Love in Zion National: A National Park Romance

There are several negative reviews here that smash the movie for its concept, using the Anasazi, an ancient tribe, as a modern day inhabitant of the Utah area in and near Zion. So I will not comment on that, just say it represents fiction and discuss the movie itself.

Cindy Busby is Lauren, the Denver museum curator, she has a long attachment to Zion National Park from childhood when she would visit with her now deceased mother. Now an older lady has died and willed her three ancient Anasazi pottery pieces to the museum. But her grand nephew shows up, announces he will contest the will. He doesn't care about the historical value, he thinks they are worth a lot of money.

So Lauren studies the designs and figures the set had originally been four, one was missing and she would find it in a remote section of Zion, somehow this would also prevent the set being taken away. There she meets a park guide assigned to help her, and keep her safe, David Gridley as native American, Adam Proudstar.

Things develop from there, my wife and I really enjoyed the scenery, we had been to Zion but were not able to explore it much. The movie itself, it is OK but not particularly good. It was decent diversion after our usual Saturday evening steak dinner with a bottle of red Bordeaux, nothing more.

Streaming on Peacock.

6.7 stars.

Nothing stands out as this being a re-watchable Hallmark duplicate of a duplicate plot. I feel sorry for Busby who is cast in most of the Hallmark national park, state park, outdoorsy movie sets. I can't differentiate between them after a while. Was this already done in 'Marry Me in Yosemite', or 'Warming up to You', or 'Chasing Waterfalls', or 'Love in the Forecast'? Take your pick. Here is a quote from my review of 'Chasing Waterfalls': "Trust your instincts, because YES, you've seen this movie before..."

This is a movie about a single woman who works at a museum, and let's face it she aint getting any younger (Busby looks really good for her age, actually). She goes on a hunt for a Native American artifact to complete a set of four vases that a money grubbing man is trying to claim and sell on the market (if and when he discovers the secret). It's an interesting plot, but it's too generic and lacks adventure and mystery. It's basically just a couple of people walking in the hills talking about lore and stuff and some quasi native history that is not believable. The park ranger's grandmother looks about 50 years old, and he's like 30.

I don't know, there is a lot of lost potential here. The end was good, however it's about preservation of Native American vases from hundreds of years ago, which had a lot of missed potential (like I said), but the romance was lacking. However, the cinematography was brilliant and the ending was uplifting enough for a higher rating than originally planned.

This movie was average. I'm not a big fan of Miss Busby, her acting leaves a lot to be desired. The scenery was beautiful. I was a little taken back that she never wore a hat out in the sun and the heat of the day. She took very little food or water on her six day journey with the park ranger. Many people have complained about the age difference between Busby and the leading man who turns out to be her love interest... They're only seven years apart. I take offence to that since my husband and I are eight years apart. She doesn't look like a senior citizen she's a young woman of 41 and was actually not even 40 when she made this movie. Ageism has become quite a problem in the United States.

Other reviewers have pointed out the cultural and historical mistakes rightfully. But I would like to point out the modern ones. The main character stays in a spacious lodge for one. She leaves, including for a trip of a week, without turning off the lights, locking the door, or even putting out the unneeded fire in the fireplace.

She and the park ranger never wear a hat for protection against the sun. They have no canteens of water or are seen staying hydrated. If I were going out in the wilderness for a week, I would charge up my cellphone, spotty reception or not. She did use it to take pictures with.

She also told the ranger she was taking only a few power bars for food. It also might have seemed more authentic to have at least a few Native American cast members as extras.

The inside of the grandmother's house looked like a modern suburban house. Many Native Americans living in rural isolation have a jerry-built home or an old trailer house. These are just a few thoughts off the top of my head. The scenery was the bet part.

Beautiful desert backdrop to this Hallmark romance which was heavy on an Anasazi mystery. I love the Southwest and I am really enjoying Hallmark highlighting National Parks. I also really love Native American culture, but I am by no means an expert. I was left questioning things in this film however...like aren't Kachinas a Hopi tradition? Wouldn't it be cultural appropriation if the Anasazi are making and-or selling Kachinas? Also, I appreciated that the grandmother, played wonderfully by Monique Filips, mentions the three sister and how that was a way of planting used by the natives...but didn't explain why (how one steals nitrogen out of the soil and one puts nitrogen back in...).

The story is about a museum worker who upon unboxing donated artifacts (three Anasazi wedding vases), determines that there is a missing vase and with the donor's journal goes to Zion National Park to find the missing vessel. There she is assigned a park ranger as a guide and this is how she meets "native" Adam Proudstar, his technology loving brother Tate and his grandmother Kaya. These three are the best part of this film which is more of a mystery than a romance.

I recommend this film to mystery lovers and those who love the southwest...romantics might be disappointed...or they might also fall in love with the Proudstar brothers!