Hallmark Channel
At the Hallmark Channel, the ‘Countdown to Christmas’ is just around the corner, but for the next two weeks they are treating viewers to the ‘Hallmark Halloween’ TV movies beginning with Autumn at Apple Hill, which sort of branches the ‘Fall into Love’ theme with Halloween as the holiday plays a pivotal part in the film’s climax.
Autumn at Apple Hill introduces us first, and briefly, to the grandparents of Elise Jacobs (Erin Cahill), newlyweds who buy an old inn in Somewhere, New York (perhaps not far from the town in Head Over Heels as they are both not too far from the Big Apple) and make it their own. Elise has many wonderful memories there including her proposal, but the marriage turned sour and the newly divorced Elise decides to restore the Inn at Apple Hill to its former glory as a tribute to her grandparents. She finds, however, that running an inn isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially an older building that needs many modern upgrades, from an electrical system to WiFi. Even her reservation system is antiquated, using an old ledger as her grandparents did, much to the chagrin of co-worker Nora (Sarah Luby), who has secretly upgraded to an online POS system (a three month free trial, that is) while still writing everything down in Elise’s book. Elise notices a name in the reservations, Luke Bellwhether (Bellwether? Belwether? The spelling seems difficult to pin down), the CFO of a major hotel chain whom she immediately believes is coming to stay at the inn to check it out for a possible acquisition.
When Elise first meets Luke, she doesn’t know who he is but she knows he took over her favorite videogame at the pizza parlor and topped her high score. She also doesn’t know that he’s actually in town on an imposed vacation by his mother because he works himself and his team at their company 24/7 and she insists he take a break so his team can take a break. Apple Hill holds special memories for Luke because it was the place he and his mother went after her divorce, and loving the town so much she bought a house there so he could grow up outside of the big city (which coincidentally is up for sale). His childhood friend Jared, and his wife Candace, also own a restaurant in town, so he gets a chance to reconnect with them. But when he walks into the inn, Elise is immediately on guard with him just because of the videogame, but when she realizes he’s also the hotel magnate, she becomes even more resistant to him staying there, ultimately putting him in Room 11, which she had just told Nora not to book as there was a leak in the bathroom. To keep his company from attempting to buy the inn out from under her, she wants to make his stay as unpleasant as possible (she also doesn’t realize she actually knew Luke from school until talking with Jared, even though she was two grades behind him). Luke takes it upon himself to fix the leak and other issues with the room, which just rubs Elise even more the wrong way, but when he learns that she’s going to lose the inn by the first of November because she can’t get a loan unless her profits are up by 15%, he does what he can to help, even as she resists him … at least at first. She begins to warm to him when he shows her that he is there to help, and proves it by getting people in the town to volunteer their time and services to help bring back the inn’s traditional Halloween Party, something that hasn’t happened since her grandparents ran the place. But with only days until Halloween, can they turn things around so Elise doesn’t lose the inn, and will the two of them scare up a romantic connection?
I have to say Autumn at Apple Hill is by far my favorite Hallmark movie to date, since Hotchka has started reviewing them. While it does have elements of the usual Hallmark template — young woman running a business on the verge of failing meets a successful man in the same industry who could help, but this time there is no rival business to get in the way of their business/romantic relationship — but everything about this is just so charming, and that is certainly thanks to the charismatic performance of Hallmark alum Erin Cahill as Elise. She makes Elise perfectly rounded, a great boss and friend, a stand-up member of the community, and even when she’s being mean to Luke, you still like her because she’s not really being malicious, she’s just protecting her family business. Cahill makes Elise a person anyone would want to be friends with, and even Jared is surprised when Luke tells him how she’s been behaving, so Cahill balances her emotions with her intent to keep the viewers rooting for her to succeed. It really is a winning performance that makes the film so very enjoyable to watch.
Wes Brown, also a vet of the Hallmark Channel, is also very good as Luke. He also has to balance the character who takes gleeful joy in getting the high score on the videogame and playfully rubbing Elise’s nose in it, to a man who is genuinely puzzled be her behavior as he has done nothing to earn her ire (except for that one thing). He’s also not depicted as a ruthless businessman, only one driven to succeed for his family company. He also shows us Luke’s deep respect for the town, even if the script takes its time laying out why Luke is so connected to it, and he also puts us firmly on his side when he begins to do things to help Elise, even when she refuses to accept what she believes are ‘hand outs’. And even though the screenplay never overtly shows us any romantic intentions between the two, Brown’s and Cahill’s natural chemistry together implies to us that there will probably be something brewing by the end of the movie.
The movie is also populated with a great cast of actors including Paula Boudreau as Luke’s mother Donna, a savvy businesswoman who knows her employees’ personal lives, including her son’s, come first; Meghan Heffern and Adam Hurtig as Candace and Jared; Kristian Jordan as Chuck and Sarah Luby as Nora. Luby is particular a lot of fun as Elise’s harried co-worker who desperately wants Elise to venture into the 20th century when it comes to technology (she knows that the 21st century would be too big a leap), and she gets her own little subplot as she pines for Chuck, the inn’s electrician who may or may not have a girlfriend already. All of them help make this a very special, warm and cozy Autumnal romantic comedy.
The screenplay by Paul Ditty, based on the novel by Angie Ellington, manages to stay within the usual Hallmark guidelines, but it never feels trite or tropey, and there are even some genuinely funny, laugh-out-loud moments and some real dramatic ones near the end. They’ve managed to make these characters feel like real people, not character types, people that anyone would love to have as friends and neighbors, really giving the cast some great material to work with. Director Séan Geraughty, also a Hallmark veteran, and Director of Photography Brad Crawford bathe the town in a warm, golden glow one expects from a Fall setting, and makes wonderful use of its Manitoba locations standing in for Small Town, USA, or at least the very idealized version of a town we love to imagine exists in the New England area.
Over all, Autumn at Apple Hill is a delightful romantic comedy that manages to not be too treacly with the romance and not to overbearing with the drama. It walks a fine line and balances everything expertly and does it all with an insanely appealing cast. It’s so charming you may even be inclined to watch it more than once!
Autumn at Apple Hill has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is available On Demand and is streaming on Peacock.
Hallmark Channel
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