Smart Cookies

This movie is well done but you have to wonder how someone could write this and not feel like they're plagiarizing Troop Beverly Hills.

Julie Sterling (Jessalyn Gilsig) is a real estate agent who doesn't like kids. Her boss Lola (Patricia Richardson) forces her to volunteer as a girl scout troupe leader. Her girls are a ragtag group of misfits led by the motherless Daisy (Bailee Madison).

These are nice actresses. The premise is rather bland but nice. It's the standard lesson-learning feel-good girl-empowerment family film. It's nice that Julie learns to love the girls but it's the bare minimum. It is nice that she and the girls become the best of friends. This movie could use more humor. Otherwise, this is nice.

This is an absolutely bog-standard Hall Channel TV movie. Jessalyn Gilsig is a fast-talking, glib real estate saleswoman whose wardrobe consists solely of business suits. She is trying to sell a hideous ultra-modern home by having the kitchen repainted mushroom and putting an apple pie on display to give it that lived-in look. Of course her boss decides she is just the woman to lead a troop of girl scouts, each of whom has enormous issues -- presumably this is to give them personality and some obvious hooks to hang their improvements on.

This being exactly like every other poor Hallmark TV comedy, it quickly becomes evident that 1: no one has any talent for physical comedy; 2: Gilsig will fall in love with the obnoxious working-class father of the girl scout who talks the most; and 3: they will become involved in a fierce competition to sell more cookies than the perfect girl scouts and will win through grit and gumption.

There's nothing wrong with this plot and were it offered with any sign of someone on hand to do anything to make it stand out, I might be less harsh in this review. However, the only thing that stands out is the abrupt change in lighting levels, from a gloomy flat lighting in the beginning that suddenly changes to a brighter, yellower level to reflect the change in attitude of Ms. Gilsig. The actors on hand seem handsome and competent, even if their performances are exactly like those of every other actor in the equivalent roles in other bad Hallmark TV romcoms.

Unfortunately, whether because they considered this an undesirable job or because they are simply hacks with no real interest in their jobs, the people behind the cameras have performed their work by doing whatever is obvious and easy. It takes more than showing up, putting out an apple pie and smiling at the customer to sell a house. It also calls for more than that to make an interesting TV movie.

In this year's nominee for 'Most Original Concept', we have a misfit Girl Scout troupe (a fat one, a loner, a boy-crazy one etc) taken over temporarily(?) by a hard-nosed realtor bribed into this position by hopes of a promotion from her ex-scout boss. Obviously the two disparate parties can't stand each other at first, but what do you know... give them a bit of time and they might even beat their all-powerful all-conquering main rivals, preside over by a snotty club leader who's performance is by no way inspired by Sue Sylvester of Glee fame!

Yeah, so everything about this Made-For-TV is predictable and contrived, from the tacked-on love interest thrown in just for the sake of it (remember kids:NEVER let your career get in the way of a Good Man) to the treacly 'life lessons' learnt at the end tossed around like cheap cookies. Despite all this though, it still manages to be somewhat entertaining, thanks in no small part to some spirited performances from the youngsters and some surprisingly moving moments (A lot of schmaltz too, but it comes with the territory).

So while this one ain't gonna win any awards, considering its limited ambition & scope I'd say it just about does the job it sets out for. Put it this way: there are FAR worse ways to pass a boring Sunday morning... I would list them here, but I'm too bored. 5/10.

It is a harmless, safe, movie with a good moral. If this were a feature film with A-list celebrities, I would probably expect more drama and more intense dialogue and rate this eight stars but it's a Hallmark movie and produces what one watches a Hallmark movie to get: comfort food that isn't junk food. It has affable characters, a cute plotline, and a happy ending. Since it does everything it is supposed to do, namely, produce light yet wholesome audiovisual fare for a lazy afternoon, I give it ten stars.