Hallmark Channel
May is the month to celebrate our mothers, so of course the Hallmark Channel is doing just that with its themed ‘May for Moms’ movies. First up is the romantic Hats Off to Love, in which the mother only serves as a subplot to the main love story.
Hats Off to Love stars Ginna Claire Mason as milliner (aka hat maker) Stella, who with the help of her friend Annie (Holly Ward), sneaks into the hotel room of designer Odette with the hope of getting one of her original hat creations noticed and worn by society maven Rosalind Fairfield at the upcoming Louisville Derby (yes, May is also derby month it seems, but unlike the recent Lifetime movie there is no murder at or near this particular derby). Stella is surprised to find Rosalind’s son Christian in the room, but he covers for her as she makes her escape when Rosalind and Odette, with her assistant Hannah, enter the room. Rosalind is taken with the hat, and Odette is taken aback by this creation that isn’t hers, but Christian reveals the truth and they raace after Stella to let her know Rosalind will be wearing the hat to the first of many Derby functions … and she’s also being given the opportunity to work with Odette on creating other designs, and one to compete in the Bradford Competition, which Rosalind has not won for a couple of years, not a good look for someone who’s family is so closely associated with the Derby.
Sparks also begin to fly between Stella and Christian, even more so when Stella demonstrates a particular affinity for horses, forming a bond with the Fairfield’s philly, whom Christian insists will run in the Derby against the wishes of almost everyone else. But Stella seems to have a way with the horse and she’s forced to divide her time between the hats and the horse. What she doesn’t realize is that Odette’s assistant Hannah is extremely jealous of Stella suddenly getting all of the attention from Odette, Rosalind and Christian, even though she brings in a fresh batch of newly baked items every morning that no one eats (except Stella, and Christian advised her not to eat the baked good — turns out Odette hates crumbs all over the place and Stella offers Hannah some advice which she isn’t too keen to accept, but that will come back to haunt her later, in a good way). The relationship between Stella and Christian is also complicated by the arrival of Christian’s once best friend Davidson, who is now a rival for some reason, and his own horse which has spooked the philly. But Stella calms the horse and Christian finally asks her on a proper date, which goes well, but Hannah’s jealousy gets the best of her as she tries to sabotage Stella at every turn from embarrassing her at Rosalind’s barbecue (telling her it’s very casual but everyone is dressed to the nines) to suggesting that Stella is very interested in Davidson, which causes Christian to give Stella the cold shoulder. Everything hangs in the balance as the hat for the contest is damaged and Hannah tells Stella Christian gave her tickets to the Derby, but in the infield (he actually invited her to be in the family box, which only made Hannah all the more jealous because she’s never been invited because it was already too crowded). Hannah even suggests to Rosalind that a replacement hat from Stella just wasn’t her style, even though Odette told her to tell Rosalind that the hat had her blessing. Can the truth be revealed before both the hat contest and derby get underway, and will Stella and Christian cross the finish line together?
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Hats Off to Love is a very pleasant Hallmark romance that follows the typical Hallmark formula, but gives the whole story a lot more scope with some of its breathtaking vistas (though apparently in St. Petersburg, Florida instead of Louisville, Kentucky). The story by Amy Barrett and Austin Highsmith Garces also gives Stella many more complications to navigate on her way to romance, although it is surprising that she isn’t allowed to see that Hannah is sabotaging her at every move. There is one point where it seems that she is aware, and while working on a hat she asks Hannah for her advice in what seems like a test, with the audience fully expecting her to do the opposite of what Hannah says, but Stella goes with it and it ends up being an embarrassment. Stella is just a bit too nice to speak up for herself … but she also does something so kind for Hannah that she can’t help but break down and admit to some of her less-than-friendly actions. Also, while this is promoted as a ‘May for Moms’ movie, the mother is just a secondary character who only gets a moment to shine near the end during the hat competition. While the film does have some humor to lighten some of the more dramatic moments, there is one laugh-out-loud moment at the barbecue with two older ladies that have not had ribs in decades because of the decorum required at such an event (Rosalind also shoots Stella some side-eye when she sees her plate piled with ribs). One other funny moment comes after a hat is met with little enthusiasm and Rosalind, Odette and Hannah all say to Stella, “Bless your heart”, which anyone from the South knows is not a compliment.
The film is buoyed by engaging performances from Ginna Claire Mason (who according to IMDb only has four credits to her resumé, and three of them Christmas movies) as Stella, the eternal optimist, the outsider in this world of Deep South mores and derby etiquette, sometimes oblivious to the slightly malicious intent from others, but charmingly at ease with Christian and the horses. She brings a bit of sunshine to every scene she’s in. John Clarence Stewart is making his Hallmark debut as Christian, and he’s not the traditional Hallmark leading man type but that also gives the film a bit of freshness as we’re not just seeing the same actors over-and-over again. He does some fine work, and he’s got some nice chemistry with Mason and is comfortable around the horses. Holly Robinson Peete is a delight as Rosalind, a woman who knows what she wants but never wants to be too demanding, always trying to be polite to Stella even when she really dislikes a design, often just saying that style is not for her. Interestingly she is always so focused on the hats and the derby that she and Christian never have a mother-son chat about his feelings for Stella until nearly the end when he says she seems to be interested in Davidson. And even then it’s Hannah who pushes him to go after Stella.
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Darla Delgado is appropriately snooty as Odette, setting some impossibly high goals for Stella in her expectations (since she is representing Odette’s company), occasionally giving her some encouragement but more often than not just telling her the designs are unacceptable. Stella does manage to melt her heart later in the movie though, and it’s nice to see her cold heart thaw out. Rena Strober probably has the hardest character to deal with, treading a very fine line to not make Hannah a complete villain, and letting the audience see her hurt when she is constantly overlooked or only seen as an assistant by Odette and Rosalind. She really does an amazing job of making the audience sympathize with her even as she’s being the mean girl to Stella. It’s also interesting to see Alex Trumble, who does have a list of non-Hallmark rom-com TV movies to his credit, migrate to the network after appearing in two Lifetime thrillers, doing a nice job at his ribbing of Christian while not overtly showing any signs of romantic interest in Stella, but still making it seem like there could be. Holly Ward also offers some nice support to Mason as Stella’s bestie Annie. All around, a really top notch cast.
Hats Off to Love doesn’t break any new ground for a Hallmark romance, and it does put the mom in second place, but it’s charming, it’s got a great cast and some beautiful locations, and it just make put a little tear of joy in your eye at the end.
Hats Off to Love has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.
Preview – Hats Off to Love
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