Runaway Romance

This movie is well worth watching and follows the usual formula for good romance movies. There is magic or sparks between the leads, emotion, conflict, and of course sub-plots. It's failure to resolve the situation between Sarah and the Bishop cost it one point. What did she end up doing? All the loose ends should be tied up at the end. My score is 9.

This was just a fun and sweet movie! What's not to love!

I really enjoyed this movie the entire way through. But the reason I couldn't give it a higher rating is because it wasn't resolved completely. Without spoiling anything, there is a secondary storyline that is completely left up in the air. What happens to the secondary character and her hopes and dreams? They say they are going to fix it, and everything will work out because the lead character has a plan. But as in all Hallmarkor Up movies, after the kiss, the story and the film ends abruptly and you never know What happened to the very important secondary character and her life. She is so likable and such a major part all the way through that I was so disappointed! I will have to read other reviews and see if this bothered anyone else, or if they were just so happy with the lead characters story that it didn't occur to them when they wrote their review.

The premise of a celebrity running away to a remote town is not new, but it isn't the most common either. Throw in that she runs away to an Amish town and it's still not unique, but even less common. The general course of the story is predictable. There were a couple of other elements that were also fresh.

The actors who were playing decent somewhat normal people did well. Three in particular were very appealing.. I wish Trevor Donavan and Danielle C. Ryan had more screen time together. But I sure wouldn't want to steal that time from Ryan and Galadriel Stineman. I also wish that we could have gotten more of Sarah's story including more resolution for her. As for Tatum O'Neil and Beau Davidson, if you want characters to really dislike, they're it, but maybe with a little too much exaggeration.

I was disappointed that the movie took shots at the traditional Amish. There have been so many horror stories about lack of freedom in that life. A quick internet search tells me that a lot of those negative stories are outdated or at least not universally true. One of the more relevant in this movie is how oppressive the Bishop was to Sarah. Again, the quick internet search points out that women can be more independent than this movie implied. They can run their own businesses. They can choose not to marry even though there is a strong tradition in favor of it. They can vote within their church. Deduct one star for bigotry and stereotyping by the writers. I was especially disappointed that UP Entertainment would participate in this stereotyping.

I enjoyed the movie primarily because of the two female leads. Both were caring and generous and unselfish. Despite her upbringing, Sarah was not judgmental. She was loyal. The two women were true friends. This is more of what I would expect from UP Entertainment.

The second time I watched this I noticed a sub-plot. This is the story of two women where men want to control their lives. Those in power want to sell them into marriages they do not want. It reminds me of the Taliban, especially Sarah's story.

This movie was hitting all the right notes for me as I was watching, and it is great for a night with your friends. My one complaint is the conclusion felt just a bit rushed, and I think if the movie was about five minutes longer, that ending would have been more satisfying. Part of the reason it felt rushed to me was because there was one side plot that felt unfinished. Still as far as romance movies go, there are plenty of worse ones out there, so this might be worth a watch with your gal pals.