Hallmarks ‘Fall Into Love’ Lineup Is Pleasantly Surprising Us This Year
There is no part of me that doesn’t feel bad over what I am about to say, but I am going to be honest – I didn’t want to watch this movie. Now, hear me out before you judge. I normally do not particularly enjoy movies that star Jodie Sweetin.
I know, I know, I need to hang my head in shame. She is not a bad actress, but I can’t see her as anything than Stephanie Tanner. It’s not fair to stereotype her, I am aware. The reason that I am telling you this? Well, because I was able to enjoy The Heiress and the Handyman and for the first time I didn’t feel like I was looking at Stephanie Tanner.
I did however feel like I was looking at a bad wig. Like seriously, that was a distraction from beginning to end.
The movies premise is simple – “After losing her fortune, an heiress moves to a rural farm where she mistakes her handsome neighbor for the handyman. To live up to her family’s legacy, he helps her compete.”
When you turn on a Hallmark movie, you tend to think you know what you’re going to get. Nothing wrong with that. It’s part of the joy of movies. I thought we’d see an heiress throwing a fit because all of her money was lost. What I guessed that what we’d see next was her doing farm chores very badly and the town hating everything about her.
I was wrong.
June has basically been raised by staff since she was 14 and her parents passed. She barely spends time in the USA, and has a travel schedule. But, after investments tank, she looses everything and has to return to the states. She has nothing.
Well, she has an assistant that makes sure that she has nothing, taking everything down to her phone. But do you think that June throws a fit? Nope. She’s determined to survive, even when she realizes that she has limited skills. She’s never had to work – everyone has always taken care of everything for her.
But, in a twist of fate, she finds out that her aunt has deeded her, her home. Her aunt passed away and June realizes that she really loved her, even if the two didn’t spend a ton of time together. It seems that the heavens above were looking out for her.
Making her way to the home in upstate New York, she’s not sure what to expect. BUT, you can tell that she was raised with a silver spoon in her mouth, because she automatically assumes that there would be staff. I mean, her aunt had to have the same things that she did, right?
Wrong.
It’s a terrible way to make a first impression, but Bart doesn’t seem to mind. I have to wonder why it is that they would intentionally name the character Bart. Talk about a way to be teased your entire life. And YES, I know he’s grown now, but what a name.
One thing about movies that I love is when the first impression may be bad, but the characters in the movie realize that it isn’t who the other person it. I think that is something both beautiful and important, because it is something that happens all of the time. I don’t think giving up on people is a good thing to do.
Bart and his sister were close to June’s aunt and made the promise to take care of the farm. That in turn, means that they are going to make sure to help June. As Bart tries to show her the ropes, his sister Nina is trying to find family for June, so she knows that she is not alone.
Aunt Birdie meant a lot to June, so when the towns angry woman (Aunt Birdies rival) talks smack in town, June somehow commits to entering the fair and competing for blue ribbons. Remember how we mentioned that June didn’t really have any life skills? Well, we’re definitely seeing that here. June doesn’t know the first thing about farming, pets, flower arranging and more. Yet, this does give Bart and Nina the perfect excuse to get to know her better.
Growth is a strange thing. A lot of people have their opinions on what it means to grow and evolve. Personally, seeing June do something as simple as step out of her designer duds and get in the chicken coop — I was like yay growth. She was being loved and embraced because of who she is and not for her money. June was learning about what she could make it through.
And maybe that’s the lesson here. That you can make it through anything. Life is going to throw twists and turns at you, but it’s about how at the end of the day, you persevere. Surviving isn’t always going to be easy and a lot of the time you are going to want to give up, but don’t.
For June, we don’t see her doing chores or anything like that. The representation of her growth was learning to bake a pie. An apple pie to be exact. This apple pie is the recipe that Birdie won the blue ribbon with each and every year. For June, it was a matter of keeping Birdies legacy alive. I took it as finding her own legacy.
June wins (of course) and her business manager does find money. Heck, on her own, June somehow gets offered a contract for her pig to be the mascot of a farm supply. Everything is changing and June’s comfort era is returning. Thinking thats what she wants, she embraces it.
And tries to return to the life that she once knew.
The crazy thing about life and change is what you think you wanted, changes. As you grow as a person, dreams and passions change. For June, falling in love (cause yes, she loves Bart) and finding a sense of family is what she needed to realize who she is and what she wants.
And she decides to stay.
It’s in the staying that she realizes that she is not alone. Her life has been spent running. Though some would say that it’s spent running away from something, I would say it’s running towards something. She’s running towards a sense of belonging and loved.
Bart and Nina gave her that feeling. They only increased that feeling of knowing where she belongs when she decided to stay. Nina had tracked down members of Junes family – some distant relatives – to show her that she still has people. That she’ll always have people loving her and rooting for her.
Even the town mean woman (who turns out to be her cousin).
The Heiress and The Handyman wasn’t perfect, but what movie is? I can’t get over how bad the wig was (and if that’s real hair, lord what was the hair stylist thinking) and that distracted me. But overall, at the end of the day, what I was left with was a sense of home.
And to this writer, there is nothing better.
