For Love & Honey

This is one of my favorite Hallmark romances. Not only does it feature a good love story, but it shows off the beauty of Malta. And I learned some things about Maltese history and apiology (or mellitology).

Austin (Andrew W. Walker) is an American archaeology professor who visits Malta. There he meets local Eva (Margaret Clunie) who is an apiologist. Circumstances bring them together, then they mutually discover a hidden fresco which might be a map. Thus begins their adventure and their relationship.

For the most part, the relationship develops smoothly, without too much drama. But they both know Austin will be returning to the U. S., so neither foresees anything serious developing, despite their attraction.

Forgive the pun, but this is a sweet story, with an appealing tone. For my money, Margaret Clunie seems like an actress who could handle almost any role. Here, she gives off a pleasant energy that binds the story together.

What I liked: 1. Hallmark and Malta must have worked out some financial deal, given the number of films set here. And that's fine by me because it is a great location.

2. Andrew Walker does his best to make an otherwise dud of a script watchable. He seems to be their current go to for bad scripts in exotic locations. And he does a nice job here as an archeologist.

What I didn't like: 1. Boring script with a lot of lazy unforced errors. Which is how I'd sum up many recent Hallmark releases. An example of this laziness is the ridiculous "ancient artwork" they discover. They could have put in minimal effort to make it look somewhat believable. But that's Hallmark for you.

2. The acting was pretty rough other than Andrew. The female lead could be good in other roles, but struggled to find chemistry with Andrew. Also, her character (either by design or in her approach to the role) was hard to like.

This sadly is a disappointing review with a disappointing rating. Andrew Walker is one of the finest....maybe the finest actor ....on the Hallmark roster. He easily could make a PSA deserve a rating of 7 just on his own acting abilities. Virtually in every movie he has starred in....at some point....he makes you feel something. Especially in a Hallmark movie, somewhere you should feel something...be touched by something.......but not this time....not this movie. Throughout the entire movie, there was more time spent on bee stories with almost nothing spent on the human relationships. In this movie, there was nothing to be felt by the viewers. They never got us to feel...be touched....even care about their story. This movie was more like some primer or a PSA on bees and their place in the ecology....completely devoid of all human emotions. Unfortunately, even Andrew Walker couldn't bring a good rating to this PSA. Hallmark wasted his talents...and the location of Malta.

I suppose , two virtues define this film - the landscapes and the stories first. Second - the younger sister , more careful- inspired crafted.

The sins - the fresco who seems fake from first sight and the few forced scenes and dialogues.

A good, generous idea and, like many other films from same source, essencial remains the publicity for Malta. Sure, familiar romance recipe, so, no expectations and Andrew W. Walker as the familiar- comfortable presence represents one of good points of film. The eulogy of honey is an useful nuance for a story seductive for the effort to save it from supporting cast.

Complaint about writing, not acting. The leading lady (character, not performer) was unpleasant, entitled, willfully ignorant, and cavalier about cultural artifacts. She did everything short of tearing apart a 400-year-old census that belonged to the library, just because a guy didn't want a bee sting.

Her little sister was smarter, more thoughtful, and much nicer to be around. The older one treated her little sister like a pest. She treated the foreigner like a pest. She treated her neighbors like pests.

The romance was between the guy and the wrong sister.

Again, my complaint was about the writing, not the acting.