Centennial of Love

Another Reel One Entertainment TV movie which would be actually good for a "Hallmark type TV movie". Sadly, like many other ROE TV movies, and I watched a lot of them, is plagued with technical issues, and this one takes the cake.

First of all is a notorious ROE trademark - a lot of obnoxiously loud background music which destroys so many scenes. But it gets worse. There are two scenes filmed at night and dialogue has so poor quality like it was recorded with cell phone's microphones! And on the top that there are several outright really bad cuts. How all of that passed post production is beyond me.

Too bad as overall movie (casting, acting, script, location) is fine, but those big technical issues are immersion killers.

In the typical bad ROE tradition, trailer compress whole movie in 2:10 min so don't watch it if you plan to watch movie as is full of spoilers.

I could watch this film endlessly! I got lost in its charm.

The story is so original, it is a welcome break from the hum-drum films. I found it to be original in terms of script, production, direction, and photography. I felt like these people are real. They are very talented actors and they draw you into their world so easily.

The locations are lovely. The cinematography is well balanced. The storyline is captivating, and has a very surprise plot twist later in the film which you did not see coming. This adds a great deal of flavor to the film's flow.

An unexpected temporary conflict between the two sweet natured lead characters is a surprise, but it only shows the range of their acting skills.

One negative-minded reviewer seemed to have a vendetta against Reel One in general; this appears very obvious and unfair. Do see this pleasant film. Consistency at its best! Refreshing, original, charming. Loved it!

Another "Reel One Entertainment" production, it's a company that churns out rom-coms that are of questionable quality - quantity over quality. They make films that are bought and marketed by companies and networks and include actors of lesser quality than those that appear in Hallmark, Great American or Lifetime networks. The writing is usually mediocre or bad and the acting is usually the same.

It's escapist drama, when people want to get away from the too close to reality dramas. If the story is plausible and the acting isn't horrible, viewers will suspend some belief. When the script is bad along with the acting, then the film is doomed like this one.

It is the film of details . Their purpose is to save a nice seed of story , not just fair/ wise used. Sure, it is a romance and the love must win but the puzzle of love between the young couple from past, the notes in books, the revelations and the dialogues are far to convince.

The only good pieces - maybe Judith Topper, the mansion. And, off course, the red dress ( from a guy indifferent to fashion , like me, sounds bizarre ).

The good intentions are obvious but all becomes a sort of chaos.

The unrealism wins and the chemistry between main characters is very thin.

But the enthusiasm, with childish sparkles, of Isabella is almost acceptable and the film remains a poor Hallmark, exclusively for fans of genre.

Everything meets the Hallmark minimum production standards except the sound mixing which should not have made it to broadcast. Overall it's uninspired. Lighting with soft sepia is good on interiors though a bit reddish for skin tones . Harsh on outdoor shots.

My advice is to turn on the closed captions, especially when there is music in the mix.

Some good use of DoF in outdoor scenes.

The pacing felt slow, the script simple but at least it didn't check off the dozen standard tropes of a traditional Hallmark movie of the week. It hit fewer of these than most.

The mansion and grounds became characters in their own right.