TxMike

I found this movie on DVD at my public library. It is part of my quest to see as many Sydney Sweeney movies as I can, she has become a prolific star in the few years she has been in movies.

Here she plays Lana who at one point when being filmed says she is 16 (Sweeney was probably 21 or 22 during filming.) Even though near the beginning of the movie, out looking for her lost dog, she says she doesn't live with her parents we eventually see her at home, playing with her little sister. She is an actress and good at it.

This is a really "slow burn" movie, Lana meets up with a slightly older young lady, at the lake house of her "ex" after a breakup. The two of them swim together, get friendly, the house caretaker and maintenance guy shows up.

I can't rate it highly but Sydney Sweeney is good in this early role of hers. I recently watched her in "Eden" and she is great in that role.

After our usual Saturday evening steak and wine dinner, with California Cabernet this time, we looked for a holiday-themed movie and found this one, streaming on NFLX.

It is a somewhat "low energy" movie but in substance it is watchable and suitably entertaining. Filmed in Canada but set in Denver, Hayley Sales (who also sings a couple of songs in the soundtrack) is pastry chef Libby. She and two friends had recently opened a new pastry restaurant during the holiday season. An out-of-town customer comes in and due to a confusion leaves money on the table but exits angry. Then he leaves a very negative review.

That person is Marshall Williams as Peter, a somewhat famous actor, in town for his brother's wedding. His bad review used a pseudonym and then Libby similarly uses a pseudonym to refute his bad review. This leads to a lot of back-N-forth between the two of them, each had no idea who the other was. That is the "shop around the corner" flavor of what transpired next, for the rest of the movie, each getting to know and like the other through the exchange of thoughts and ideas.

Of course all that leads to them eventually meeting and trying to work out this newfound relationship.

This is not a Hallmark movie but made much like one, it even has the only kiss during the last minute of the movie.

Not a great movie, with not much new, but the two main actors are good in their roles. The very negative reviews here and "1" ratings are nonsense, it is not a bad movie by any measure.

My wife and I watched this on Christmas night, streaming on NFLX. We found it to be more interesting than most "hallmark type" of short movies.

It involves a family that owns a large ranch but wants the whole valley. It reminded me of the Dutton family in the "Yellowstone" series starring Costner as John Dutton, just on a smaller scale.

Lexie Crenshaw is a partner in a California firm that deals in real estate acquisition and must go back home to try to seal a deal, the purchase of a smaller ranch by a Minnesota conglomerate. It is tense because the adjacent Crenshaw Ranch is owned by her family, estranged for the prior 10 years because her dad shut her out in favor of his two sons.

Coby Mason is the owner of the struggling ranch, they are "underwater" financially but he is very stubborn, he vows he won't sell. But he and his young daughter (11) bond quickly with Lexie and that becomes a difficult romantic issue in the whole story.

Anyway it is developed interestingly with decent dialog and appropriate characters. Worth a viewing for movie night at home.