Hallmark almost got it right, almost... I really liked the movie as a whole but there is so much untapped potential. I would like to see Hallmark do a series of multiple movies on this, instead of trying to rush important topics, amongst the main romantic storyline and scenery in 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Particularly the ending was rushed. I won't give anything away but trying to make any kind of heartfelt, meaningful end to the story in under 2 minutes is just a bit futile. I think Hallmark didn't want to take the risk of committing to two movies but it's so compacted that the depth of the story that is hinted at is really just kind of neglected. The romance, the leads' personalities, the leading topic (the making of the photography book in this case), the story of the most important supporting cast, as well as the important topics of conservation and native tribes. A sequel was actually really needed to complete this story and might have given the room to really work out every topic in any kind of meaningful way without sacrificing the romance.
For example: the male lead is passionate about conservation, I would have loved to see some actual scenes with examples. I think the screenwriter really needed more screentime to do the story justice so I think Hallmark should start doing two or three part movies, screened over a couple of weekends in a row, to make these stories informative but easy to watch while keeping the romance.
I do like that Hallmark seems to be focusing on movies where relationships are not built on deceit. It's oddly refreshing to see Hallmark movies where people aren't pretending to be a different person, breaking off agreements left and right, and not focusing storylines on inconsequential bakeoff competitions, corporate developers, and kid birthday parties. I like the idea of learning about topics in an accessible, fun way but Hallmark should really give these things more time so that the scenes can breathe a little bit.
