The Heiress and the Handyman

Over the top acting (by most), choppy storyline, bland chemistry, goofy music clips... I am not looking for Jane Austen intuitiveness when I watch Hallmark, these movies are my mental release, but I do appreciate good writing and directing - followed by believable acting.

This movie was reminiscent of an 80's sitcom, that had 1 season. I have seen an improvement in Hallmark movies of late; a little more grit, depth and reality. This movie did not make the cut.

To produce this, edit it and think it's up to par, is a major oversight. I actually like these actors, just not their performance in this particular film.

Bad hair and over the top set decoration. Maybe Hallmark should return to producing all their own movies. This one was produced by Brain Power Studios, the same production studio that also did "The Jane Mysteries". The same guy directed both and they both share the same problem. The scripts are weak and the dialogue silly but that can be forgiven if the characters are properly developed. I like Jodie Sweetin but her character is portrayed as clueless and inept. I blame the director and writer. June Waltshire is supposed to be a graduate of Oxford and yet is not aware of how her money is being managed or even how to hold a job in a coffee shop? I realize it's a movie but please stop the stereotype of clueless rich people. I might add that the ladies of the town were portrayed as snobby and a bit snarky. Another stereotype that should stop. I live in a small town and no one I know would be that rude. At least not to your face. As others mentioned, the wigs or hair extensions or whatever are horrible. Jodie Sweetin is a very attractive woman so why give her such distracting hair? Corey Sevier and the rest of the cast did fine with what they had to work with. I especially liked Ann Pirvu as the lead's sister. It's not the best movie of this type but there have been worse. Extra points for the animals. I give it a generous six.

I found it very interesting that as this movie was premiered on Hallmark another Jodie Sweetin movie debuted on "the other network" at the same time.

Spoiled heiress loses fortune and her life gets totally downgraded. The good news in this movie was that going from luxury to nothing took 9 minutes including opening credits. Some movies with this premise stretch that out in the hopes of earning humor points. June learns some humility almost as quickly, so there is not a lot of time to really hate her character. From there we go into the phase of learning about the work ahead (but that never actually manifests). No blue jeans yet. But the competition challenge complete with trash talk comes pretty quickly. And so we have another Hallmark movie where someone enters a contest with experienced competition but she is a totally novice in the required skills. And not just one category, but several.

This movie takes an interesting approach to how June's new neighbors adjust to her. They are far more sympathetic to her than in the usual stories where a high society person meets small town folk.

The pacing in the middle is laid back and some might consider it stagnant. One would expect the arrival of the fair contests would be the climax, but it seemed a little early and then there was a complete turn of direction with a few unexpected things before the obvious ending. While there were some unexpected things, this part was rushed a little.

The acting is OK, but unrealistically upbeat, which for me wasn't necessarily negative. The dialog has good moments. There isn't much heavy tension. The approaching contests were about all in that category. In the category of makeup, there was at least one scene where Sweetin didn't look good in close ups.

Jodie Sweetin's June is pretty much what you would expect from Jodie. There is little character development of June other than what takes place in the first 10 minutes. Corey Sevier fills the part of her romantic interest but doesn't add much of a counterpoint.

To the person saying they watched 30 mins, if you don't watch a full movie, don't rate it. You didn't give it long enough to have a fair viewpoint. I thought it was sweet, loved Gillian & the movie had vibes of Harvest Moon but less comedy. I was happy to see fall included instead of just a movie set at any time of year included as a fall into love movie (I know it's on the app, but it will be on linear soon). Corey brings his A game in anything he does, & Jodie did well, although I think there needed to be more characters included earlier on. I like the tie-in at the end that I won't spoil. I think a little more comedy would've worked better for this one, but overall it was a pleasant, wholesome watch, that I enjoyed. This was clearly an acquisition but it's a fun watch. The animals & fall vibes are the winner, so if you're in the mood for an easy lighthearted comfort watch, definitely give it a go.

5.4 stars.

Oh, the humanity! Sweetin is off and for her that's not unusual, but way off this time. I rarely finish a movie that is under six stars, this is no exception. I made it to 30 minutes or so. There are so many things wrong with the presentation, I wasn't able to focus on the narrative at all. The simplistic and laughable way that the lead female character is portrayed is, well for lack of better words, laughable. The lead male role is as good as can be for what he has to work with. The script is terrible. I was so disappointed in this film, no wonder it's already been released on Hallmark Network and yet the official release date isn't for another 2+ weeks? Does that make sense? No. The only thing that makes sense is that the producers and the Network realize this movie is a flop, and they want to get it out of the way, brush it aside, hope it's soon forgotten....ugh.