Garage Sale Mystery: Il vestito da sposa

We all know these Hallmark movies (whether mystery or romance or combination thereof) are uneven qualitatively. Some are worse than others, and this one is pretty bad.

I was motivated to watch it for a couple of reasons. First, I am an admirer of Peter Deluise. He directed and/or wrote some of my most favorite Stargate SG1 episodes (I still mourn the loss of SG1). So I figured that some of Peter's directorial brilliance shown in SG1 (I was going to name a few episodes here but really, there are just too many to choose from!) would surely shine through in this movie.

Second, it has Steve Bacic in it. He brilliantly played Camulus, a Goa'uld System Lord in SG1. Those Goa'uld characters are way, way fun. And I was interested in seeing him again.

So, yeah, there's that. Then there's the fact it is the dog days of summer. Too hot to go out. To hot to do anything. So a nice, mindless movie was just the thing.

But this movie is terrible. Granted I've not seen other movies in the series. Not that it matters. I can hit the ground running as well as the next guy, and besides, these tend to not be too intellectually challenging.

But let's get it out in the open -- I don't like Lori Loughlin. She is cold and has an almost cruel look on her face most of the time. I sense no warmth or humanity emanating from her. The story line about her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend just made me roll my eyes. Seriously? You're going to harshly admonish the poor boy for making a mistake at the dinner table? Plus, she plays nasty games of "if you don't know I'm not going to tell you" with her husband. Gak.

In fact all the characters seem highly stereotypical, and frankly uninteresting. The ditzy, goofy friend. The inept police detective. The irritating, clueless daughter (really?! she's a college junior and she's still living at home? KMN!). And, sadly, the annoying and deceptive husband (oh Steve Bacic! What have they done to you?).

The mystery itself was pretty one-dimensional, its outcome foreseeable. They try to shake it up a bit at the end, but even that was predictable (if not judicially disturbing).

I just don't know. Clearly these movies are made for a different segment of the population. I kept thinking about the amazing international mysteries I've seen out of Scandinavia (for example), and there's no comparison. They are better in every way imaginable. This movie was a waste of time to watch. I should have done laundry instead.

I honestly can't think of one positive thing to say about the movie. I didn't give it a 0 out of respect for Deluise and Bacic. I want to pull out my SG1 DVDs.

Jennifer finds an old but expensive wedding dress in a box of clothes purchased at an estate sale. She finds a blood stain on a pocket and investigation turns up Helen Carter, the bride, together with the story that the groom disappeared between the wedding and the reception after the wedding. Jennifer doggedly pursues the mystery and, using Luminol, determines that there were still blood stains inside a closet in the storage room of the church. The killer is soon unveiled...

A little farfetched in how Jenn tracks the wedding dress to a bride ( Cheryl Ladd) but a fairly diverting mystery, which doesn't always tread a typical mystery path. It's entertaining, as in most Garage Sale Mystery.

6.4 stars.

To me this story was quite forgettable. The movie itself is not bad, the main plot of murder and mystery and all that it's meant to represent is just very plain. The side stories of family and friends which are actually the aspect that makes this a good series, are entertaining enough for me to award this over 6.0. The mystery plot was bland, so I have nothing much to say but that I have made better use of my time on many occasions. It was difficult to stay interested, and I'm not sure I can point a finger at one specific reason. Give it a try if you want to be completest in your personal reviews of Hallmark mystery movies.

The Garage Sale Mysteries, like many Hallmark mysteries, are for light watching and mild entertainment. This is unlike, say, the Hallmark Christmas films, which are awful.

I love seeing the antiques and collectibles featured on the shows, and the cast is likable. These films also move a little better than others on the network.

In this one, Wedding Dress, the shop owners Jennifer and Dani (Lori Loughlin and Sarah Strange) find a vintage wedding dress from 1979 at an estate sale. Given the styles back then, I rather doubt it was a real vintage dress - guess the set dresser couldn't find one. On investigation, they learn the groom disappeared during the reception and was never seen again.

They meet the bride, Helen (Cheryl Ladd), and Jennifer becomes involved in the mystery.

These are usually easy to figure out - this one was slightly more intriguing.

The thing about anything Lifetime or Hallmark is you have to know what you're getting into and take it for what it is: made in Canada without big budgets and a mostly Canadian cast with one American TV or soap star, and not particularly well directed.

On that basis, Garage Sale Mysteries are a slight cut above the norm.

A wedding groom goes missing on his wedding day and he is never to be seen again for some 30 years and no one seems to care anymore. That is until our antiques dealer/amateur sleuth Jennifer Shannon (Lori Loughlin) visits an estate sale and finds the brides wedding dress with some blood in one of the bride's dress pockets.

So the mystery begins with enough suspects to record a new Guinness Book record for the amount of people who can be stuffed into a Volkswagen car. So where was the missing bridegroom stuffed? Not in that Volkswagen that is for sure.

Jennifer's also dealing with two family matters. Her daughter's boyfriend is looking at a distance relationship and if it can survive their young love, and Jennifer's own marriage is near to another anniversary date but her workaholic husband seems to be distracted with his business to realize their wedding anniversary is just around the corner with no plan in site to celebrate their (not so?) memorable wedding date.

One of the suspects is the still very attractive 64 year old Cheryl Ladd (Charlie's Angels TV 1977-1981) who plays the stood up at the altar and wealthy bride Helen Whitney Carter, that fateful day some 30 years prior. Although the writing of this made for TV movie seems to take the long way around to find out what really happened to our missing bride groom the real mystery would be how sloppy the absent police department would have had to be if this story was even vaguely possible.

Mrs. Shullivan and I both liked the film and especially the recovery ending even though the story was quite winding and a bit troublesome to think that the police department could not have achieved what our amateur sleuth Jennifer Shannon accomplished all on her own with just her good looks and wholesome charm.

I give this chapter of the Garage Sale Mystery series a more than decent 7 out of 10. Just remember that this mystery film is not developed with a blockbuster Hollywood budget so manage your expectations and like Mrs. Shullivan and I, you will not be disappointed.