Junebug

I liked it . Very much. For...realism or , with another word , for my reflection, maybe too ...faithful.

I am uncle and I know the wisdom , with authoritarian sparkles , of an eight age old girl. I dreamed , in childhood , be writer, becoming , as adult, teacher.( history, as compensation ). So, not very far by main character. I feeled very fair to present the parents seeing their almost 40 years old daughter at the age of 8 years. And real preocuped, naive and good intentioned.

And, indeed, I loved the supporting characters, especially Micah , well crafted by Donia Kash or the lovely Kate in Cheyenne Rouleau performance .

Not last, I admitt, Autumn Reeser and Aaron O Connell are fair options for main characters. So, pretty different by too familiar recipe, sure only at nuances level. But this is , obvious, a virtue.

This movie is overloaded with smiles and sweetness. You will probably have to watch some true crime after this to cleanse your palate. Nevertheless, the overarching premise of remembering your childhood dreams is a good one to explore.

The male love interest is honestly too perfect -- a common Hallmark issue. He is artsy, super-calm, incredibly forgiving, encouraging, ridiculously nice, remarkably available, and of course has rock-solid beefy arms. I think it would be great if Hallmark would take a risk and add some complexity to their lead characters -- especially the men.

The acting is fine and the production values are very good, even if it all feels a bit too easy, saccharine, and artificial. It's hard to relate to characters who so easily get everything that they want.

I initially thought the kid was going to be a real turnoff, but she ended up being more endearing than I expected. The film is really saved by the chemistry between Autumn Reeser and Aaron O'Connell. The overall story is ok, but the romance is the reason to watch.

A shout out to the parents in this film...I kind of liked their kooky and cohesive unit.

Now my Seattle rant, while I love that Hsllmark wants to set these films in Seattle and uses some stock footage along with a couple name drops to solidify their "location"...it is so blatantly obvious that it isn't actually Seattle. As someone who lived on Capital Hill for more than two decades, I can spot a fake from a mile away. Why not set the film in Canada if you are going to shoot it there? Would anyone really care? Or...and here is a novel concept why not actually set it in Seattle if you are going to say it is Seattle, pay the money, bite the bullet and film it in Seattle.

Juniper (Autumn Reeser) is stuck in life. Her boyfriend is a dud. Her children's book publishing workplace is under threat. She's a great editor, but her writing dreams have been sidelined. She's turning 40 and her parents gift her the wish box from her childhood. When she starts digging into the box, her eight year old inner child self Junebug (Mila Jones) appears to her and Junebug has issues with her 40 year old self. She has a meet-cute with hot mural artist Alex (Aaron O'Connell) and sees him as her illustrator.

This is very cute. Adding the little girl to the standard Hallmark romance is a great move. He's super hot and Autumn Reeser has always been great since the O. C. In the end, they can't get too far from the Hallmark of it all. There is very limited drama. She really needs to give him the book much sooner, but they leave it to the midway point. Give it to him at the end of the first act and drum up more drama. I am reminded of a commentary where the filmmaker says that every scene is an opportunity to add drama. Hallmark is usually missing that and this is no different.

A children's book editor, who really wants to be a writer, but isn't, "runs into" a very talented muralist.

At about the same time, her "eight year old self" shows up in her life. The little girl that plays that role is awesome!

The lead actress breaks up with the predictable, regular steady guy and goes out on a limb with the new muralist Illustrator. They begin to do a book together.

BTW Hallmark is putting the first kiss earlier and earlier into their movies.

Of course, the arc of the plot has to have a disappointing moment, and this one does.

This is funny, Hartfelt, and inspiring. I recommend you give it a try.