One thing that we love about Hallmark is that it takes us out of our lives even when we feel stuck. They allow us to travel without leaving our couches (or you know – our bed depending on the time of day we’re watching). Sometimes they are relatable and sometimes they aren’t. But at the end of the day what they do leave us with – romance and joy. Well, and sometimes a trip to the Amazon.
Jaicy Elliot and Rafael de la Fuente star in the latest Hallmark film, Love On The Amazon. The gist, “Claire travels to Brazil and hires Danny, a riverboat captain, to help her deliver an important message for her sister Amelia, a marine biologist studying pink dolphins on the Amazon River.”
I’ve been to Brazil once in my life and I loved it. I also have to admit that my knowledge of the world is quite limited. What I grew up learning in school is quite different than what the world is. It’s part of the reason that I love to travel, learn, and explore. When I can’t go places, I do love to see movies that take me on an adventure.
Growing up and watching movies like The African Queen, I love a movie that take you on an adventure. Going into watching Love On The Amazon, I wasn’t sure what I was expected. I definitely expected more adventure. That’s not to say that there wasn’t any adventure, it just was like I would have wanted to see more of the Amazon and more of Brazil.
Claire heads to Brazil, after finding an award that her sister won. She needs her to sign some paperwork so that she can get a grant that can help her research. Claire is so afraid of letting her sister down – as she feels that she’s done several times before. So like any sister would (if my sister is reading this, I would not) she books a trip to Brazil to travel the river to get her sister the paperwork that she needs to sign to get the grant.
I would rather take out a home loan to get her the money. Facing bugs? Reptiles? The humidity? No. I am just not good for that. But Claire, she’s on the next plane out to figure out how to be there for her sister. She finds Danny, and after some convincing is able to hire him to get her to the remote village that her sister is working in. Danny knows Claires sister, Amelia and apparently has a past with her.
No, not the romantic type of past. Danny had learned from Amelia, but was unable to finish his degree due to some family issues. He doesn’t think that he’s going to take Claire far – that she’ll give in and turn back. He wasn’t prepared for Claire’s resilience.
One thing that I love about Jaicy Elliot is that she’s never one in a movie to back down from anything. The roles that she chooses for herself are ones that show girls that they can do anything and be whatever they want to be. Her character of Claire can come up against whatever it is and not give up. She chose a character that has a growth arc that is both beautiful and inspiring.
Claire doesn’t want to just give up, no matter what happens and she comes up against. She knows that she doesn’t want to let her sister down and so as she’s basically having to go all over the Amazon to find her sister – it doesn’t matter to her. A the end of the day, all that matters to her, is finding her. Though, I do think to a certain point I thought that she was crazy for doing it.
When she finds her sister and gets her the award, she has to come to terms with how much finding her sister has changed her. Who she thought that she was – well that person is no more. The person who has changed her is not only herself – but also Danny. Claire found the courage to keep going in part of her journey because of Danny and the way that she felt a kinship with him.
Even when they disagreed, Danny tried to find a common ground with her. He misunderstood her when she became one of the crew, thinking that she wants to fix him. She just wants to be a part of the crew and show that she belongs.
Danny and Claire do find Amelia. He sees it through to the end. What he doesn’t like is over hearing how Claire tells her sister that she doesn’t want to start anything with Danny, because they are from different worlds.
It’s her father that shows her that she doesn’t have to follow the rules she has set for herself or that society has set. She finds herself running after Danny and telling himself and herself that the next chapter isn’t written for her yet. I do love seeing that for her, because it’s a courage that she needs to find in herself.
To set her own path.
The Hallmark Channel is good at that – exploring stories for women to find that they can set their own paths. Anyone really, they need to and can find their own path. There is joy and comfort in that.
