Dernier jour d'été

I love this movie for having a bit more kick than many Hallmark productions.

Annie (Kellie Martin) lives on Long Island with her two children, Ella and Milo. A widow, her husband Andre died in a boating accident two years ago. To say the least, its been hard moving forward and Annie has never erased the last phone video recording of Andre, the one where he says this is the happiest day of his life. A fine cook and baker, Annie has been working as a caterer out of her home, even though she longs to open a bake shop. One day, on her way to a work engagement, Annie is in a collision with another driver, James (Kavan Smith). As its totally James fault, Annie is miffed, especially when the baked goods are damaged. Very wealthy, James offers to pay for everything but Annie cuts him off. Later, she discovers that while she catered the party, James had her car repaired. Wow, how nice is this! For his part, James is an extremely successful businessman who inherited a lucrative firm and who hobnobs with the elite. His mother is very snooty but always trying to fix up her bachelor son with the "best socially prominent gals." Yet, James sees something in Annie he feels he is missing so the two grow slowly closer. Ella, the older child, is not really happy. More importantly, in a most startling fashion, Annie begins to receive phone messages from Andre, worked into the video that she has saved. Could her deceased husband really be watching over her, trying to tell her important advice? Yet, each time it happens, Annie steps back from her budding romance with James. What to do? This lovely romantic drama will have some in tears, its so touching. The paranormal angle is beautifully conceived. Martin and Smith make a great couple while all of the other cast members are nice as well. Then, the LI setting, right on the coast, is very beautiful, making one wish for a beach home there as soon as possible. In short, what would fans of romance do WITHOUT HALLMARK? Thank Providence that this network continues, week after week, to rain down blessings on its loyal subjects.

This was pretty good. Decent acting from Kellie Martin and Kavan Smith especially for one of these Made for TV movies. The plot is ultra predictable but helped along by a supernatural element and some beautiful scenery from Ontario lake cottage country.

The story follows Annie and her two children a couple years after the sudden death of her husband. Annie has started a catering company and meets a wealthy guy who is immediately smitten with her. Annie is hesitant however to let her heart go until she begins to receive encouraging phone calls from her late husband. Some very nice scenes towards the end with the daughter and James

7.7 stars.

There is something about this family, a widow named Annie (Kellie Martin) and her two children. There is a depth to them that is rarely seen in family relationships with Hallmark. James (Smith) is at their home and he gets to experience this wonderful trio, so endearing, and lovable, in spite of the daughter's bitterness.

This film is beautifully wrought full of deep emotion for the loss they have suffered and James is the right man to fit the huge hole that has been vacant for the past two years. The son lights up when he's around, and it's evident that Annie is falling for him. Once they are able to sort through the emotions and the complicated grief, maybe they can be happy once more. The complexity of their loss is that Annie is getting messages from beyond the grave. What do these messages indicate? Annie must figure it out for herself.

I cried not once, twice, but three times. I wept like a baby in one scene, a rare moment for a film to evoke such a measure of compassion within me. It's just a movie after all...

I like these type of movies, a rainy afternoon coming in from the cold and settling down to warm by a fire and watch some light relief.

Kellie Martin and Kevan Smith are two of my favourite Hallmark actors, neither have said hello to the Botox and seem more genuine than some of the others (especially women). Both have always given a stellar and solid performance, even when dealt a dodgy script. For this though, it seemed the writing had more depth and allowed for the characters to grow, it was touching and sensitive. The scenery was magnificent and really added to the whole film.

A quality film and well directed from Mark Jean.