The Abigail Mysteries

I was looking forward to seeing what kind of mystery GAC might offer because I do enjoy a nice cozy mystery, but I couldn't even follow the mystery plot in this movie. The plot was constantly interrupted by random discussions of religion between the main character Abby and well every other character. I guess this was an attempt to differentiate from Hallmark channel and appeal to the GAC base but goodness please first nail down the plot and develop the characters. Signed, Sealed, Delivered was a very successful mystery movie series with religious overtones that didn't have me cringing or reaching for the remote.

Trite. Way Too much praying. Way too much Poppa. Too much sniffling. Best part was when she was whacked for snooping around. Guy hanging around outside again and again. Too obvious man was not related. Too obvious who evil person was too. Too many potted plants in the mix. No one actually looked in the coop. Mean old boss. Plot too slow. No follow up on obvious mystery elements. Convoluted. No intermittent resolutions of the clues. Belongs as part of Sunday morning Church Service. Praying they find new writers, directors and supporting cast. Everyone way to bland. Could have been good. But, too far off on every component.

As far as I know, this is the first mystery for the new Great American Family Channel. There are some things I liked about it. And there were some things that kind of bothered me. Overall it was good. Pros are the story and the sense of community in the movie. My major con would be that it seemed like some clues were given and then dropped. The Main character put herself in kind of dangerous situations but seemed to keep that information to herself. The only other major con I have would be that during quiet conversations, the music is SUPER distracting and then dialogue is very hard to hear. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie though.

I watched the entire movie because I liked the dynamics between the lead character and her friend who was a cop. A rerun of Murder She Wrote probably could offer more suspense. Which isn't saying much.

The acting overall wasn't compelling. I never felt her struggle with God was fairly acted out. For example, she seemed to always try to pray with a glass of red wine nearby. Not sure that is the right inspiration.

Her efforts to find the killer were pretty laughable and the red herrings were easy to spot. Overall this is no competition to the Hallmark mystery movies but I found it watchable nonetheless.

Alright, this is a murder mystery. There should be more of an atmosphere of danger, suspense and a little bit more moodiness to properly set the tone. After all, somebody just got killed and the actors don't seem to be taking the situation very seriously. They're so light hearted and cheerful they don't come across as real; and the music sounds like something out of a half hour family situation comedy. They act as if they are trying to decide whether to go out for dinner at Red Lobster or Applebee's. A little bit more gravitas for the situation would be good. It was like "Gee whiz guys, somebody just got killed. Sure is a nice day outside!" Now, having said that, I began watching this movie because I wanted some wholesome entertainment.and because I like mystery movies and I just watched a horribly dull, gritty "film noir" mystery from the 1950's, and that was way too bleak, dark and depressing for me. One definition of a noir film is "A movie that is marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, menace, and cynical characters". So I wanted something a little lighter to watch, but the characters in this movie were just a tad too sugary sweet. If they had cast a Shirley Temple type to play Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird it couldn't have been more inappropriate. So, good try, but lay off the overly niceness next time.