A Summer Romance

This Hallmark romance has a much-used plot: city slicker comes to the country where he meets a woman and encounters a way of life that transforms him. Still, I enjoyed this film, mostly because of its cast. Ryan Paevey plays the part of the New York suit, Richard Belmont, who sidles up to cowgirl Sam Walker, played by Erin Krakow.

When they first meet, Sam is suspicious of Richard's intentions. She is also dealing with existential financial decisions for her Bighorn ranch. Richard eventually warms to the cowboy way of life.

The manner in which director David Winning portrays the Bighorn lifestyle makes me want to live there myself. And that is, in large part, what makes this film so enjoyable.

My wife and I enjoy the occasional Hallmark movie, they are sweet stories with no foul language, no killings, and the closest they come to sex is touching hands while on two blankets out in the wilderness.

Erin Krakow has become Miss Hallmark, here she is Samantha Walker, friends call her Sam, and after her dad died she became the owner and operator of a beautiful 2500 acre ranch in Montana (actually filmed in British Columbia). But the ranch is struggling and her mortgage is in arrears.

A development company knows this and have their sights on the land to develop a resort and golf courses. So young and handsome, Harvard educated son of the owner flies his own plane from New York, lands to find out the runway will be reworked so he has to spend a few days in the area. The only hotel is full for a yearly festival so he is invited to stay in the guest house on the ranch. He tries right away to buy the ranch from Sam, she says she has other possibilities in mind.

All that happens early in the movie, most of the run time is the two getting to know each other. Even though it begins abrasively we know they will warm up to each other and mutually find a way to save the ranch.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library, we enjoyed it as a nice, well-made typical Hallmark movie.

This story in this movie is an uninspiring mish-mash of tropes we've already seen too many times which also means it is utterly predictable. How many times have we seen the wall-street baron waltz in and clash with the pretty heroine whose family ranch (or any other fill-in-the-blank family business) is in jeopardy because of debt? One, or in this case both, characters appear a little arrogant at first and proceed to try to show-up one another. In this case, the cruel Richard really isn't that mean as we see by an a brief early scene his generosity. Sam brands him with the nickname JR intending to belittle him, but he takes it in stride. We all know what happens next and for that matter all the way through to the end.

One new concept in the story that I liked was the cowboy code which may or may not have been made up, but it was the one thing in the story that stood out.

For most people, this movie will come down to how they appreciate the performances of Erin Krakow and Ryan Paevey. With these two Hallmark veterans, there is a good chance to save the movie just based on watching their relationship. Paevey and Krakow sync and it is enjoyable as far as that goes. As a man, I love Krakow and I wish I thought her acting was stellar, but I see too many of her patented expressions over and over in everything she does. Krakow achieves her goal, at least for me, but it is more of a passive effort rather than exciting. Paevey was his usual. I felt sorry for Lucie Guest, whom I have always loved as a supporting actress. Her role, as well as the other corporate assistant, was totally undemanding and was even a bit sad in its futility.

This is not the first time that I, along with many other reviewers, wonder if Hallmark has sacrificed quality for quantity by presenting a new production every week. They have lost any freshness especially in the stories and dialog. I'm sure most of these movies are more appealing to those who don't watch them all but merely sample them from time to time.

Sure, it would have been more realistic if Erin Krakow looked like she got up at the crack of dawn, with little to no make up, and got sweaty and dirty as she really worked that ranch. And she probably would still have looked quite attractive. Either way, pretty actresses are one of the reasons I like Hallmark movies and I'm OK with a luminous looking Erin Krakow. Plus, once a handsome stranger showed up and was invited to stay, is it so hard to believe she might take a few extra minutes in the morning to feel good about how she looked? Most people have some level of vanity.

But if viewers want to discuss how realistic this movie was, that discussion should probably focus more on an assessment of what, exactly, the ranch did to be financially viable. There was no evidence of any apparent income streams. We were left to assume that, perhaps, horse owners paid to have their horses boarded there, but there was no indication that they ran riding lessons, held camps, functioned as a B&B, or ran any kind of income producing ranch operation. And milking a cow into a pail suggested this was no dairy farm.

Also, much was made of the fact that the ranch had been in the family for generations. And yet there was a mortgage? If the father had run low on operating capital, and needed a mortgage, one would think there would have been some sort of business plan before Erin Krakow took over and, apparently for the first time, started thinking about coming up with one.

And the hotshot Harvard grad, who made a presentation about acquiring the ranch to a large meeting with the board/officers/management of his father's apparently very successful business, somehow learned about the ranch's private financial affairs and that they were 3 months behind on the mortgage? That information doesn't just get posted online. It only becomes public when a lender records a notice of default and starts taking steps to foreclose on the property, and that process (which did not appear to have started) can take at least 5 months or more. And yet, in Hallmark World, everyone knows everyone else's finances and family businesses and homes often suddenly face foreclosure in a matter of hours or days after being given wildly insufficient notice. THAT'S unrealistic, annoying, and just a lazy writer's way to create conflict. As was the unannounced visit by two subordinates.

And a big NY company's merger and the success of its business somehow rested on the acquisition of a little ranch in the middle of nowhere with lousy cell service? Really? Talk about unrealistic.

And "camping" next to a small fire, without a tent, blankets, or sleeping bags, after hearing what they heard, during a cold Montana night? Really?

And I get frustrated with Hallmark's compressed timelines where people meet, fall in love, and make life changing plans because of that love, all in a matter of days. Would it be so hard to write a more believable story line? With maybe a few return visits? Stretched out over weeks and months instead of a few days? I've seen it done. In better Hallmark movies.

Still, despite all this lack of realism, the movie was a nice celebration of nature and small town kindness mixed in with a pleasant romance between 2 attractive and pleasant characters. For us Hallmark movie addicts, who like romantic movies with happy endings, much can be forgiven. But this was a 2nd tier offering.

Love the movie and actors overall, but there was one thing I had a hard time getting over. Sam always had a little too much make-up and nice hairdo to be working on a ranch. Plus, the hat just did not look natural on her. (Just my opinion though)