Vintage: Hallmark, 2017
Hallmark-approved summary: When a best-selling author decides to escape the media frenzy, her plan goes awry when she’s caught in a thunderstorm and crashes her car. Found wandering with no memory and no ID, the town doctor (and a single dad) offers up his guest house until her memory returns. But as she blends seamlessly into their family life, she must decide if the life she's been living is the life she wants.
Actual summary: Medical Malpractice: The Musical!
Cast member prestige: You guys. I watched this ENTIRE MOVIE without realizing that the female lead is the woman who played Casey in Pumpkin Pie Wars. So massive is my loathing for Pumpkin Pie Wars, my mind erased all knowledge of it. The male lead is Benjamin Ayres, a well-sculpted Canadian who was in both Saving Hope and Suits.
Hallmark Man Does Hallmark Job: Dr. Jeff Callan is the one and only doctor practicing medicine in the town of Hopedale Vermont. He owns a canoe.
Action:
Our heroine Angela Young, YA author on the rise, is being whisked off to an engagement via limousine. Angela’s massively popular book series Time Visitor, about a girl named Athena who can travel through time, has just been adapted into a movie and she is scheduled to start a big publicity tour. Her limo driver looks over his shoulder to make small talk, congratulating Angela on her success. Angela smiles ruefully, sighs, and says, “Thanks. Now if only I could have some time in my schedule to enjoy it.”
My husband: I feel like it’s a bad sign when the plot summary actually becomes the dialogue.
Angela arrives at a janky little conference center marked with a tri-color Staples printout declaring it to be Book Expo. [That sound you hear is librarians and booksellers everywhere collectively yelling NOPE.] Angela’s sister, who doubles as her assistant, meets her in the lobby. The two of them exposition about “the hype around the movie,” Angela’s sister reminding Angela that she is due to “hop on a flight to LA” right after this event for the premiere. Angela is nervous. “I’m a writer,” she whines. “I didn't sign up for this!”
We cut to scenic Vermont, where it is Always Fall. Dr. Jeff Callan is at work in his clinic, treating a child’s mouth pain before pretending to pull a lollipop from out of his ear. Cool trick, Dr. Jeff. Once office hours are over, Dr. Jeff goes outside and finds his two kids, Emily and Alex, waiting for him on a park bench with their Nana, Jeff’s mom. They all head off together to the local bookstore, Emily’s favorite place in town. Emily, of course, is reading the new book in the Time Visitor series. She describes the plot out loud to her dad, who is scornful: “Time traveling teens… who comes up with this stuff?”
My husband: … and how do I get to bone her?
We cut to the LA movie premiere. Which is... in a theater the size of a community college auditorium...full of teens?!? Angela is urged up on stage by her boyfriend Brad, who doubles as her manager, for a Q&A session, where Angela is startled and annoyed by the persistent flash of cameras. Afterwards, as Angela and her team take a limo to their next engagement, Angela gazes wistfully out the window and muses, “autumn is the most beautiful season of the year and I only get to see it from the back of a limo.” Brad ends a phone call, excited, and announces: “We just sealed the deal on three more books!” (You’re hearing librarians and booksellers again, but this time authors and illustrators have joined in and they’re all laugh-crying and doing shots.) Angela is profoundly ungrateful. She’s too busy! She’s not inspired! She needs a break! “I wanna see foliage,” she blurts like a Fall Hallmark Bot. “I wanna go apple picking. I wanna carve a pumpkin.”
Brad’s not about it. He says Angela needs to strike while the iron’s hot, and asks her to please cooperate for “one more interview,” this time with a news outlet called Beantown Today. On set, Angela sulks, increasingly unhappy as the show’s crew preps to go on air. She gazes around the studio, sees her sister’s car keys left unattended...and in an instant, she grabs them and bolts when Brad’s not looking! She’s freeeee! And she’s committed grand theft autoooooo!
Next thing we know, Angela’s driving across the Vermont state line. It’s storming, and a tree limb falls across the road, causing Angela to lose control of the car. She drives off the road and, we assume, crashes.
Cut to daylight. Angela is walking in the middle of the road, looking disheveled. The town sheriff drives up, gets out of his patrol car, and asks her her name. Angela blinks and says: “My name? I have no idea.”
Turns out that Angela’s driven herself straight to Hopedale, Vermont, where the one and only medical provider is Dr. Jeff Callan, so it’s to Dr. Jeff Callan’s office Angela goes. Dr. Jeff guesses that Angela has suffered some kind of post traumatic memory loss, based on the cut on her head and the concussion she’s rocking. No purse or belongings were found on her, and Angela is freaking out. Dr. Jeff tells Angela, an adult stranger who has lost her entire identity, not to worry, promising “your memory will come back soon,” and then GIVES HER A LOLLIPOP and some scrubs to change into. He also asks her what name she would like to go by. Angela chooses the name Elizabeth.
Angela and Dr. Jeff walk around town. “The quicker we can expose you to images you may recognize, the quicker your memory may return,” Dr. Jeff pronounces, before asking Angela to close her eyes and tell him what she smells. Weird kink, but she obliges. “Apple pie...cinnamon… a fire burning in the distance,” she coos. They walk past the town bookstore, where a giant poster for the Time Visitor series hangs on the door.
Next, Dr. Jeff begins his journey to medical malpractice by inviting Angela, a patient under his care, to stay in his guest house. She’s like, sure, and then they go together to pick up Dr. Jeff’s kids. The kids are unfazed by the amnesiac in Dad’s front seat. Emily, the older of the two kids, makes small talk about a play she was chosen to write and perform for the town’s upcoming [say it with me now] Fall Fest.
They pull up to Dr. Jeff’s place, and he takes Angela on a tour of the property. Dr. Jeff has a big old canoe that has fallen into disrepair, and Angela somehow knows the canoe’s year, make, and model. (Canoes have those?) Dr. Jeff says that canoe-related memory is a good sign! He shows her the guest house where she will becaptive staying. Daughter Emily comes in and starts chatting away about books until Angela yawns in her face, which Emily takes as her cue to leave. Angela sleeps.
The next day, Dr. Jeff brings Angela along to a Town Hall Meeting, where an improbably huge gathering of townspeople solemnly discuss a pumpkin carving contest. Dr. Jeff introduces Angela (as Elizabeth), tells her story, and the packed room APPLAUDS for some reason. Someone takes Angela’s picture and the flash momentarily triggers a memory.
Later, Angela is skipping stones off Dr. Jeff’s dock. Dr. Jeff joins her and they chat. Angela is frustrated that she still can’t remember who she is. Dr. Jeff responds by gifting her a leather-bound journal and checking her vitals in a way that is oddly and inappropriately sexual. Angela writes the following bulleted list in her new journal: “Things I remember: 1. Dad. 2. Sailing! 3. Camera flash”
The next day, at the public library, Angela is using a computer to read about amnesia on the internet. She sees a young woman at the next computer filling out paperwork for Emerson College in Boston, and it triggers another brief flash of memory.
Dr. Jeff pops in to talk to the sheriff, who assures Dr. Jeff that he sent Angela’s DNA to “the lab in Concord” but results will take a week to come back. In the meantime, they’ll just have to patiently wait, because the year is 1846 and there are no other possible avenues for reuniting a missing person with his or her family.
Angela helps daughter Emily work on her Fall Fest play for a little bit, and then the two of them meet up with Dr. Jeff in the local thrift store to pick out some clothes for Angela, since she’s had nothing to wear but scrubs for the past few days in Vermont. Some peppy music plays while this movie gives us an actual dressing room montage of joy that ends in Angela putting on a standard brown cardigan and Dr. Jeff being visibly turned on by his patient. They all eat takeout meatloaf for dinner. And then the next day Dr. Jeff leaves his minor children in the care of his amnesiac patient, to whom he is attracted, and she proceeds to enlist said children in the repairing, sanding, and varnishing of his antique canoe without asking for permission.
Dr. Jeff heads in to town to check in again with the sheriff, who has no new information to provide. Dr. Jeff muses aloud, “I don’t know… It’s crazy, but it’s like, ever since she came around, we’ve just been happier.” And the sheriff, in response, is like “what’s so crazy about that?” [My husband: “I mean, you found a lady, and you kept her… who among us hasn’t?”] Dr. Jeff worries that his kids will get attached to Angela and then will be sad when she has to leave, but the sheriff says not to worry so much, and to enjoy their time together. [My husband: “Yes. Just enjoy the time you have WITH THE LADY YOU FOUND.”]
Dr. Jeff comes home and Angela and the children lead him to his surprise shiny canoe with his eyes closed. Upon the reveal, Dr. Jeff initially seems unsure and Angela is like “oh no, i’m so sorry” but it turns out he likes it. Dr. Jeff strokes the canoe and says that it brings back so many memories. Angela says, “Maybe it’s time to make some new ones.” Dr. Jeff and Alex go out in the canoe, and afterwards the whole family plus theiramnesiac captive guest all eat outside by the water. Dr. Jeff walks Angela, his patient, back to the guest house and almost kisses her before his son interrupts.
The next morning, Dr. Jeff heads straight to Angela and announces that he has a “code of ethics” that prohibits him from being romantically involved with his patients. Angela is like sure, ok, I mean, who knows, I might actually be married! And they’re both like - hey, yes, that’s right, ha ha ha, amnesia is hilarious.
Cut to Boston. Angela’s sister and boyfriend are filing a missing persons report.
Cut back to Vermont. It’s Fall Fest day! Dr. Jeff’s cell phone rings, and it’s the sheriff. He has a lead! “I’m down in the ravine right by the road where we found Elizabeth. Some hikers found an abandoned car.” [My husband: NO ONE SEARCHED THE ROAD? FOR TWO WEEKS?] When the sheriff ran the plates, he found that the car belongs to the sister of a missing woman in Boston. Dr. Jeff looks sad and, upon learning vital information about the health and safety of the patient in his care, makes a frowny face. The sheriff calls Boston, and Angela’s sister and boyfriend are on their way to Vermont.
Meanwhile, Emily’s gotten all nervous about her Fall Fest play and has run off. Angela goes to the bookstore to look for her. While there, Angela sees a huge publicity display for Time Visitor. She reads the author bio on the back flap and somehow, instantly, her memory is restored. Emily comes out of hiding and finds Angela mid-realization, saying “I love these books - have you heard of them?” Angela says “I think I have,” and leads Emily back to the festival for her play.
When they arrive back at Fall Fest, Angela runs over to Dr. Jeff, seemingly to reveal her identity to him. Dr. Jeff says that he has something he needs to tell her too, but Angela cuts him off, protesting that she wants to wait a couple of hours before they “say what they have to say.” And Jeff, a licensed medical doctor in the state of Vermont who now holds previously unavailable data on his patient’s medical state and identity, is like: SURE, that sounds like a reasonable choice.
Then there is another montage set to music. There is apple-bobbing, a photo booth, and a ferris wheel on which Dr. Jeff holds hands with his patient. I have notified the state medical board.
It’s dark outside now, which means it’s obviously time for a hastily written play composed and performed by a minor child and attended by a giant crowd of adults with nowhere else to be. When the production is over, Emily takes the mic to thank “Elizabeth” for all her help, and invites her up on stage to say a few words. Angela climbs up and makes it all about her, thanking everyone in Hopedale for welcoming her, before announcing, “I have something to tell everyone. Earlier today my memory returned, and it turns out that my real name is --“
At that exact moment, Brad runs through the crowd, yelling “Angela!” He comes on stage, takes the mic, and happily exclaims, “This is my girlfriend Angela Young! She’s been missing for two weeks but we finally found her!” Angela looks unsure. Dr. Jeff pouts.
Angela prepares to head off with Brad and her sister. She and Dr. Jeff share a moment before saying goodbye, and Angela hugs both of the children. Emily asks Angela to sign her Time Visitor book. They say goodbye, Angela gets in the back of the limo, and they drive away. In the car, Brad’s and Angela’s sister’s phones are blowing up with interview requests and Angela sits between them, looking miserable.
The next day, back in Boston, Angela is paging through her journal, where she finds a pressed leaf in its pages and clutches it to her chest. She is prepping to go back on air with Beantown Today for another interview, where she is asked about her experience with losing her memory. Her answer? “With the help of some very special people in Hopedale, I soon learned to make the most of the experience while it lasted.” Does she have a message for the people in Vermont who helped her? Angela sighs and makes meaningful eye contact with the camera. “I just hope they realize what an impact they’ve had on my life.”
We cut to Hopedale, where Dr. Jeff, who has been watching, switches off the tv. Ouch.
With the interview completed, Angela marches up to Brad and says that she’s done… with interviews, and with Brad. “You care more about selling books than being my boyfriend,” she tells him. “Something happened in Vermont. I found out who I really was, and who I want to be with.” Brad looks disappointed, but wants her to be happy. They hug.
Angela runs outside and asks to borrow her sister’s car. Sis says, “You’re going back to Vermont, aren’t you?” and then takes a black sharpie and writes ANGELA on her arm. “You know, just in case.” Oh, ok: heh.
Angela drives to Vermont and finds the kids playing in the town square. She pulls a manuscript of the first few chapters of a new book out of her bag and gives it to Emily to read. Dr. Jeff shows up. They kiss. The children watch and giggle contentedly. Ethics lawsuits for everyone!
Hallmark-approved summary: When a best-selling author decides to escape the media frenzy, her plan goes awry when she’s caught in a thunderstorm and crashes her car. Found wandering with no memory and no ID, the town doctor (and a single dad) offers up his guest house until her memory returns. But as she blends seamlessly into their family life, she must decide if the life she's been living is the life she wants.
Actual summary: Medical Malpractice: The Musical!
Cast member prestige: You guys. I watched this ENTIRE MOVIE without realizing that the female lead is the woman who played Casey in Pumpkin Pie Wars. So massive is my loathing for Pumpkin Pie Wars, my mind erased all knowledge of it. The male lead is Benjamin Ayres, a well-sculpted Canadian who was in both Saving Hope and Suits.
Hallmark Man Does Hallmark Job: Dr. Jeff Callan is the one and only doctor practicing medicine in the town of Hopedale Vermont. He owns a canoe.
Action:
Our heroine Angela Young, YA author on the rise, is being whisked off to an engagement via limousine. Angela’s massively popular book series Time Visitor, about a girl named Athena who can travel through time, has just been adapted into a movie and she is scheduled to start a big publicity tour. Her limo driver looks over his shoulder to make small talk, congratulating Angela on her success. Angela smiles ruefully, sighs, and says, “Thanks. Now if only I could have some time in my schedule to enjoy it.”
My husband: I feel like it’s a bad sign when the plot summary actually becomes the dialogue.
Angela arrives at a janky little conference center marked with a tri-color Staples printout declaring it to be Book Expo. [That sound you hear is librarians and booksellers everywhere collectively yelling NOPE.] Angela’s sister, who doubles as her assistant, meets her in the lobby. The two of them exposition about “the hype around the movie,” Angela’s sister reminding Angela that she is due to “hop on a flight to LA” right after this event for the premiere. Angela is nervous. “I’m a writer,” she whines. “I didn't sign up for this!”
We cut to scenic Vermont, where it is Always Fall. Dr. Jeff Callan is at work in his clinic, treating a child’s mouth pain before pretending to pull a lollipop from out of his ear. Cool trick, Dr. Jeff. Once office hours are over, Dr. Jeff goes outside and finds his two kids, Emily and Alex, waiting for him on a park bench with their Nana, Jeff’s mom. They all head off together to the local bookstore, Emily’s favorite place in town. Emily, of course, is reading the new book in the Time Visitor series. She describes the plot out loud to her dad, who is scornful: “Time traveling teens… who comes up with this stuff?”
My husband: … and how do I get to bone her?
We cut to the LA movie premiere. Which is... in a theater the size of a community college auditorium...full of teens?!? Angela is urged up on stage by her boyfriend Brad, who doubles as her manager, for a Q&A session, where Angela is startled and annoyed by the persistent flash of cameras. Afterwards, as Angela and her team take a limo to their next engagement, Angela gazes wistfully out the window and muses, “autumn is the most beautiful season of the year and I only get to see it from the back of a limo.” Brad ends a phone call, excited, and announces: “We just sealed the deal on three more books!” (You’re hearing librarians and booksellers again, but this time authors and illustrators have joined in and they’re all laugh-crying and doing shots.) Angela is profoundly ungrateful. She’s too busy! She’s not inspired! She needs a break! “I wanna see foliage,” she blurts like a Fall Hallmark Bot. “I wanna go apple picking. I wanna carve a pumpkin.”
Brad’s not about it. He says Angela needs to strike while the iron’s hot, and asks her to please cooperate for “one more interview,” this time with a news outlet called Beantown Today. On set, Angela sulks, increasingly unhappy as the show’s crew preps to go on air. She gazes around the studio, sees her sister’s car keys left unattended...and in an instant, she grabs them and bolts when Brad’s not looking! She’s freeeee! And she’s committed grand theft autoooooo!
Next thing we know, Angela’s driving across the Vermont state line. It’s storming, and a tree limb falls across the road, causing Angela to lose control of the car. She drives off the road and, we assume, crashes.
Cut to daylight. Angela is walking in the middle of the road, looking disheveled. The town sheriff drives up, gets out of his patrol car, and asks her her name. Angela blinks and says: “My name? I have no idea.”
Turns out that Angela’s driven herself straight to Hopedale, Vermont, where the one and only medical provider is Dr. Jeff Callan, so it’s to Dr. Jeff Callan’s office Angela goes. Dr. Jeff guesses that Angela has suffered some kind of post traumatic memory loss, based on the cut on her head and the concussion she’s rocking. No purse or belongings were found on her, and Angela is freaking out. Dr. Jeff tells Angela, an adult stranger who has lost her entire identity, not to worry, promising “your memory will come back soon,” and then GIVES HER A LOLLIPOP and some scrubs to change into. He also asks her what name she would like to go by. Angela chooses the name Elizabeth.
Angela and Dr. Jeff walk around town. “The quicker we can expose you to images you may recognize, the quicker your memory may return,” Dr. Jeff pronounces, before asking Angela to close her eyes and tell him what she smells. Weird kink, but she obliges. “Apple pie...cinnamon… a fire burning in the distance,” she coos. They walk past the town bookstore, where a giant poster for the Time Visitor series hangs on the door.
Next, Dr. Jeff begins his journey to medical malpractice by inviting Angela, a patient under his care, to stay in his guest house. She’s like, sure, and then they go together to pick up Dr. Jeff’s kids. The kids are unfazed by the amnesiac in Dad’s front seat. Emily, the older of the two kids, makes small talk about a play she was chosen to write and perform for the town’s upcoming [say it with me now] Fall Fest.
They pull up to Dr. Jeff’s place, and he takes Angela on a tour of the property. Dr. Jeff has a big old canoe that has fallen into disrepair, and Angela somehow knows the canoe’s year, make, and model. (Canoes have those?) Dr. Jeff says that canoe-related memory is a good sign! He shows her the guest house where she will be
The next day, Dr. Jeff brings Angela along to a Town Hall Meeting, where an improbably huge gathering of townspeople solemnly discuss a pumpkin carving contest. Dr. Jeff introduces Angela (as Elizabeth), tells her story, and the packed room APPLAUDS for some reason. Someone takes Angela’s picture and the flash momentarily triggers a memory.
Later, Angela is skipping stones off Dr. Jeff’s dock. Dr. Jeff joins her and they chat. Angela is frustrated that she still can’t remember who she is. Dr. Jeff responds by gifting her a leather-bound journal and checking her vitals in a way that is oddly and inappropriately sexual. Angela writes the following bulleted list in her new journal: “Things I remember: 1. Dad. 2. Sailing! 3. Camera flash”
The next day, at the public library, Angela is using a computer to read about amnesia on the internet. She sees a young woman at the next computer filling out paperwork for Emerson College in Boston, and it triggers another brief flash of memory.
Dr. Jeff pops in to talk to the sheriff, who assures Dr. Jeff that he sent Angela’s DNA to “the lab in Concord” but results will take a week to come back. In the meantime, they’ll just have to patiently wait, because the year is 1846 and there are no other possible avenues for reuniting a missing person with his or her family.
Angela helps daughter Emily work on her Fall Fest play for a little bit, and then the two of them meet up with Dr. Jeff in the local thrift store to pick out some clothes for Angela, since she’s had nothing to wear but scrubs for the past few days in Vermont. Some peppy music plays while this movie gives us an actual dressing room montage of joy that ends in Angela putting on a standard brown cardigan and Dr. Jeff being visibly turned on by his patient. They all eat takeout meatloaf for dinner. And then the next day Dr. Jeff leaves his minor children in the care of his amnesiac patient, to whom he is attracted, and she proceeds to enlist said children in the repairing, sanding, and varnishing of his antique canoe without asking for permission.
Dr. Jeff heads in to town to check in again with the sheriff, who has no new information to provide. Dr. Jeff muses aloud, “I don’t know… It’s crazy, but it’s like, ever since she came around, we’ve just been happier.” And the sheriff, in response, is like “what’s so crazy about that?” [My husband: “I mean, you found a lady, and you kept her… who among us hasn’t?”] Dr. Jeff worries that his kids will get attached to Angela and then will be sad when she has to leave, but the sheriff says not to worry so much, and to enjoy their time together. [My husband: “Yes. Just enjoy the time you have WITH THE LADY YOU FOUND.”]
Dr. Jeff comes home and Angela and the children lead him to his surprise shiny canoe with his eyes closed. Upon the reveal, Dr. Jeff initially seems unsure and Angela is like “oh no, i’m so sorry” but it turns out he likes it. Dr. Jeff strokes the canoe and says that it brings back so many memories. Angela says, “Maybe it’s time to make some new ones.” Dr. Jeff and Alex go out in the canoe, and afterwards the whole family plus their
The next morning, Dr. Jeff heads straight to Angela and announces that he has a “code of ethics” that prohibits him from being romantically involved with his patients. Angela is like sure, ok, I mean, who knows, I might actually be married! And they’re both like - hey, yes, that’s right, ha ha ha, amnesia is hilarious.
Cut to Boston. Angela’s sister and boyfriend are filing a missing persons report.
Cut back to Vermont. It’s Fall Fest day! Dr. Jeff’s cell phone rings, and it’s the sheriff. He has a lead! “I’m down in the ravine right by the road where we found Elizabeth. Some hikers found an abandoned car.” [My husband: NO ONE SEARCHED THE ROAD? FOR TWO WEEKS?] When the sheriff ran the plates, he found that the car belongs to the sister of a missing woman in Boston. Dr. Jeff looks sad and, upon learning vital information about the health and safety of the patient in his care, makes a frowny face. The sheriff calls Boston, and Angela’s sister and boyfriend are on their way to Vermont.
Meanwhile, Emily’s gotten all nervous about her Fall Fest play and has run off. Angela goes to the bookstore to look for her. While there, Angela sees a huge publicity display for Time Visitor. She reads the author bio on the back flap and somehow, instantly, her memory is restored. Emily comes out of hiding and finds Angela mid-realization, saying “I love these books - have you heard of them?” Angela says “I think I have,” and leads Emily back to the festival for her play.
When they arrive back at Fall Fest, Angela runs over to Dr. Jeff, seemingly to reveal her identity to him. Dr. Jeff says that he has something he needs to tell her too, but Angela cuts him off, protesting that she wants to wait a couple of hours before they “say what they have to say.” And Jeff, a licensed medical doctor in the state of Vermont who now holds previously unavailable data on his patient’s medical state and identity, is like: SURE, that sounds like a reasonable choice.
Then there is another montage set to music. There is apple-bobbing, a photo booth, and a ferris wheel on which Dr. Jeff holds hands with his patient. I have notified the state medical board.
It’s dark outside now, which means it’s obviously time for a hastily written play composed and performed by a minor child and attended by a giant crowd of adults with nowhere else to be. When the production is over, Emily takes the mic to thank “Elizabeth” for all her help, and invites her up on stage to say a few words. Angela climbs up and makes it all about her, thanking everyone in Hopedale for welcoming her, before announcing, “I have something to tell everyone. Earlier today my memory returned, and it turns out that my real name is --“
At that exact moment, Brad runs through the crowd, yelling “Angela!” He comes on stage, takes the mic, and happily exclaims, “This is my girlfriend Angela Young! She’s been missing for two weeks but we finally found her!” Angela looks unsure. Dr. Jeff pouts.
Angela prepares to head off with Brad and her sister. She and Dr. Jeff share a moment before saying goodbye, and Angela hugs both of the children. Emily asks Angela to sign her Time Visitor book. They say goodbye, Angela gets in the back of the limo, and they drive away. In the car, Brad’s and Angela’s sister’s phones are blowing up with interview requests and Angela sits between them, looking miserable.
The next day, back in Boston, Angela is paging through her journal, where she finds a pressed leaf in its pages and clutches it to her chest. She is prepping to go back on air with Beantown Today for another interview, where she is asked about her experience with losing her memory. Her answer? “With the help of some very special people in Hopedale, I soon learned to make the most of the experience while it lasted.” Does she have a message for the people in Vermont who helped her? Angela sighs and makes meaningful eye contact with the camera. “I just hope they realize what an impact they’ve had on my life.”
We cut to Hopedale, where Dr. Jeff, who has been watching, switches off the tv. Ouch.
With the interview completed, Angela marches up to Brad and says that she’s done… with interviews, and with Brad. “You care more about selling books than being my boyfriend,” she tells him. “Something happened in Vermont. I found out who I really was, and who I want to be with.” Brad looks disappointed, but wants her to be happy. They hug.
Angela runs outside and asks to borrow her sister’s car. Sis says, “You’re going back to Vermont, aren’t you?” and then takes a black sharpie and writes ANGELA on her arm. “You know, just in case.” Oh, ok: heh.
Angela drives to Vermont and finds the kids playing in the town square. She pulls a manuscript of the first few chapters of a new book out of her bag and gives it to Emily to read. Dr. Jeff shows up. They kiss. The children watch and giggle contentedly. Ethics lawsuits for everyone!
Rating: Two of ten pumpkins for Vermont. Warning for literally everything else.
I think you spent too little time on the fact that her boyfriend/manager and sister/assistant intentionally failed to report her missing because she just prevents them from getting stuff done when she's around. Because that type of love and commitment to your girlfriend/family/client/paycheck seems super legit.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the additional perspective your husband has provided was so on point.