To Catch a Spy

6/10 - while the mystery is unlikely to change the game, I loved getting to see Nathalie Kelley and beautiful Malta in this Hallmark original movie.

Mystery was a bit curious. Is it a comedy or drama? The leads and suspects were okay. A typical Hallmark story where the female lead, in this case a travel writer, finds a body and then gets in over her head trying to solve it. There's a lot of scenery to take in, but the script and casting are lacking in depth. Would not mind seeing more of the leads, but the supporting cast has little to do, which is fortunate because they can't act. Needs the charm of a series like Murder She Baked.

Never thought I would watch a hallmark movie. Glad i did. Logical. Both main characters have done their jobs well. Story develops. And because I think this is going to be new mystery series (I think), relationship between two evolving slowly. I do hope if there are subsequent mysteries, the main character grows out of the "bubbly and innocent" persona without losing the charm.

Chloe Day (Nathalie Kelley) is a busy writer for Destination Traveler Magazine. Her next job is to cover the newly renovated Hotel Optima in Malta. There are noises coming from the vent in her room. She hears a struggle and a man falls to his death. She searches for help and knocks on one of the rooms where FBI agent Aaron Maxwell (Colin Donnell) happens to be staying. When they reach the landing spot, the body is gone and the local police is dismissive of her.

The tension would be heightened if Chloe is traveling by herself. A woman alone feels more dangerous. She also needs more time with Aaron. This is Hallmark after all. They need to be coupled ASAP. The movie needs to amp up the romance since the mystery isn't much of one. The suspect is suspicious right from the start and never stops. While I like the complete randomness of her knocking on his door, I do wonder if she should have an earlier scene of them meeting and give her a reason to seek him out for help. On the other hand, the initial mystery of the dead man is great and I have no reservations about that. In fact, that should be earlier and all the spy stuff at the beginning is unnecessary. It's good enough to start the mystery without any priming of the pump. It's also cool to be in Malta. It's exotic enough to be interesting but bland enough for Hallmark. This could be a ongoing series but I don't see the FBI recruiting a travel writer. It would work better if he's in the CIA and they need a low-level off-the-books connection who has a reason to travel the world. The series could go to everywhere.

Low budget fiasco with bad writing and worse acting.