Four Fall Harvest films were made in 2016, have noticed that of all the seasonal blocks for all the years between 2015-2021 the Fall Harvest block has always been the briefest. 'Pumpkin Pie Wars' is the penultimate one, followed only by one of 'The Good Witch' films. The previous two Fall Harvest films were a bit mixed, was not really sold on 'Love on a Limb' but mostly liked 'Autumn in the Vineyard' (the best of the 'In the Vineyard' series). The concept here was the most appealing one of the four Fall Harvest films.
Which probably did contribute towards it being the best of the four 2016 Fall Harvest films and the one that feels most like a Fall Harvest film. It is also one of the better 2016 Hallmark films, which was very up and down (like all the succeeding years too). It is a good representation of Julie Gonzalo, who is good when her role is written well and plays to her strengths, and it made me interested enough in seeing more of Eric (Rico) Aragon's work sometime in the future.
'Pumpkin Pie Wars' is not perfect by all means. Sure, the story is very formulaic and does very little new with a type of story that one pretty much knows how it is going to map out quite a bit of time before it happens. A bit over-simple too.
It does also for my tastes end too neatly and unsatisfyingly so, it's pretty much what is expected but it is the sort of ending that works in some scenarios but not so much in others and the too pat treatment of one character didn't ring true here.
However, so much is good. Gonzalo's performance is full of perky charm and sincerity and she has a charismatic and very easy to like leading man in Aragon. Their chemistry is very sweet and genuine, while moving at a realistically paced rate and not feeling aimless or too fast moving. Michele Scarabelli brings a lot of zest into her role and personally didn't think her character was tiresome and instead fun and well meaning. The characters may be Hallmark cliches but they aren't written too perfectly or with their flaws overdone.
Furthermore, the story, despite its predictability, is always engaging and is light-hearted and heart-warming. The film is nicely scripted, with some nice playfulness between the leads and the sentimentality is not overdone. It looks good visually. Especially the gorgeous scenery. The music doesn't distract and really liked how the film made the absolute most of the setting without shoving it in the viewer's face.
Very nice overall. 8/10.
