Autumn Dreams

Autumn Dreams is a made for TV film for the Hallmark Channel. If you know what to expect from a Hallmark TV movie then you won’t be disappointed.  6 out of 10 stars.  Not the best on television, but not the worst either.  It was nice to watch a romance film without a bunch of sex.

This is a variation of the Cinderella theme, very similar to Pretty Woman. In Pretty Woman a rich ruthless businessman falls in love with a hooker and the hotel manager where he’s staying helps them realize they’re meant to be together. In Autumn Dreams, she’s a farmer’s daughter and he’s a stock broker in New York City. His chauffeur is the one who helps them realize they’re meant to be together. What’s amusing is that the actor playing the hotel manager in Pretty Woman is Hector Elizondo and the character name of the chauffeur is Hector so the screenwriter was even thinking of Pretty Woman. The twist for this one is that he was a farm hand on her father’s ranch when he was 19 and they fell in love and eloped only to be caught by her father who had the marriage annulled. Seven years later as both of them are about to be married to other people they discover they are still married and that the annulment never went through.

There’s a scene in the film where he wants to have sex and she says no.  So rare in a romance film for the heroine to have morals.  I loved it.  There were many scenes in which the acting by his best friend and attorney were so over the top.  Hated it.  The same goes for his fiance who was supposed to be a rich snooty nightmare.

The scenery was interesting.  She’s supposedly from an average farm family in Iowa but her home is a mansion.  She’s also supposedly a PhD candidate in agricultural science.  PhDs don’t grow on trees.  They’re earned from years of study, usually 10-13 years.  This heroine was not that intelligent.  Her dialogue made her appear moronic at times, especially when she was asked why not to invest in a particular fertilizer company.

The hero supposedly went from being a farm hand to a multi-millionaire stockbroker in just seven years.  Totally unbelievable.  His penthouse suite was ridiculous.  Can we have normal men, not all millionaires?

Those are my gripes.  It’s Hallmark.  If you know that going into it, it won’t be too disappointing.