The Journey Ahead

Holly Robinson is great. Her storyline was great. Ruined it with the woke storyline of the younger girl. It gave nothing to the story. The younger girl's story could have been done correctly and still carried the same weight. I used to love watching Hallmark knowing it was child friendly and wholesome.

This movie was one of Holly Robinson Peete's best. Probably the only one better was The Christmas Doctor.

The journey of theses two women, who are an unlikely pair, was special, enlightening, sweet and humorous. The evolution of the two women was interesting and sweet.

The storyline was different. The two main characters were a hoot together. The scenery was beautiful. This movie made me laugh and cry.

Although it was a very unique story, I gave it a 9 instead of a 10 because the ending was expected. There were no last minute surprises.

But overall a really good movie that I would watch again.

THINGS I LIKED: Holly Robinson Peete does a believable job as a spoiled Hollywood star. Did you know her father was the famous actor Matt Robinson (the original Gordon on Sesame Street!) Her husband is the famous football player Rodney Peete.

Kaylee Bryant plays a super judgmental, annoying Millennial, but her character definitely warms up in the end.

There's a very touching, tearful moment in the end.

We get to take a road trip across the USA.

Both of the main characters experience growth with hard-won insights.

The minute you see Mark Humphrey, you can already tell there is a romance brewing.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: Both of the characters are unlikeable at the beginning with attitudes of entitlement and superiority. Why do people feel they can treat others with such instant disdain?

We see several scenes and then they repeat shortly after as thoughts in the protagonist's head in Act 1. That could have easily been cut from the movie.

There are some slow moments.

Act 3 felt rushed as both characters suddenly made decisions they had been resisting for years.

There are some moments where odd things occur that just don't happen in real life. For example, a young girl randomly walks over to someone else's table in a restaurant and starts drawing. What? Where were her parents? It's such a contrived moment to make a point about one of the characters. Trust me...there are more weird things like that.

It's very predictable.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Talk of a lesbian relationship.

Talk of pre-marital relations.

THEMES: Adoption Complicated relationships Regret Dreams Road-trip adventures Phone your loved ones!

Challenging yourself to do hard things The importance of education

Loved the story but it seemed superficial. They could of had a lot more meaningful talks. Been much more personal. I think that would have made it a really great movie. It seemed like all the potentially great parts of the movie were rushed. Still a good movie but I think it had tons of potential. One could have given more motherly advice and one could have told her about how the world is outside of her Hollywood bubble.

A thoroughly enjoyable female bonding road trip movie with excellent writing and a good story line. The actors were well chosen and so believable in their roles. Their conversations were real and not their emotions not forced. I have nothing negative to say about this movie. Hallmark - more movies like these that have a lot of depth and honesty would be most appreciated! And if you could put these well written movies on your regular Hallmark channel (my sister isn't able to watch HM&M) that would be great!