Enquête de vacances

This was a 2009 Hallmark Channel mystery movie. It has a good plot and was very well done. It was really good to see "Snow Bird" Jane Seymours co-star from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman in this movie. The beginning started off a tad slow but picked up and was really good. I could do less with the Prudence tips and more with the mystery. This movie is definitely a lot better than its sequel which had nothing to do with a mystery. I was hoping this would be a series of mystery movies but apparently that never came to be. It would be great if Hallmark Mysteries would start doing the Dear Prudence mysteries again and forget the second movie which was awful. This movie was great--kinda reminded me of Murder She Wrote.

My wife and I looked forward with anticipation to this movie as we are big Jane Seymour fans and knew she'd be entertaining. However, we also knew that the plot would most likely be pedestrian (after all this is the Hallmark Channel). All expectations were met.

Jane Seymour is very good as a household tips hostess who gets herself involved in a murder in Wyoming while on vacation. Her Prudence character is nosy, interfering, smart, confident and just a bit wacky. It's little wonder that Jamey Sheridan's police chief finds her both irritating and beguiling. He provides a nice gruff contrast to Prudence. (Though I felt the development of their relationship was a bit rushed.) The young actor playing Prudence's brainy and nervous assistant, Nigel, was also good. They make a delightfully goofy crime-fighting team.

The plot is not as strong. The dialog was sharp at times but Jane Seymour really deserves a better script. My wife and I had figured out the whole thing within fifteen minutes.

Ultimately, though, it was all about watching Prudence break into motel rooms, sneak through the woods and investigate crime with her knowledge of the multiple uses of peanut butter, liquid soap, and shaving cream (when she's not inadvertently cleaning up evidence). Fun show!

Jane Seymour delivers a delightful performance. Apart from her character being a household tips show host named Prudence, and her assistant being named Nigel, the plotline seems to have no relation to Perfectly Prudence. I liked Nigel in the sequel more. It may not be the actor's fault, but the Nigel in this installment got annoying at times.

If you want to enjoy all the fine nuances and details of intricate plots, characterizations, clues, and red herrings, then read a book. Movies are limited by a number of constraints.

At best, major movies have 120 minutes available, whereas made-for-TV movies have only 90-100 minutes. Additionally, TV movies have many more code restrictions imposed on them. In books, authors can get away with almost anything. On top of everything else, Lifetime and Hallmark impose additional restrictions to insure films on their channels are compatible with their wholesome corporate images. To say that scripts on the Hallmark channel are mediocre is to do them an injustice.

By necessity, story lines for TV movies must be simplified, lest they become too confusing by trying to cram too much into too little available time. The same is true with the development of characters and their back stories. I think the scripts on these channels are just fine, given the restrictions they are under.

The story for "Dear Prudence" was not predictable. If anyone figured everything out in the first 15 minutes, then they simply made a lucky guess. But I wouldn't bet my new IPad based on that guess.

Jane Seymour and her fellow actors all did a fine and believable job. The production values were lovely, and the script was lively and entertaining. I think this would make a terrific TV series.

If you like your mystery stories on the somewhat lighter side, then I would recommend this movie most highly.

Jane Seymour is absolutely terrific in this movie, and plays her character near-perfect. The humor she brings to this role is such fun, not to mention a cute touch of paranoia regarding stains and the like. I am watching "Dear Prudence" as I write this comment by the way. The young actor playing Prudence's lab guy is pretty good, and definitely brings his own brand of humor to a role that otherwise would be a little drab. Usually I'm very good at picking out 'who did it' within 5 minutes of a movie, but this one does have me stumped at the moment, which adds to my interest in watching "Prudence" to its conclusion. Hopefully Hallmark will produce additional episodes of "Prudence" with Jane Seymour in the lead role.