Earlier this year, remember seeing Lacey Chabert and Ian Harding together, and all of us wondering what the movie would be about? A plane crash, marooned on a desert island – definitely not what I had in mind. But hey, The Hallmark Channel is like Target – they don’t ask what you want, they tell you, and you don’t question it. Lost in Paradise is an example of that.
When it comes to The Hallmark Channel, Lacey Chabert is a staple. She’s always challenging herself, taking on roles that are different and enjoyable. Chabert is one of those actresses that you may have grown up with, and you think you know the roles that she will take on.
But she will always surprise you.
Harding, as much as I hate it, I always see him as the teacher from Pretty Little Liars. It’s not a fair thing – it’s one of those things that just is. But that being said, I do enjoy the other roles that he takes on.
This one included.
HOSTILE TAKEOVER
Sophia (Chabert) is one of the biggest names in fashion. Her company Tierra, is working on their new line, when her ex-husband tells her that he wants to sell his shares of the company. The company is having all sorts of issues, and he wants to get out while the getting is good.
As much as Sophia tries to convince him not to sell, he isn’t budging. This means that she and her team have to get the board to side with them. Sophia is going to have to travel to Fiji in order to talk to one of them.
Max’s BFF was the pilot and got him on the plane. Granted, it was under false pretenses, and Max had to fake being a flight attendant. They both are heading to Fiji for meetings, and everything seems to be going their way, until the plane crashes into the ocean.
I have to say, the way that they showed the turbulence and the mood that was set made me not want to fly anytime soon.
STOWAWAY
When you wake up on a deserted island after a plane crash, it would be natural to freak out. I would be. Sophia is passed out on the raft, and everyone else is gathering all that they can.
While I do not believe that Harding and Chabert have the best on-screen chemistry, I find it interesting that they can still hold the screen. Their dry banter between their characters keeps me interested because I wonder if it is just them getting to know each other or them being afraid after being marooned on a deserted island.
When he admits to her on the plane that he is not a flight attendant, she is in the middle of the turbulence and hearing that it’s going down, so it doesn’t really register with her. It, however, does register with her on the island. She doesn’t seem to want to let the fact that he was a stowaway go. But it does turn into a little bit of a joke.
Max makes me laugh because when she’s trying to figure out her emotions after waking up. He tells her he can relate because he felt all those emotions while she was sleeping. It’s Max’s ability to make everything about himself that makes me think that’s their relationship – tit for tat.
At least at this point.
THEY’LL FIND HELP
The pilots decide that they are going to have to find help. One of the pilots is overly optimistic, and the other one keeps telling them everything negative. It’s interesting to see how they handle the entire thing.
It’s wonderful to know that you are going to constantly be challenged in this movie, trying to figure out everyone’s personality. I think that is the one thing that is lacking is for Max and Sophia‘s personalities, you really can’t understand anything but their fear. So with the pilots leaving them on the island for a few days by themselves, I did think that they were going to tear each other apart. Leaving the two of them alone gives us the opportunity to see who they are.
I find that a lot of Hallmark movies don’t do this – there is always someone interceding to make everything better for the people involved, pushing them together. We are constantly guessing who the character is, and one thing that’s important in any movie is character development. If you don’t have character development or an interest in the characters that are there, it makes it very hard to relate to what you’re seeing.
When it comes down to it, anybody will stop watching anything if they do not feel that they can relate to or invest in the character at all. We’re just looking for something to escape with, and with these two, we’re escaping to a desert Island.
Both pilots’ leaving was essentia,l and the journey that Sophia and Max are going to get on.
PIRATES CAMP
Seeing Sophia and Max figure out how to survive makes me chuckle. I feel like some scenes are meant to be funny, and they fall flat. The part where they were spear fishing, I didn’t laugh, but I did think that moments like that were fun.
When the two go and explore the island, I expected them to run into some sort of wild animal. They don’t get that, though. Well, except for that one snake at that one time. That did make me laugh. It goes to show what expectations versus reality really are.
The two find a camp after seeing smoke. When they get to the camp, they see protein bars, which who can blame Sophia for pocketing a whole bunch of them. I would have. I think we can all agree they are starving.
Max is looking through those binoculars, and he sees three men approaching. He tells Sophia they need to hurry, as she is screaming for them to come over here, over here. She thinks this is her chance to be rescued.
When Max tells her that they are pirates and it sends them off on a chase with the pirates coming after them, and one has to wonder if they will be caught. The two are trying to hide from pirates when Max comes up with an idea. There’s a way off the island if they’re able to steal the boat that the pirates are on.
Sophia may not like his ideas, but she embraces them because she likes him. It’s obvious that she likes him. When the two spend the night under the stars, I thought that with the question-and-answer part, we would get more.
We didn’t, and that draws me a little out. I think that since we aren’t seeing the reasons that they are falling for each other. Even just getting to know each other.
I loved it so much that they tried to steal the boat after sleeping out all night, waiting for the pirates to return with the boat. The way that they try to jump into the boat and steal it, realizing that they couldn’t do the boat, they jumped over to the jet ski. When they’re on the jet ski, it’s like Sophia is this different person where she finds this strength that she didn’t know she had.
For her to feel this freedom to be able to run and outrun people and do what she wants is invigorating. That excitement in her face is actually quite inspiring, and the way that she uses it as an opportunity to redefine herself is great. Als,o the way that she uses it as a chance to push Max is good.
He needs it.
RESCUED
The two run away from the pirates and then turn back to the island. They run through the forest, and you can’t help but laugh. Everything they do is at in opportune times. From the helicopter in the sky, their friends have found them. It’s interesting to me, but it’s something I’m used to, that rescuers always show up at the time when they’re needed. Makes it kind of more exciting.
As the Pirates chased them through the forest, I had to wonder if they would get caught. They take a vine and swing over a forge. I’m thinking, OK, chase is done. However, it isn’t. The Pirates keep coming, and then as they’re about to get caught, the helicopter lands and their friends find them.
They find that there’s been a five-star resort on the other end of the island, so there’s that. We also find out that the pirates aren’t pirates. They’re part of a role-play from the resort that is on the island.
Seeing Sophia and Max getting to go back and basically reclaim their lives is interesting. I don’t think that their being on my side of the island, which looked like a deserted island, takes away from the fact that they were on a deserted island.
Sophia and Max both get to clean up before they head off to Fiji. I would be spending hours in the shower.
When they get to Fiji, there is a whole bunch of press waiting to talk to Sophia. Max leaves her with the press and goes off with his friend. He can meet her later, and they are supposed to meet that night for drinks. He’s giving her space to get some work done and let her people know she is there. So, drinks later? No problem.
Only she works late and doesn’t show up. I appreciate Sophia‘s commitment to her staff, but I also think that she has to commit herself.
The next morning, she has to fly to Tokyo to try and get to one of the board members on her side. She is hesitant about it because it doesn’t feel right leaving Max. All of this brings inspiration to her mind, where she’s able to call her ex-husband and convince him not to sell his shares.
He’s giving it a chance.
THEY BELONG TOGETHER
Quite honestly, being marooned on a deserted island and surviving, it is probably gonna give her a lot depressing a lot of momentum. This leads her back to the hotel in Fiji to find Max.
Max is talking to a possible investor, who isn’t really into his ideas for what the restaurant should look like and be like. He doesn’t wanna invest, and I can imagine that could be quite deflating.
But don’t you know, Sophia shows up at the right time, and she says that she wants to invest. She is so happy to do so and believes in him. She had gone to his pop-up restaurant and loved the dishes.
I do love that there’s a happy ending for the two of them. I don’t think all the time happy endings are necessary, but I do think that for these two, it is. Why, you ask? I think it’s because they both needed hope. Being stranded and getting to know each other has changed them.
Both of them have discovered so much about themselves. A win was absolutely necessary for them to be able to move forward in a positive way. I think sometimes movies don’t see that and neglect to move a story forward with things that have been learned. The characters transition back to who they were before the force of change.
Lost in Paradise wasn’t the movie that I thought it was going to be. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great. It just was. Sometimes that’s enough.
