An Easter Bloom

7.4 stars.

A woman and her mother are about to lose their flower farm. They need an early spring for any chance of saving it. The father and husband passed away last year. The woman needs money in order to save the farm, and she can obtain it if she wins a contest. There is a man in the picture as well, he's a pastor. Maybe he can help her.

Wonderful and beautiful and charismatic actors don't always amount to a good film. We have a plethora of cream-of-the-crop performers here. To me they are the best of the best for wholesome family genre movies. The leads are among my favorites and the two women at odds with one another, are very recognizable. Some of the other supporting cast are semi-regulars.

There is so much missing with this story, yet all the ingredients are present. 'An Easter Bloom' is what I would flag as "too familiar". In other words, this is one of those stories that has every single repetitive aspect that every movie of its kind has shared over the past 10 years. The only problem with this, is that it's been overdone. Last year (2023) there was an obvious trend of new ideas, fresh plots, and a variety of other small changes and nuances that have helped the genre move into the next phase. This movie is stuck right in the middle of 2020.

Either way, I don't get a lot of satisfaction from this particular style of telling this story. Had they kept up with the times, maye it would be more relatable. Not sure what's missing, but certainly the the lead female is miserable, and too good at it. The lead male's attempt at enthusiasm and encouragement is insufficient to bridge the gap.

This movie sounded like something I'd enjoy watching, especially because it's Hallmark romance so by design, I'm at least guaranteed some kind of happy ending. The movie started out well with a clear story. Then, it all struggled to flow and click together.

Let's start with the good. I like the emotional touch to the story, it's more meaningful than the classic colleagues vying for a promotion or Christmas reindeer games we've already seen so much of in this genre. I also like the actors a lot individually. None of the main actors seem fake nor does their performance feel forced so in terms of acting talent, this one is of the better quality amongst soft romance tv movies. Additionally, I love the flower farm theme. We usually see the flower thing in wedding movies so I like that this is a little more rugged.

Now, the bad. Although I never struggled to understand the story as a whole, it does seem to be a bit bare throughout the middle. It's a story that starts out at the right pace and then just gets rushed a bit. Along with what I assume to be mediocre directing, this all waters down the connection and relationship development aspect of the couple. By the end of the movie, it sort of felt like they'd hardly talked. In reality, they have about as much interaction as in any other movie of the kind but in reality, it felt rushed. I think this is probably on the director and perhaps the writer.

Lastly, I must admit that I found the heavy religious focus quite uncomfortable. If you are a devoted Christian, you'll probably like this aspect but as an agnostic person, the whole thing was quite preachy. I can normally handle mildly Christian movies just fine but in this one, it almost seems as though the only thing the couple talked about to each other was the preachy part, which ruins the romance a bit for me. It is an Easter movie so I'm okay with a little Christian touch but I don't like it when it feels like I'm being preached to.

I enjoyed this movie but could not give it a high rating. Same old same old plot of misunderstanding The two leads are very good , nice chemistry and believable. It was a little slow to develop and the ending was a little predictable but overall a cute movie. I do feel here again Hallmark writers could have done do much more. Excellent cast beautiful scenery and not enough substance. There was very little development of the CB cast and could have done more with the two leads. I hope Hallmark can get out of theses predictable plots because they are wasting good acting and not developing their cast parts. There are no spoilers but than again it's the same old story.

I am so happy that Dayspring has teamed up with Hallmark! I loved the message behind this movie. It was perfectly spring filled while also having a deeper message of love and forgiveness and renewal. I loved that each of the characters had to grow and change-it wasn't just the main character struggling while everyone else had the perfect life. I loved the pastor's story and how he even opened up about making mistakes and growing from them.

The only complaint I would have is the pastor sometimes had a southern accent and sometimes didn't. Other than that it was the perfect Easter movie, just beautiful.

Wow! This story gave honor to God!

Thank you Hallmark for sharing this amazing movie for our celebration of Easter! In so many ways, all throughout the story, this movie gave glory and honor to God. There were several different people who were dealing with personal struggles and difficult situations. As the story progressed, each of these people found peace and hope and love for their present and future times.

Please continue to make movies like this for those of us who have faith and love for God. It was fun to watch the stories unfold and the troubles turn to happy endings! And thank you to all the cast and crew for making this great story come to life!