Movie Review - Signed Sealed Delivered: From Paris With Love

Signed Sealed Delivered

From Paris With Love

2015

Moon Water Productions / Muse Entertainment Enterprises / Muse Entertainment LLC : Hallmark Movies & Mysteries / Muse Distribution International

6.75 / 10

I was looking forward to this episode in the Signed Sealed Delivered series as soon as I read the title, "From Paris With Love" ... at last Oliver will have to deal with his estranged wife and their future together... or not!

I was right, but I was so wrong.

There are three stories in this movie, not only does Oliver (Eric Mabius) have to choose his future but his and his wife Holly's outcome affects Shane (Kristin Booth) in a way that she had perfidiously told herself wasn't real; so she has to face up to the truth of her feelings.  Them there's the story of a husband and wife going through tough times and whose marriage was on the rocks.  Could trouble be waiting around the corner when The Postables deliver the divorce papers he signed years earlier?

There's quite a bit to be resolved in this episode and though the creator Martha Williamson wrote the story with Brandi Harkonen (both have strong stories in the TV series, and Williamson's were always the best of the bunch) this film feels as flat as Lassie - run over by a Steamroller.  I even found one of the characters rather irksome.  Holly O'Toole (played by Poppy Montgomery) is a very two-dimensional character when compared to all the others in the cast.  Though I am uncertain if this is the writers' or director's fault or their vision of the character or that Montgomery couldn't portray the character correctly.

Then there's the plainly obvious fact that there's NO chemistry between Holly and Oliver.  This is as shame as it would have added an interesting dynamic to the story.  It's actually hard to believe why they married each other, even with the flashbacks there's just not enough between them.

I wouldn't believe it could have been either the writers' fault or the director's because of the strength of previous stories, however, the story of the husband and wife isn't as deep or as strong as it should have been.  We, the audience, should have felt for them as we have felt for previous dead letter receivers.  Except for this time, instead of this being the main story it actually feels more like an aside, it's told and resolved so fast that no drama or tension is created.  This in itself is highly unusual for the series.

So with just these three problems the usually happy and warm atmosphere is quite diminished and verges on nonexistent.  Thank God for Rita (Crystal Lowe) and Norman (Geoff Gustafson) as they keep this atmosphere ticking over.  Poor Norman may have an opponent in the affections for Rita, in the shape and sound of heavily accented Ramon Rodriguez (joyously portrayed by Zak Santiago who keeps the character teetering on the edge of over-the-top).

So I will hope and pray this movie is the exception to the rule and that the next instalment will have me smiling with joy... through the tears.

If you've watched the other episodes then give this a watch to tie-up loose ends.  Though if you've not watched any then I'd stay clear of this one until you've caught up.  It's not really a stand-alone episode, and not reflective of how good the series is.

Movie Review - Signed Sealed Delivered: For Christmas

Signed Sealed Delivered

For Christmas

2014

Moon Water Productions / Muse Entertainment Enterprises : The Hallmark Channel / Muse Distribution International

8.25 / 10

This is the first of the TV movies about The Postables; Oliver O'Toole (Eric Mabius), Shane McInerney (Kristin Booth), Rita Haywith (Crystal Lowe), and Norman Dorman (Geoff Gustafson) - and what better way to kick them off than with the Christmas Special... and what a Christmas Special.

Jordan Marley, played by Rob Estes, turns up at the Post Office and introduces himself to the team and hands them a lost letter which needs their utmost attention.  At Christmastime, more than any other, the deadline to find the recipient of the letter is more important.  Which becomes even more so when the recipient isn't Father Christmas... but God!

This Christmas the team have to pull off a Christmas Miracle when they come across the sender and find the reason for the letter.

Oliver is revisited by an old memory of a bleak Christmas Past and the samaritan who helped him through the hard times.  We learn of Shane's reluctance to celebrate Christmastime as a religious occasion.

How will the team bring light to the darkness threatening the season?

The writers of the special, Brandi Harkonen, Kerry Lenhart, and John J Sakmor along with the creator Martha Williamson, who wrote the teleplay do a wonderful job of keeping the characters and their backstories going, adding to the family feeling of the cast.

As always, they keep the heartwarming and joyful atmosphere simmering throughout the movie, even though they are dealing with some austere subject matters, including death, loss, and loneliness.

The actors are on the mark with their characters and appear to have no difficulties in bringing them to life in a longer format.  If anything, the longer format suits this program much better.  Forty-five minutes was good but with double the time, you get more detail in the storytelling and time to build characters.  There's even a nice cameo from Marion Ross (Mrs Cunningham from Happy Days) as Oliver's old school teacher... what could be better(?)

If you like Christmas movies then this is one that should be on your list to watch; it's made mine.  If you want a movie with a heart that will make you feel good then this is worth a watch.  Merry Christmas To All...

Series Review - Signed Sealed Delivered

Signed Sealed Delivered

2014

One Season Of Ten Episodes Before Becoming Regular TV Movies.

Moon Water Productions / Muse Entertainment Production / Special Delivery TeleProductions : The Hallmark Channel / Muse Distribution International

9.25 / 10

This program is one of my guilty pleasures.  It's a fantastically schmaltzy good-natured and light-humoured tale of four postal workers who's everyday job weaves them into the lives, troubles and tribulations of people and their relevant happy-ending outcomes.

Oliver O'Toole is the die-hard postal worker who loves his job and carries it out to his own regimen; Eric Mabius does a brilliant job bringing a loving and caring personality to him, who is so staid you can only tell his emotions by his demeanour or his loss for words.  This is a beautiful character, who has a subtle deepness to him, very well crafted by writer and creator Martha Williamson.

Kristin Booth portrays Shane McInerney or as Oliver always calls her Miss McInerney.  Shane is the technical advisor who has been newly appointed to the department, she is self-assured and often butts heads with Oliver, usually concerning his routine and dislike of technology.  Though the chemistry between them is palpable right from their first meeting.

Norman Xavier Dorman is the brilliant but slow-on-the-emotional-uptake colleague, who is in charge of tracking down addresses based on the minimal of clues.  Geoff Gustafson is exemplary in this role as he can wear a plethora of bemused and confused faces; he's also given the character a set of hand gestures for when he's nervous or thinking.  Martha Williamson has created a great personality in Norman Dorman.

Last, but not least is Rita Haywith, who is a shy and retiring person always eager to help... and hopelessly in love with Norman, which she portrays and says in her own way, though Norman never really catches on.  Crystal Lowe is great as the gawky assistant with a good heart and will.

These four work in the Dead Letter Office.  The place where wrongly addressed, unreadable, or damaged mail lands.  It's then up to Oliver and his team to get those pieces of mail to their relevant addresses.  If this cannot be deduced by the front or rear of the envelope then they are allowed to open it and read the contents, but only to the point where a delivery address can be confirmed.

It's on Shanes arrival that a new rule is implemented and the team go the extra distance by getting personally involved and going the extra mile to get the mail to its intended target.  This includes helping a Grandmother find her Grandson before a killer can; find an Afghanistan veteran who believes he doesn't deserve his life; help two soul-mates to rekindle their love; Help a father find his Son and Granddaughter; Help a Mother to bring her estranged Daughters together; Help a Father to understand his daughter better; Revive a musician's life, memory, and love; Give a Father a means to save his Daughter and better understand his dead wife; Reunite a child with his twin Brother and Mother...  It is also on Shane's arrival that the dynamic between the team begins to evolve and grow.  Both Norman and Rita start to come out of their shells and their relationship starts to slowly... ever so slowly... bloom.  Oliver starts to realise he has to start coping with his emotions and feelings over his estranged wife.

Though not all the stories have completely happy endings - tissues will be needed - the overall feeling at the finale of each episode is one of hope, warmth, and surety that everything will work out okay.  In this day and age, this is a hard thing to do without making it feel silly and unrealistic.  However, Williamson and the writing team on the series, do a brilliant job of giving the audience a more than satisfactory ending, each time, and leaving them with a warm feeling in their hearts.

There's nothing too fantastic about the direction of the episodes, no fancy shots or camera angles or coloured filters (the closest you get is a close-up of Oliver in the pouring rain, at night, soaking wet, pondering if he should post a letter or not).  This is a good thing though as what makes this series such a wonder is the stories and the characters.

I would recommend curling up with a loved one on a cold night with a hot cup of chocolate and just let yourself be carried away on the joyfulness for forty-five minutes...  Maybe this can be one of your guilty pleasures too.

Movie Review - Secrets Of The Summer House

Secrets Of The Summer House

(2008)

Incendo Productions : Incendo Media / Lifetime Movie Network

5 / 10

Since this is a television movie the subject matter has been toned down.  This would have made a good average budget DVD release movie and could have handled the matter a little more accordingly.

That said, the director, Jean-Claude Lord (who directed Visiting Hours (1982) and Second Chances (2010) - reviewed in my blogs), does an amiable job with the story by John Benjamin Martin and Donald David Martin.

This is a ghost story, but due to lack of horror elements and the amount of time it takes to get to the ghostly action, it is more of a drama.  This has so much of a TV movie feel to it.  The characters are stereotypical; you can see the twists coming; and the characters relationships are pretty standard and have been done a thousand times before.  Nevertheless, the actors and the director do make the film watchable... and at times, enjoyable.

Lindsey Price who plays the lead role of Nikki Wickersham gives a passable rendition of a troubled woman who loses her husband, though it's not played as a tear-jerker.  Nikki's friend, Margie Mancuso (played by Sadie LeBlanc) and her handyman boyfriend (Niall Matter) are pretty realistic and believable, to a point - this is a TV Movie, after all.

It's the lack of direction the story takes which is a stalling point for the film.  It sits uncomfortably between, drama, thriller, mystery, and horror.  This makes it a bland affair, had the writers or the director chosen just one path to take this could have been better.  It needed to be spookier with more tension.  The mysterious elements could have been heightened and extended upon.  Because the cause of the haunting is hateful, terrible, and unpleasant it was required to be much darker than portrayed here.

If there's nothing on the telly and hell has frozen over, then you could do worse than watch this film.

Movie Review - My Old Lady

My Old Lady

(2014)

BBC Films / Cohen Media Group : BBC Two / Curzon Film World / Universal Pictures Entertainment.

8.25 / 10

The trailer for this film pushes it towards being a comedy, though what you actually get is a profound observation of life and the ways that our decisions have effects on others, sometimes not for the best.

The story starts out on a comedic level with Kevin Kline's character, Mathias Gold (which he portrays charmingly), turning up at an apartment in Paris, which his father owned, only to find an old lady living there.  Mathilde Girard, played perfectly by Maggie Smith, is the tenant who had sold her apartment to Gold's father on a life lease; this means he has to pay her a monthly stipend until she dies, at which point the apartment then becomes his.  This stipend now passes onto Mathias.

Being in desperate need of money he decides to go ahead and sell the apartment along with the ongoing contract.  However, as we progress through the film we are introduced to Mathilde Girard's daughter, Chloe who is portrayed beautifully by Kristin Scott Thomas, who is utterly opposed to both Gold and his plans.

As the obstacles build up to his scheme other secrets and lies are revealed which takes the movie into a melancholic and bittersweet province.  This adds depths to all the characters as they start to reveal their true selves and feelings towards one another.

Credit is due to the main actors as they pull this off seamlessly and make you empathise with them.  The writer of the play, as well as this screenplay and director of the film, Israel Horovitz does a magnificent job of taking everyday life and placing it under a microscope.  The change from comedic to bittersweet is so smooth and realistic that it draws the audience into the film more without them realising that the entire attitude has changed.

The only thing I found slightly irksome was the happy ending.  This is certainly one way the story could go, but there are a couple of others too - one, not so happy - the other, totally bleak.  With the feel of the story towards the end, I think the happy ending was thrown in to let the audiences know that everything works out in the end...  However, this is not the sentiment at the heart of the movie, because of this the ending feels strange and a little strained.

This is a wonderful piece of storytelling and film-making and is worth a viewing, especially if you like to see life as it really is.

Movie Review - Stonehearst Asylum

Stonehearst Asylum

(2014)

Icon Productions / Sobini Films : Lionsgate / Millennium Entertainment

7.5 / 10

From a master of mystery & suspense, comes a journey into the dark depths of the mind...

...well not exactly.

This is based on a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, "The System Of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether."  The term here is "based".  Because they've tagged on Poe's name they've made it into the horror genre without making a horror film.  In fact. there's not much mystery or suspense in this movie either.

Don't get me wrong this is a solid story with a great cast of British actors, including good performances from Kate Beckinsale as Eliza Graves, Ben Kingsley as Silas Lamb, David Thewlis as Mickey Finn, Jason Flemyng as Swanwick, and Jim Sturgess as Edward Newgate.  Brad Anderson also does a good job of bringing out the performances of the cast and setting a decent atmosphere within the confines of the asylum, not as unsettling and mysterious as it should have been, though.

There was plenty of settings and scenes where Anderson could have created tension and suspense, which could have added an oppressive atmosphere to the asylum, making the film stronger and a little darker.  For me, this film was too light and required more sense of mystery, given the synopsis of the story - there could have been twist on twist. 

However, the main storyline was the blossoming love story.  This annoyed me as the stronger elements were pushed to the side and even ignored - with all that is lacking in this film, I believe it's more drama than anything else.

That said, the story was okay but it was the good acting, direction, and location, which kept my attention and my finger from hitting the stop button.

A good film but could have been so much more.

Worth a watch while cuddled up with your loved one on the sofa.  A watch once movie.

Movie Review - The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger 

(2013)

Walt Disney Pictures / Jerry Bruckheimer Films / Silver Bullet Productions : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Buena Vista Home Entertainment

6.5 / 10

As a kid, I remember watching the old black and white television series at my Nan's while mum and dad did their shopping.  Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels bringing much-needed justice to the wild west.  In 1981 they brought out The Legend Of The Lone Ranger, another big budget movie, for its time, and I remember I enjoyed that too.  So when this was released I had to watch it, after all, it was The Lone Ranger, starring one of my favourite actors, Johnny Depp...

...  However...

This is the most ludicrous telling of The Lone Ranger mythos ever filmed.  It verges on the insane and stupid.  It definitely feels as though they had too much money in the budget to burn and they did just that with the completely farcical CGI, of which there is way too much.  In one section it looks like the director was trying to better the awesome, and equally silly, horseback running of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, by having The Lone Ranger ride Silver on top of the train carriages and then through them; it's just not awesome, just silly.

Poor Johnny Depp's acting skills seem to now range from Jack Sparrow to Native American Jack Sparrow, even the headdress he wears gives his silhouette an all-to-familiar feel.  He's also brought across Helena Bonham Carter from his directing buddy Tim Burton.  It's a shame though as it appears only Mr Burton can give these two good actors decent enough characters to push them into giving a great performance.  

Unfortunately, the director here, Gore Verbinski, can only manage mediocre performances from the talented cast.  The worst thing being the actual acting scenes.  These look to have been added so the actors can actually stretch their acting legs a little.  These scenes though appear boring and dull, nearly to the extreme.  I think the main problem is there's not much characterisation to be done, apart from Tonto... and one man cannot hold a film of this size together.  The other characters should have been deeper and better thought out.  When you have a cast like this use them to their best potential, even if you need a rewrite, or two, to do it.  Spend the budget there and not the needless CGI segments.

So why the average rating if I didn't like the movie?  Well, there are a few things which give the mythos of The Lone Ranger a more powerful storyline.  Tonto's story is the prime example; as far as I remember no film or television series touched on why Tonto is called Tonto (which means fool); in this telling, there's a perfectly good and plausible explanation for his naming.  There's also a nice spiritual side with The Lone Ranger's horse, Silver, actually being a Spirit Horse who chooses which ranger to bring back from the dead, after Cavendish's ambush.

The comedy, which mainly comes from Johnny Depp, is right on point and pretty funny.  There are also some great Iconic moments in the film, especially Tonto standing at the top of a ladder on a speeding train, once you see it you'll understand.

So it's these issues that raise the film out of the doldrums to become a "watch once" film, possibly on a wet Sunday afternoon, after a decent dinner, and with the family.