This Hallmark movie was sort of an amalgamation of a couple of well-used tropes. You had the amnesia storyline, mixed with the road-trip romance storyline. It made for a fairly engaging, feel-good romance that kept you invested in the story till the end. Unlike most amnesia stories, where the audience knows who the amnesiac is, but the amnesiac doesn't, in this case, the identity of our amnesiac "Jane" is a mystery to all, so we were anxious to find out the rest of the story.
Jessy Schram has always been good in whatever I've seen her in. She's got a cute, warm, girl-next-door appeal and she shines in this role as Jane/Rebecca. Brendan Penny as Paul is good too. He's instantly likable and you really want him to get together with the girl. You also feel his pain as he struggles with the death of his brother, and how he took the coward's way out to avoid seeing him as he was dying. I liked the relationship between Jane/Rebecca and Paul and felt they had a decent amount of chemistry.
You really had a double mystery here. First, what is Jane's story? Second, what is Paul's story? Paul's is revealed mid-movie, but you don't find out Jane/Rebecca's till the end. They are pretty successful in making you think that Mark might be her husband or boyfriend, thereby complicating any romance between her and Paul. I liked the relationships between the leads and their respective family members.
I must say, the final reveal felt a little flat to me. Both Paul and Jane had past rifts with family members that they needed to resolve, and I liked that they were both able to resolve them. However, I didn't feel like either of them were guilty of a betrayal so horrible that it was seemingly unfixable. Some more dramatic reasons for their estrangement from their families would have been better.
There was one other thing that bothered me. Jessy Schram has been blessed with a very youthful appearance, and even though she was 35 when this movie came out, she looks almost like a teenager. Meanwhile, Brendan Penny, who was 43 when this movie appeared, is greying quite a bit, and he kind of looks too old for her, even though chronologically, he isn't. Couldn't they have gotten a younger-looking actor for his part, or at least dyed the grey patches in his hair?
So, on the whole, this was a nice, feel-good romance and a mystery that kept you engaged to the end. A worthy addition to the "Time to Come Home For Christmas" series.
Jessy Schram has always been good in whatever I've seen her in. She's got a cute, warm, girl-next-door appeal and she shines in this role as Jane/Rebecca. Brendan Penny as Paul is good too. He's instantly likable and you really want him to get together with the girl. You also feel his pain as he struggles with the death of his brother, and how he took the coward's way out to avoid seeing him as he was dying. I liked the relationship between Jane/Rebecca and Paul and felt they had a decent amount of chemistry.
You really had a double mystery here. First, what is Jane's story? Second, what is Paul's story? Paul's is revealed mid-movie, but you don't find out Jane/Rebecca's till the end. They are pretty successful in making you think that Mark might be her husband or boyfriend, thereby complicating any romance between her and Paul. I liked the relationships between the leads and their respective family members.
I must say, the final reveal felt a little flat to me. Both Paul and Jane had past rifts with family members that they needed to resolve, and I liked that they were both able to resolve them. However, I didn't feel like either of them were guilty of a betrayal so horrible that it was seemingly unfixable. Some more dramatic reasons for their estrangement from their families would have been better.
There was one other thing that bothered me. Jessy Schram has been blessed with a very youthful appearance, and even though she was 35 when this movie came out, she looks almost like a teenager. Meanwhile, Brendan Penny, who was 43 when this movie appeared, is greying quite a bit, and he kind of looks too old for her, even though chronologically, he isn't. Couldn't they have gotten a younger-looking actor for his part, or at least dyed the grey patches in his hair?
So, on the whole, this was a nice, feel-good romance and a mystery that kept you engaged to the end. A worthy addition to the "Time to Come Home For Christmas" series.