TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Weekend Greets Viewers With 2 Hallmark Films

ADVERTISEMENT

By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 25, 2008

The Hallmark movies are as soft and heartwarming as ... as ... uh, as a Hallmark greeting card?

The company that perfected the art of boiling down sentiment to a few lines keeps cranking out sentimental movies for the Hallmark Channel and the "Hallmark Hall of Fame" brand on CBS.

They serve a vast, mostly female market that is currently underserved: those who like clean, wholesome and inspiring films. There was a time when a Hallmark movie was considered a cut above the norm. But as our world has become less clean, less wholesome and more troubled, so has our entertainment.

This weekend we get a double dose of Hallmark films with well-intended messages. Both movies are about single career women from idyllic towns who have gone off to the big city to find fame and fortune. Circumstances cause them to return home on missions of self-discovery.

"Daniel's Daughter," at 9 p.m. Saturday on the Hallmark Channel, stars Laura Leighton ("Melrose Place") as the hard-working editor of a pretentious magazine, Perfect. She's about to marry a billionaire (who insists on a childless marriage) when her late father's ashes arrive. He requested that his remains be scattered in their small Massachusetts town.

She hasn't been back since her mother died and she was shipped off to live with cousins. She meets her father's cronies, hooks up with a handsome lawyer and, well, you know the rest.

"The Russell Girl," at 9 p.m. Sunday on CBS, stars Amber Tamblyn ("Joan of Arcadia") as a 23-year-old buyer at a Chicago department store who is diagnosed with leukemia.

She returns home to tell her parents, but before facing this life-changing crisis, she has unresolved issues to settle. An accident six years earlier for which she feels responsible caused her to leave town and break off a romance. She also left behind a grieving couple who blame her for their loss.

Both movies reinforce the notions that family ties are important, home is where the heart longs to be, old friends are the best friends, and life in the fast lane may not be as satisfying as simple pleasures.

They're so comforting you'll want to drop a card to a loved one.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT