Have absolutely nothing against or any bias against Hallmark. Although it does have its fair share of mediocre and less films, it does also have ones that are above average and more. This was obvious in its 2014 output, with a notable example of the latter being 'A Ring by Spring'. Was not entirely sold on the premise for 'Mom's Day Away' to be honest, it didn't sound particularly interesting on paper and was really preparing myself for hating the characters, not a nice feeling watching anything.
And that was the case with 'Mom's Day Away', one the worst cases of it when it comes to any of my recent film watches. Which was as uninteresting as it sounded, some Hallmark films have made interesting and charming films out of unappealing concepts but 'Mom's Day Away' is not one of those. While not hating it, with there being a few good things, and there were worse 2014 Hallmark films (i.e. 'My Gal Sunday'), it just didn't come together for me and was difficult to sit through to be perfectly honest.
Bonnie Sommerville does give a very committed and honest performance and it was easy to feel for her character up to a point. Actually despite the character writing being less to be desired the acting was fine.
Production values are slick enough.
Most of the characters however were incredibly annoying and impossible to like, there are films where one is supposed to dislike the character but the unlikeable character criticism is valid if the unlikeable character never really develops, is one dimensional and has their flaws taken to extremes. And all of that is the case here, have not seen children this hostile, inconsiderate and ungrateful for a long time and the film really overdid it. The mean spirited treatment of the lead character was also overdone. Did feel for Sommerville's character on the whole, but do think that she should have been more assertive and been clearer about how her treatment was making her feel.
Didn't like the script either, which had a lot of forced, tired comedy that would have belonged better in a 70s sitcom, over-sentimental drama and mean spirited banter. Complete with a rather awkward flow. The story is dull, quite thin (especially later on) and has no surprises, the charm, heart and fun factors being low and the tension even lower. There is nothing special about the music, which was forgettable at best, or the routine direction, while the ending was far too neat and very undeserved.
Overall, weak. 3/10.
