Hearts of Winter

In the film, I am glad to see the prayers that the father and daughter pray together at home.

The story and the writing is weak, although the interior decorating and shopping bits were mildly diverting. However thanks to the talented cast and the easy chemistry among all the actors, this one earns an 8 from me. Jill Wagner is a very good actress and she and Victor Webster make a great well-matched couple. Victor's character Grant started out whiny and ungrateful, but he got over it fairly quickly. Lauren McNamara who played Grant's daughter was also top-notch and has been in several other Hallmark movies. She gets the plot rolling buy winning a free house makeover from Bethany an up and coming Interior Designer. Brendan Zub has impressed me in other productions, but was under-used as Jill's sensible and supportive brother. I would like to see him as the lead again in further Hallmark movies. Last and certainly not least is the cute and charismatic Rukiya Bernard, Jill's friend and partner, who brightens every production she is in. Alas, still in the best friend role and not as the lead. Come on Hallmark! Give her a role worthy of her before she gets away. One thing I really liked about this romance is that it didn't end with the deal-sealing smooch, like they all do, but went on to add a little postscript by having the cast wrap things up back at the redecorated home.

Hearts of Winter is a lovely, appealing movie based on a very emotional theme. A widower and his teenage daughter have lost a beloved wife and mother, and seem to have established a new life for themselves in the comfort of their warm and familiar home. For some reason, the teenage daughter enters a contest to have their home considered for a makeover by a TV home decorator. Her application is accepted and their home is chosen to be redecorated. This, understandably, stuns the father, who resist any changes to his familiar surroundings. And here is where the movie goes a bit too far in ignoring the emotional underlying issues for his resistance. The designer, played by the always lovely Jill Wagner, forges ahead with her plans to rid the home of its familiar objects, bring in new items, and essentially, change everything from what it had been. Sadly, the writers completely bypass the father's resistance to this project..overlooking the emotions he must be feeling at having all his reminders of his wife's existence carried away and replaced. Not enough dialogue, attention and respect is given, at all, to this aspect of what must be going on for him. This issue is finally articulated somewhere in the last third of the film. In the meantime, a relationship is seemingly growing between the father and the decorator, but not in a way that takes into account his grieving and his loss. The designer, played by Jill Wagner, does a great deal too much giggling to fill lapses in dialogue..Also, she appears a bit pregnant..Could that be? Usually she appears as a tall, statuesque attractive woman..But, here, there seems to be a great deal of scarves, coats, pocketbook cover-up activity going on..The father, Victor Webster, is always reliable as a romantic, appealing leading man, but is given a weaker image in this film. .until he is fairly allowed to mention the loss of his wife and everything she loved about her house. The movie is carried, very clearly, by the teenage daughter, Lauren McNamara, whose acting skills far outweigh those of the adult leads. She has developed into a truly skilled actress, and even shows some impressive ice-skating skills in one brief scene. This is a really fine young actress. The designer's assistant is played with great dignity and maturity by Rukiya Bernard, who by this time, should be given leading roles in Hallmark movies..She is an elegant, nuanced actress with not enough presence in her secondary roles. The movie rests on a valid theme of death of a spouse, loss, grieving...However, its development of that theme is superficial and not explored nearly enough to merit more stars.. Emotions run high in films about widowhood, single parenting, and life changes. This script did not take full enough advantage of all the deeper possibilities the situation offered. The eventual romantic ending seemed contrived and superificial.

I am giving this 6 stars mostly because I thought Jill Wagner and Victor Webster were so wonderfully in sync as costars. (Jill Wagner is one of my very favorites! )

They had a fun, flirty spark that made it completely watchable.

I also absolutely loved Rukiya Bernard in this! She added so much more funnier my opinion that this movie really needed. I would definitely like to see more movies with these actors.

I found the writing of this to be rather slow. But it did have just the right touch of sweetness and romance.

I think I am in love with Jill Wagner, she is the star of one of my three favorite Hallmark series Mystery 101. Both Jill Wagner and Victor Webster are wonderful actors and while they are great on their own...they are even better together. They had great chemistry in this the Hearts of Winter.

This is the story of yet another widower (I am really seeing a pattern Hallmark...why are you killing off all these parents?) whose daughter Zoe enters them in a contest to win a much needed home makeover. The dad reluctantly allows the makeover to happen when they win...and slowly warms to the interior decorator.

Jill Wagner's character fit in so well with their family unit it seemed so natural that they would fall for each other...especially her instant connection with the daughter Zoe.

If you are a Hallmark fan I recommend watching this winter love story that showcases two phenomenal actors.