Un Bel Posto dove Morire: I Misteri di Martha's Vineyard

The series by Phillip Craig was so wonderful and one of my favourite mystery series. When he passed away I knew there would be no more of J. W. and Zee's adventures. So, I was happy to see that a movie series would be made. Jesse Metcalfe makes a good Jeff, but the Zee character is unrecognizable. In the series Zee has long dark hair, is a very earthy & compassionate person, and is a nurse. For some odd reason, in the movie she is a blonde fashionista doctor. And her acting leaves much to be desired. She comes to a crime scene in high heels. Really? But I did enjoy the story and of course, the scenery. I live near where it was filmed and recognized some of the locations here in SouthW BC. I will watch the next one but really wish the movie reflected more of the books.

This first part of a new Hallmark series is basically a police procedural. A big-city cop returns to the tranquility of Martha's Vineyard only to become involved in a murder case.

Jesse Metcalfe plays the reluctant detective, Jeff Jackson, who may suffer from PTSD and wants to avoid police work or unnecessary stress. But his natural tendency to be observant leads him to a corpse in the water just off the pier. When he gets pulled into the case, he works with Zee Madeiras (Sarah Lind), the acting ME with whom he has a personal history.

There is not much romance in this first installment, which is fine. The story revolves around uncovering real suspects among a confusing group of possibles, and reconstructing the events of the night when the murder occurred.

Lame story and bad acting sink this from the get-go. And why on earth would anyone do a series that's set on Martha's Vineyard and film it in Vancouver?

Jesse Metcalfe isn't bad as the Boston cop retired for an injury. He returns to the Vineyard to clean up his dead father's affairs and gets involved with a sappy doctor (Sarah Lind) and a local murder. The murder plot is lame and not terribly interesting. The acting is atrocious.

The setting looks nothing like the real Martha's Vineyard no matter how many times they mention Boston. By the way, the Vineyard is not off the coast of Boston, it's off the coast of Cape Cod. The sweeping vistas of the island (with skyscrapers in the distance) are insulting to anyone who's been to the Vineyard.

Aside from Metcalfe's Jeff Jackson, the characters are all dumber than dirt. The local police chief (the doctor's daddy) is a total dope. The doctor herself never seems to work and becomes Jeff's sidekick, traipsing around the island in high-heeled sandals and "little outfits." Indeed, all the women overdress, which is a key as to who the audience is for this tripe.

The other annoying thing is that the characters walk around with their coffees though it's obvious the cups are all empty. Also, the characters trample every crime scene and don't even wear gloves while they poke around. Bleh!

Obvious , it is not an impressive crime film. But, no doubts, it is nice. The temptation, for me and, maybe, for others, was Jesse Mrtcalfe, giving a decent job in this case. The second - Eric Keenleyside and Christine Willis. The paternity problem and dark side of a rich man life works just not so bad. The result - nice and pure Hallmark-esque.

The story line was interesting, was unsure how this would play out. Not always a big Jesse Metcalfe fan, however his recent Hallmark Christmas movie was not that bad and his acting here was good. From what I read this was Sarah Lind's first Hallmark movie, her acting was a bit stiff, but maybe with another couple of movies under her belt could rectify that situation. I thought the supporting roles were well played, bottom line, i expected a mundane flick and got something better in return.