Signed Sealed Delivered

I just watched the movie on DVD and loved it. It was fun and thoughtful. It was also clean, intelligent and entertaining. I actually have relatives who have worked for the Post Office so I could relate to it and the characters both. This kind of movie is a rarity in today's world. (If I hadn't given up T.V. years ago, I might have watched the series.) I usually find Hallmark movies too light and syrupy and unrealistic...but this one was well done. I highly recommend it.

A dedicated team of lost-mail detectives enters an unpredictable world where letters and packages from the past save lives, solve crimes, reunite old loves, and change futures by arriving late, but always miraculously on time. The team is led by the charming and idiosyncratic Oliver (Eric Mabius), who still considers the stamped and mailed letter to be the gold standard of human communication. Together with his team of lost letter experts, free-spirited Rita (Crystal Lowe), oddly-intuitive Norman (Geoff Gustafson) and newcomer no-nonsense Shane (Kristin Booth) they embark on a risky and unorthodox way, beginning with a chance to clear the name of a wrongfully accused man and reconnect him with the love of his life.

I love Hallmark movies, but even I know that they are a bit too cheesy for most people. Every once in a while however, they produce a little gem. This movie is just that. It's sweet and quirky and has a happy ending, but there's also a decent script, a lovely love story and good acting.

TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL meets THE NOTEBOOK in this engaging Hallmark TV movie about how the employees of the Dead Letter Office of the Postal Service reunite lovers and solve a murder.

Although Daphne Zuniga is top-billed in this movie, she has a small supporting role. The actual leads are Eric Mabius as the tight-buttoned head of a local Dead Letter Office and Kristin Booth as the computer specialist misassigned to his staff. There is a bit of friction between them as Mabius plays his role like Clifton Webb.

The situations are engaging and the actors play their roles with a lot of charm. As this has been heralded as the pilot for a proposed Hallmark TV series, it looks as if it will take some time for the writers and actors to settle into the characters and situations, but the premise is certainly engaging enough to warrant to effort.

This movie script is sort of a rip-off of "Dear God," a 1996 movie starring Greg Kinnear. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116059/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_44) I happen to love that movie, so I'm not upset that someone chose to update the story and add a new twist.

I also like Eric Mabius, but found his performance in Signed, Sealed, and Delivered a bit wooden and forced. He overacted the role of being a sort of OCD-ish boss. The cast didn't seem to gel as quickly, as the cast in Dear God did. I hope Hallmark gives this cast an opportunity to find its "ensemble" quality.

I look forward to Hallmark making this into a series, because I think it would be very entertaining. I love non-violent programming and this dead letter story line offers a lot of opportunity to produce some creative stories for the whole family.

I hope Hallmark expands Kristen Booth's Shane character to add that subtle humor as Tim Conway did in Dear God.

I love quirky shows. The Librarians. Eureka. Warehouse 13. They take the edge off in an increasingly edgy world, especially in 2020-21. This franchise is definitely quirky, although with this movie it starts out a little more on the normal side than what it is later.

The four principle actors are so good at their roles. If you've seen Eric Mabius in a Hallmark romance movie, you might not recognize him. Oliver is a man of rigid principle and faith. Shane is a woman with tenacity. She too has faith, she just doesn't know it yet. There is a definite future for these two because Mabius and Booth have great chemistry. So many people love Crystal Lowe and she deserves it. I said you wouldn't recognize Mabius in a "normal" movie. Double that for Lowe. Yet she is great in both kinds of roles. Rita is unique. And quirky. Geoff Gustafson has a difficult role because it's not quite clear who Norman Dorman is yet, and even all these years later his character is evolving.

As much as I loved the regular cast, Laci J Mailey and Benjamin Hollingsworth blew me away. Their chemistry was nitroglycerin. I'm really sorry Mailey hasn't been more prominent on Hallmark in recent years, beyond her role on Chesapeake Shores.

There's a mystery to be solved, and the as yet unnamed Postables are on the case. The viewer gets far more information than the Postables should have, but somehow they are more privy to it than should be given the size of the letter. Even the viewer can't quite see everything yet, but the outcomes are predictable. But even if predictable, the viewer can't wait to see it unfold.

There are plot holes galore. I let them pass over me, but I will mention a some. Charlie's lawyer acts like you have to prove innocence rather than establish doubt. Then things don't process through the criminal justice system nearly as fast as it did here. I'm pretty sure all postal employees have a union so Andrea's threats exceed her actual authority. And of course, every episode of SSD is followed with a disclaimer that the movies aren't consistent with USPS procedures. It would be easy to get hung up on these, but if you are willing to let them pass, there is a lot of fun to be had.