CrimeTime: Freefall

Hallmark mystery shocker. This one turned out to be rather good.

LA actress Hadley Warner is the star of a long running crime show. Now the series has been canned and she moves with her kids to a small Colorado town.

Soon as they arrive, Hadley finds a dead man who has recently gone missing.

It was meant to look like a parachute accident but the hunky local cop Detective Shawn Caden determines it was murder because of a bullet wound.

Hadley just has to interfere and use the police procedural skills gleaned from her shows. She even assembles a crew together with her kids and a superfan of her canned series.

The movie benefits with some good interplay between the characters. The murder mystery had a few red herring, plausible suspects and even some tension.

A cut above the usual fare.

The characters were truly interesting and love the quirks of lead "Hadley Warner". Playing a sleuth for 10 years made the character part of her. Loved her kids and mother.

The detective likes to be in control so he wouldn't admit he knew her show, but he's going to be fun.

This is the kind of show that Hallmark has been sadly lacking in recent years. They're trying different characters and partnerships in different places, but are having trouble replicating the Garage Sale and Gourmet Detective series, or Murder 101. This is a serious contender, like the Tamara Mowry series in Ireland. I can't take 6 months of Christmas romances, so I cancelled. Mysteries this good would make me pay monthly again.

The actors seemed to have great rapport, and it was clear that they enjoyed their roles and on-screen interactions. Voices were clear and strong and the pace of the movie was just right. It was a very enjoyable movie with characters you could find empathy with.

The plot was just complex enough to be easy to follow, and the few red herrings in the mix were fun to follow through. I though each of the actors made the most of their character and put in good performances that made a viewer feel the where honest and invested in their roles.

I hope there are more movies in this series to flesh out the developing characters and relationships.

This is well above the average Hallmark production.

A funny pairing of the actress and hometown boy. She's the wild and he's the calm and both will eventual balance each other out (hopefully).

The Lead plays a fiery Hollywood type relocating and the cop plays well as the quiet thinker with his own dream *that I won't spoil but is sweet.

Overall, this is probably the most laughter I've had in Hallmark film. I had stumbled on it when my wife was watching and laughing. She made me stay for the rest and was cracking up soon too.

I wasn't familiar with the lead but am now a fan. She was fun, a good mom, and struggling to fit in. Being from a small town myself, I loved how they pulled off the small town and strange cast of characters.

We are both interested to see more about the kids lives and lead's backstory. And also more time with Detective in next one overall.

8 out of 10 for me. And not just for the goat scream vids haha.

99% of new Hallmark mysteries are astonishingly bad (and the bar isn't really high). Not this one!

Loved both leads, they are fun together, fun on their on. I was afraid Lyndie Greenwood's character would be fake and irritating, but actually she was cute. As in quirky cute.

Loved other characters. The mother, the realtor, the cop boss, etc. Family members in these films are often... just there, just wasting screentime, but not in CrimeTime.

Even the kids were not annoying (and I expected them to be annoying).

So I hope it won't be a one time thing like many others.

This is seriously the first good Hallmark mystery since Curious Caterer.