The Beach House is a very much-publicized Hallmark drama, perhaps because it stars Andie MacDowell. The other star of this film is the beautifully-filmed setting of Tybee Island ..the beach community South of Savannah , Ga. Having spent many summers at Tybee Island, this viewer can attest to its stunning, almost untouched beauty. the photographs showed this beach and community in a truly authentic manner, and it is almost the larger star of this film.
Beyond that, there is very little new or original or worthy of positive praise in this film. The story is, indeed, a bit more dramatic and emotionally gripping than most Hallmark movies. It does not aim for the typical path towards a predictable happy ending, even though all Hallmark endings are, in some form or other, resolved as happy.
This film explores a family very much torn apart by strong emotions and conflicting needs. Without revevealing the plot details, there is much here that will touch more viewers than the average Hallmark cliche film. There is the prodigal daughter, the ailing lonely mother, a lost love, and a defiant, selfish son. All these relationships conflict and ultimately do resolve..but the road to that resolution is paved with many stormy confrontations and conflicts..(There is also a very graphic hurricane to deal with, so the family drama is enhanced and symbolically play out in a weather event),
The characters in the film are sadly, one-dimensional..The beautiful daughter, who left to seek her success in the big city, the boyfriend she left behind who never moved on from this rejection, the ailing mother, and one character that does not seem to have any place in the film..except to add a sympathetic voice to the story..That is the young pregnant woman living with the ailing mother..a sort of Greek chorus to the action swirling in this family. There is also the additional plot theme of sea turtles ..birth, death,and rebirth..a metaphor for the film's theme.
Minka Kelly does her best as the daughter..She is beautiful and has a perpetual smile. Andie MacDowell is always lovely to watch. Chad Michael Murray as the abandoned boyfriend lacks any definable attraction strength that would explain the daughter's love for him..but this is Hallmark, after all.
Acting kudos belong to Donny Boaz, who plays the son. The film almost 'belongs'' to him, he is that captivating. ..He is unfamiliar to this viewer but he is a truly a fine actor. He absolutely embodied the role of the arrogant, entitled, wealthy son, with his mannerisms, his stance, his perfect hair and clothes. Many a Southern son looks like this. His acting was pitch-perfect, and kept this viewer interested in his character's development more than in any of the other cast members.
This is a Hallmark movie of some deeper quality than most..but it misses the mark because of some perfunctory, shallow acting on the part of the two young sweethearts..There is absolutely no chemistry between them..and there could have been, had the script attended to developing that .
Still, this is a very warm, touching family movie ..with more depth and drama than most Hallmark films.
Acting kudos belong to Donny Boaz, who plays the son. The film almost 'belongs'' to him, he is that captivating. ..He is unfamiliar to this viewer but he is a truly a fine actor. He absolutely embodied the role of the arrogant, entitled, wealthy son, with his mannerisms, his stance, his perfect hair and clothes. Many a Southern son looks like this. His acting was pitch-perfect, and kept this viewer interested in his character's development more than in any of the other cast members.
This is a Hallmark movie of some deeper quality than most..but it misses the mark because of some perfunctory, shallow acting on the part of the two young sweethearts..There is absolutely no chemistry between them..and there could have been, had the script attended to developing that .
Still, this is a very warm, touching family movie ..with more depth and drama than most Hallmark films.