The one thing that I can guarantee is that during the month of December, you will find nothing on my television that isn’t a Hallmark movie. I absolutely love all the romance, drama, and the feeling of Christmas.
And that says a lot because I hate Christmas. Just call me the Grinch. I accept it.
But Hallmark has been pulling me in lately every Saturday night as they premiere a new movie. This week, Roswell, New Mexico star Nathan Parsons was in the movie, so you know I tuned in. Can’t help but be drawn into that southern drawl and hey, I am a sucker for a hot man in a cowboy hat. Judge me, it’s fine.
So this past weekend, I was a little sick, so I laud in my bed and started popping my Tums and waiting for my sleep meds to kick in, I turned on A Feeling of Home. The movie is about a, “Web entrepreneur Abby hides her Texas roots to convince a backer she’s from New England, a task complicated by a trip home and an unexpected reunion with Ryan, her high school sweetheart.”
Well fuck, you know when it journeys back to high school some triggering memories are about to be brought to the forefront and if you’re me – you’re going to throw in the towel and be like fuck this noise. High school was a miserable experience and boys were satan.
But the good thing about a Hallmark movie is that they can spin anything to make it seem like everything is going to be okay, that the world is going to come up roses, and that love will prevail.
So in this movie, we’ve got Abby. She’s this over ambitious girl who develops her own web show. I’m sure that the show could actually be interesting, but what they show made me wonder what kind of drugs she was on to think that she was Martha Stewart. But you have to admire her spirit, but loosen up a bit.
Now some company wants to potentially partner with her for a housewares line and they stand there in front of her and talk about authenticity and how being honest is the most important thing to them. Now, you think as someones stressing honesty, you know, you’d be HONEST. But apparently that’s a hard thing for Abby and she lets her manager steamroll over her and lie.
Girl, the truth always comes out. Didn’t your Mama teach you that?
But Abby goes along with it and as she’s working with her Mom to find pictures that could potentially cover the lie – she finds out her Dad has been injured and Abby decides to return home to take care of her father.
And this is all within the first 15 minutes (okay, maybe 30, but I lost track, cause I was busy waiting for Nathan.
And boy was he worth the wait. So let’s talk about my favorite moments from A Feeling of Home.
ABBY AND RYAN SEEING EACH OTHER AGAIN
If we’re being honest here, high school boyfriends are the last thing that I ever want to have happen to me. Having to deal with ex’s sounds about exciting as a root canal, but that’s why I am not living in the movies. But I have to admit – I would act as Abby did when she saw Ryan. Cool, collected, and as if she had her shit together. Didn’t matter that she was hooked to a rose bush and it didn’t matter that she didn’t have her shit together. But I get it. She wanted to save face and I can’t fault her for that. But when you see the way that the two of them look at each other, you see that love and lust still there. Like lets be real – Nathan Parsons can make you want to get undresssed with his smile.
ABBY DOING FARM WORK
I know what it’s like to have to go home and work on a farm (which also TBH I rarely go home), so I get Abby wanting to act like she knows what she’s doing, like she remembers everything from her childhood. I don’t blame her for not wanting to back down. But I admire the fact that she’s acting strong AF and then finds her strength. She wants to show people that she can do things, that she’s more than just an internet personality.
Her doing farm work signifies that want to go home – that it’s always in us. Sometimes we just need to feed it.
STAGING RYAN’S HOME
I liked that Abby let her walls down and let Ryan see what she was capable of. It’s so hard to let anyone in, because once you have built those walls they are there. But when she let him in, he started adapting to her. He researched her life and let that be a part of his. And it all started with him taking her to his childhood home. She was high off memories and he was just in love with her. I think that watching their relationship unfold in these moments was great to see and made you feel for the characters even more. I loved their banter, the way that they were together, and the way that they found bits of themselves in each other.
DADDY ISSUES SOLVED
I think that a lot of us have Daddy issues – and if you don’t – well then that’s okay and I am jealous of that. But in this movie Abby had a lot of Daddy issues. She didn’t know how to communicate with her father. She didn’t know how to make him proud. And she didn’t know if she ever could. But the truth is – we all feel like we’re never doing enough. We all feel like we’re letting our parents down. But you know, maybe it’s that they don’t know how to communicate it us. We have to believe in ourselves and just do the best that we can. Daddy Issues don’t have to rule your life, but it’s best to come to terms with them.
WINNING WITH TRUTH
Abby had lied about where she was from to the distributor guy – but the truth always finds it’s way to the surface. They found out that she’s not from New England, that she is from Texas. But what it all goes to show you that giving the truth isn’t going to be the end. It’s going to be something that can get you ahead.
Everyone is unique and special for their own reasons. It’s up to us what we do with the gifts we are given.
Seeing Abby embrace her Texas roots and deciding to live their permanently – not gonna say I was shocked. I mean it is a Hallmark Movie.
All in all I would give A Feeling Of Home a B+. But hey on the scale of Hallmark movies it gets an A.
