Falling for Vermont
Starring: Julie Gonzalo and Benjamin Ayres.
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Synopsis (via Hallmark)
When a best-selling author decides to escape the media frenzy, her plan goes awry when a she’s caught in a thunderstorm and crashes her car. Found wandering with no memory and no ID, the town doctor (and a single dad) offers up his guest house until her memory returns. But as she blends seamlessly into their family life, she must decide if the life she’s been living is the life she wants.
Thoughts
Angela Young is a BIG STAR. She is an author of a Hunger Games/Harry Potter knock off, The Time Visitor. She of overbooked with book signings, movie premiers, and talk show appearances. (Good Morning America AND Beantown Today… they live in Boston?) When a cab driver congratulates her on her success, Angela’s response is:
“Now all I need is some time in my schedule to enjoy it.” (I can relate, gurl!)
Angela’s sister, Cynthia, is also her personal assistant. Cynthia is dowdy in the way TV movie second-lead characters are dowdy: by slapping on a pair of oversized glasses! Angela’s boyfriend is also her manager and a total jerk! (He doesn’t know that she is allergic to nuts and tries to give her a pack of them.)
Things aren’t slowing down for Angela Young anytime soon. Flights to Beijing and her publishing company agreed to another three-book deal! Angela doesn’t want to write about time traveling teens anymore; she wants a break to experience THE SEASON. (Insert season here to Hallmark formula.)
“I want to see Foliage, I want to go apple picking, I want to carve a pumpkin, It’s FALL you guys!” Angela pleads with her staff/family.
When Cynthia leaves her keys on the counter, Angela seizes the opportunity, steals the blue Pontiac, and heads to Vermont for some time to herself. She eventually hits inclimate weather (Since it is fall, there is a treacherous thunderstorm!) and collides with a fallen tree (Instead of slipping on ice) and looses her memory.
After Angela, now Jane Doe, is discovered by the token black actor of the movie (This time he is an upstanding police officer!) she is taken to the doctor of the town. Dr. Jeff Callan (A more murderous Canadian version looking Rob Delaney) is a widower with two young kids. After he treats Angela by touching her head and giving her some scrubs to change into, they agree to rename her, Elizabeth. Then Dr. Jeff talks Elizabeth/Angela into walking around town to jog her memory. They decided that it would be best for him to “monitor her condition” if she stays in his guest house. You know, the one that never gets used and is conveniently available.
Elizabeth/Angela meets Jr. Jeff’s parents and kids! The kids are so well behaved and do their chores for the day’s wifi password. (Which is actually a really good idea.) Dr. Jeff’s daughter, Emily, loves writing and reading The Time Visitor. Somehow though, Emily doesn’t recognize the author who is staying in their guest house. Later in the town gazebo, Emily tells Elizabeth/Angela that she is writing a play for fall fest. Elizabeth has lots of good writing tips. Like explaining character arch,
“It’s basically the emotional journey of the lead character over the course of the play.”
Could she be a theater teacher? Maybe… In exchange for her help, Emily agrees to go clothes shopping with Elizabeth. Cue trying on clothes montage.
Elizabeth/Angela keeps having flashes of her previous life. A camera flash takes her back to fans taking her picture, her new movie adaptation of her book is on TV (Somehow) takes her back to the book signing, and she mysteriously knows a lot about canoes. Over the next three days, Elizabeth/Angela repairs the unused canoe as a surprise for Dr. Jeff and the two become romantically connected. Once things get too hot and heavy (like, almost kissing hot and heavy), Dr. Jeff tells Elizabeth that he has a code of ethics that he can’t violate.
Back in Boston, Elizabeth/Angela’s sister and boyfriend FINALLY file a missing person’s report. She has been missing for 11 days! They are mildly concerned at best.
In Vermont, Elizabeth/Angela eats pecan brownies and has an allergic reaction. Which, in this movie means falling asleep, having a headache, and a scratchy throat. All the while, she still looks gorgeous.
Then Elizabeth/Angela’s (but really Cynthia’s) blue Pontiac is discovered in a ditch. Activating their sister and boyfriend instincts to head to Vermont, and Dr. Jeff realizes that his romantic tryst with a girl with no memory will be coming to an end soon. Angela also regains her memory while in the town bookstore and reading the author bio on the most recent Time Visitor book. Instead of talking about these revelations, Dr. Jeff and Elizabeth/Angela agree to enjoy fall fest. This includes seasonal favorites: bobbing for apples, photo booth pics, ferris wheel rides, and fireworks. (All the fall things…)
At Emily’s play, Elizabeth/Angela is brought up on stage because she was such a big help/inspiration to Emily. Elizabeth Angela is about to tell the town who she is when she is rudely interrupted by her boyfriend and Cynthia. Having to accept their reality Dr. Jeff and Angela say goodbye, but not before autographing a copy of Time Visitor for Emily.
One month later, Angela is back to the grind. She is on the morning talk show circuit and back at Beantown Today. The interview is the final straw and she breaks up with her boyfriend/manager. The break up goes like this:
“I Can’t do this any more. No, I can’t do THIS anymore.”
Angela borrows her sister’s car again, but not before Cynthia sharpies “ANGELA” on her arm. Then, she is back in Vermont! Dr. Jeff is by the town gazebo, the gazebo where all the big moments of his like have happened, and this will be added to the list!
“What about your real life?” Dr Jeff asks
“This is my real life.” Angela replies
They kiss! A respectable closed mouth kiss.
Side Note
I wasn’t intending on reviewing the Hallmark fall movies, but this one turned out to be enjoyable! It was basically last year’s Mira Sorvino Hallmark movie, A Christmas to Remember but set in the fall with more actor chemistry.
This whole movie could have been a lot shorter, if only Angela had a author photo in her damn book!
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Lauren McNamara, the kid who played Emily, was actually pretty good. I loved how sassy she was. The other kid who played the son tho…
Decor for Hallmark fall movies include about 7 or 8 artificial fall trees strategically placed around the filming location.
Benjamin Ayres seriously looks like Rob Delaney. PhotoEvidence:
Overall rating
(4 Pumpkins***)
🍷🍷 (2 glasses of wine required)
*** I added an extra pumpkin because my friend Faith cried, twice.
*Photo Credit: © 2017 Crown Media United States, LLC
Additional images via: IMDB
My favourite thing about this movie was the town gazebo – the site of a proposal, a wedding, and the happy ending – which looked like it had been picked up from Home Depot that morning and screwed together with an Allen wrench. A cubby house at best! Not even painted. Classic.