was there before the kids arrived. Mom decides this would be a perfect time to show Jennifer that being a mom is a wonderful thing and gets to her watch her sister's kids while they are in Europe. Jennifer has to go from cool aunt to parent in order to keep the kids in line and deal with the daily troubles and tribulations of being a parent to 3 kids..

This would be a better story if it wasn't really an abuse story at its core. Mom isn't happy with Jennifer's life choices. Her crime is that she is 25 and not married. Its not like Jennifer is out being friendly. She has a bf but neither want to take the relationship to the next level at the moment. Mom schemes to get Jennifer to watch her nieces and nephews as a way to show her how amazing it is being a parent. Meanwhile, the b story is Jennifer's sister and husband going through a rut. They married and started a family early and are no realizing that life is passing by while raise their kids. Its typical patriarchal propaganda story that a woman has no value unless she is married and has kids and that is ok to do whatever you need, including emotional abusing your own daughter. Instead of letting Jennifer come to the point of marriage and kids on her own, mom schemes and removes Jennifer's agency by forcing her to become a parent before she is ready. We already see how the story will probably end, the same as her sister's...

I really liked this movie. It might be because I personally am that "cool aunt", so I easily related to Jennifer's character.

But what I really liked about this movie was the way the actors portrayed their characters. Sure, it's not award winning acting, but the actors portrayed their characters very realistically. Hallmark movies, I have found, have a tendency to have good general stories, but they're portrayed in an unrealistic, cheesy way. In comparison to other Hallmark movies I could mention, the acting wasn't nearly as cheesy as it could have been. That might be because when I'm with my family, we pretty much behave the same exact way.

I also felt that the dialogue was well written. Not because it was incredibly poetic or quotable, but it was (again) realistic. It was like someone eavesdropped into a normal conversation I'd have with my own family, should have something like what the characters experienced occurred. People do have interesting conversations with their families sometimes, you know.

There was no "wow" factor to this movie, and at times I'll admit it was fairly predictable. But I will say it was cute and charming. And sometimes, it's nice to watch something like this. Sometimes it's nice to not be blown out of the water.

I would watch this movie again. I would even recommend it to others to watch (if they were into Hallmark movies).

This was a fun little watch. It's not something I would watch over and over, but it was fun for this first time. It made me want to book a trip to Europe ASAP!