Love in Glacier National: A National Park Romance

As someone who has been going to Glacier National Park his entire life, I was looking forward to seeing scenes of the park. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. There was spectacular scenery of British Columbia, but there were only two references to the real GNP: Grinnell Glacier and Apgar (which is a town at the foot of Lake McDonald--there is NO "Apgar Gulch."). Furthermore, there is only cross country skiing in Glacier--the closest downhill ski area is Big Mountain (I refuse to use the new name "Whitefish Mountain Resort") near Whitefish. Also, motorized vehicles like snowmobiles are prohibited in the park in the winter. There are so many realistic story lines that could be made in the real Glacier National Park, that it's unfortunate they picked something so completely inaccurate.

I visited Juneau AK in 1988 and was up in the snowpack along the Perseverance Trail, mostly in the rain, and I was advised about avalanches in the area from time to time, and being a little too old to repeat that feat, the scenery was the main star of this movie - it was beautifully filmed in British Columbia, not Montana, but that was just fine with me.

Both the screenplay and direction were in the top tier of Hallmark movies from the last few years; Ashley Newbrough as Heather and Stephen Huszar as Chris had believable chemistry - first professional, then awkwardly romantic, then the "Hallmark Breakup", then reconciliation.

The cast seemed to really enjoy working on this, although it was really more of a drama than romance or comedy. Sure, as others have observed, there were times when the acting was a little stiff and signs of a low budget abounded, but I had no problem putting such issues aside, and the remembrance at the close of the movie perfectly fit the serious spirit of this story. Hallmark can really tell some wonderful stories at times, and this one bears repeated watching. I would love to see Hallmark put the whole company behind this effort into more movies, or even a series.

Whoever was in charge of continuity for this film should be fired. In more than one scene where the protagonists are skiing, the ski pants on the main actress are a different color from the ones she is wearing before and after the skiing (she is wearing a light blue ski suit with matching top and bottom, but on the hill the pants are a darker blue). So obvious and distracting.

Also the storyline with the sister just ended abruptly with no real conclusion.

And why do you pretend this is an actual location (Glacier) when it is totally filmed in Fernie. Why not try to remove all things that point to/advertise Fernie. Why even use Glacier Park in the title if you aren't willing to film there?

Hallmark has had this same issue in a movie about Banff that had parts obviously filmed in Winnipeg and Ontario.

This is not one of their best.

I have been watching Hallmark Romance Movies for 15 years and they almost all follow the Pygmalion formula for a romance movie ( Awkward introduction , confrontation, recognition, romance , love , disaster, reconciliation, together forever ) - This movie was the same but with a technology twist that looked different but was the same - but what really made this Hallmark movie stand out from the "Drinking Syrup all women go to bed fully dressed sickeningly sweet shows of the past ) was that the lead was actually scene in a bikini for the first time ever on a Hallmark movie. I am surprised Hallmark didn't issue an advisory - as for the movie itself - the casting was better than average and so was the chemistry of the leads - If you are in for a feel good movie - I recommend it.

I've always enjoyed Ashley Newbrough and she doesn't disappoint me here. Her character is upbeat, but more importantly she is highly intelligent and more than competent in the snow. I did have a problem with Stephen Huszar's Chris. This man is ridiculously unprofessional in several ways. His total disregard for the science is close to criminal negligence given the importance of his responsibilities. The viewer knows something is behind this but the movie waits toward the end to reveal it. It's not hard to guess though. But beyond that he is misogynistic toward Heather as he makes several successive assumptions that are quite rude and, as I said, unprofessional. Of course this is the usual early antagonism between the romantic leads that seems to be required in these movies, but I thought that it was done in a way that detracted from the story AND I thought some of it carried on far too long.

The story is predictable with no great highs or lows. The viewer could see the climax coming almost from the start. Throw in the tween motherless daughter who of course falls in love with Heather. The dialogue was OK. Newbrough and Huszar do get to establish some chemistry and seem quite comfortable together.

The scenery was outstanding which given the location was inevitable. There was a lot of education about avalanches including practical advice for sports people who encounter the risks. I assume most of it was accurate.