‘A Picture Of Her’ Review: A Modern Direction For Hallmark That Pays Off

I believe that a picture can tell a thousand stories, but it’s a matter of what you’re looking for. There is a reason that every picture is taken, something that speaks to you – draws you to it. There is a reason that you feel a connection to the subject. Sometimes it’s not for the best of intentions, sometimes it’s for a job, but sometimes it’s because you want to remember.

A Picture of Her is a story about how a picture changes people’s lives can change with that draw to photograph something. It’s a story of how you can make mistakes and want to correct them, but the fear of losing one that you love is too much.

The premise may sound like something that you have seen a million times before and maybe you have. But it’s not the same here. Why? Because not every movie has Rhiannon Fish and Tyler Hynes. Not every movie is filled with two actors that have a magnetic chemistry that makes you want to watch the screen and wonder.

While I have to say that the idea of Tyler Hynes playing a photographer seems to be a natural thing, it made me laugh. It made me laugh because he was a pap and that’s just something I can’t see. But as usual the man behind the character makes the world believe.

While there is quite a bit that happens that leads up to Jake, the photographer, meeting Beth, I need to say something before I dive headfirst into this. I am going to say something that I am probably going to get a lot of shit for. I’m prepared for your wrath – I will tell you that I think that Rhiannon Fish and Tyler Hynes have an unbelievable chemistry.

Rhiannon Fish is a gem who makes you stop and take notice.

She makes you feel like Beth could be you. The strength and the innocence that she portrays Beth with is just unbelievably beautiful.

Beth is working with her dad on a fishing boat. She’s happy and content, feeling as though she knows where she belongs. She’d tried Los Angeles before, but it overwhelmed her. She’d gone there with big dreams, big hopes of wanting to change the world. But like Los Angeles can do, it quickly made her see that it wouldn’t be that easy and she returned to the Pacific Northwest.

At least there she knew that she was making a difference and being there is comfort.

For me, I learned a lot in the moments I have been thrown out of my comfort zone. It’s the moments in life that make you feel free, alive and seen. At least that’s the way that it’s always been for me.

So Beth going to Los Angeles to take care of her Aunt is definitely out of her comfort zone. But it’s because of that jump out of her comfort zone where she’s able to see a bigger world out there for her, while not having to sacrifice who she is, but instead realizing that she’s good with who she is and knows what her limitations are.

Jake is the man that had put his dreams aside in order to earn a paycheck. It didn’t mean that he had necessarily sold out, but instead it meant that he was finding his way. He’s got contacts all over town to find the way to get the pictures he can sell.

All while waiting for the next break to do something that is working towards his goals. When he’s given an assignment to photograph a Farmer’s Market, it’s where he sees Beth, and is instantly drawn to her. He’s taken by her and I have to say, as a viewer, the moment when he lowers his camera to see her (after he’s snapped some pictures), to really see her, I was like damn, Jake is brooding.

But it’s the look in his eyes that make you realize that you are in for a treat. Just like when the two have their meet cute at the park, you can tell by the look in hers that you’re in for a treat. Just seeing Tyler and Rhiannon together on the screen you can’t help but think – wow chemistry, but also applaud Rhiannon because she can hold her own against the seasoned Hallmark actor. She even manages to distract you from him at times.

The character of Beth is someone that I love to see. Her picture is splattered across the front page of a newspaper and she’s recognized on the streets. She is put off but also puts her big girl pants on and heads out to figure out who did it. Who took this picture of her.

Just when it feels as though Los Angeles is chewing her up and spitting her out again, she decides to ride the train of everyone wanting a piece of her. She’s got an agent, a national campaign. But she doesn’t know who it is that has done this to her.

And well, you wouldn’t be shocked to find out it’s Jake. He wants to tell her, he does, but he’s afraid. He sees the way she is and the uncertainty of the situation, and the way that they both have opened their hearts to what’s next.

You can’t help but find the comedy, the pain and the romance between the two in the situations that come up between the two. The meeting of her family, the way she’s so supportive of everything that he does, inequitably opening herself up and not knowing that she’s not getting the same in return.

From an outsiders point of view, I get it. I get the reasons that he didn’t want to tell her. I get her anger for being lied to. I see so many ways this could go.

And as we’ve reached this point, there is a moment in me that doesn’t want it to end. The last person that I thought that Tyler has had the best chemistry with in his Hallmark career was with Erin Krakow, but I’d stand on the fact that Rhiannon Fish can be tied with the best chemistry as Erin in this space. Rhiannon has great versatility and a presence. Tyler and Rhiannon just work really well together. They have a chemistry we can’t look away from.

She’s solidified herself as an actress that we’d love to see again in a Hallmark movie with this one.

A Picture of Her is about remembering to be honest, to find solace in the things that are around us, to pay attention to the things that bring us joy. A Picture of Her isn’t only about romance, it’s about remembering what you want, what you need, and trusting your heart. It’s about seeing the happiness when it feels like there is no happiness left.

A Picture of Her is about believing that love exists in many forms, but when you find it, hold onto it.