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Matchmaker Mysteries: A Complete Review · Hallmark Mysteries & More

0:00
Eric Rutin: This podcast was created by fans or fans and is not affiliated with or sponsored by Hallmark or the Hallmark channel.
0:09
Eric Rutin: This is Eric.
0:12
Andrea: And this is Sydney.
0:14
Eric Rutin: And this is Hallmark Mysteries and more Well, hello Andrea, how are you doing?
0:23
Andrea: I am excited to be here, eric.
0:26
Eric Rutin: That is awesome.
0:26
Eric Rutin: I'm excited to have you here.
0:27
Eric Rutin: We are going to be talking about matchmaker mysteries Not the most popular of the mysteries, but we have Victor Webster coming up in a little mystery during Christmas, so I thought it was kind of appropriate.
0:45
Andrea: I mean looking at the reviews, like on the IMDB 6 and a half out of 10 stars for matchmaker mystery, which is kind of surprising to me actually 100% agree.
0:57
Eric Rutin: And I'll tell you what, when I went back, it was kind of like when I went back with picture perfect and looked at it through a different lens.
1:04
Eric Rutin: So it's going to be fun to talk about.
1:06
Eric Rutin: But we're here, we are talking about some matchmaker mysteries during Christmas season and we've had two weeks of Christmas movies so far.
1:15
Eric Rutin: We were just talking a little bit off camera that we are a little bit of disagreement this year, which is kind of interesting because usually we're only disagree when we're on camera and other than that we're almost 99% agree.
1:30
Andrea: But I don't know if it's.
1:31
Andrea: I'm underwhelmed.
1:33
Andrea: Thus far, two weeks in, I have not had any that I'm like.
1:36
Andrea: I just had someone asked me the other day like which one should I go back and watch?
1:39
Andrea: I'm none, because they don't watch they don't watch all of them.
1:43
Andrea: as one of my clients and I was like I would not recommend going back because I know your time is limited and I cannot tell you that you're going to really enjoy this movie.
1:52
Andrea: So that's kind of where I'm at.
1:54
Andrea: Like, if I have friends that ask me, I'm like I would hold off.
1:57
Andrea: I haven't had me that I'm going to over Like I miss.
2:01
Andrea: Christmas has been my highest one and even that was like I liked it, but it's not one that I don't.
2:06
Andrea: I don't think it's going to land for everyone in the way that I enjoyed it and I don't think I would have given it four stars, let's say last year midway through the season, just because on what we had last year I thought was a lot stronger movies.
2:19
Andrea: I also don't know if the writer's strength is playing into it and we're getting a lot more acquired movies.
2:24
Andrea: It just seems like it's not quite the same caliber.
2:31
Eric Rutin: I will say that I know you were not as big of a fan as checking it twice.
2:35
Eric Rutin: I like I don't think it was a great movie, but I thought it was a really fun kickoff into the season and I think Kimitula is just wonderfully adorable and she can pretty much do you know wrong.
2:51
Eric Rutin: I did hear that it was our friends over at Hallmark cafe interviewed the writer.
2:58
Eric Rutin: It was his first screenplay.
2:59
Eric Rutin: The story is just a trip.
3:02
Eric Rutin: He just pretty much decided hey, I'm going to try to write a Hallmark movie and just I'm going to contact 100 producers and if they all reject me I know it's not meant to be.
3:12
Eric Rutin: And lo and behold, it happened and he ended up getting his movie produced.
3:17
Eric Rutin: So that's kind of crazy.
3:20
Eric Rutin: I really enjoyed Ms Christmas.
3:22
Eric Rutin: I thought it was really good acting.
3:24
Eric Rutin: I thought Barbara Nevin Just she's fantastic.
3:27
Eric Rutin: And Brennan Elliott and Erica Durantz, I thought were they had just great chemistry.
3:32
Eric Rutin: I really enjoyed it.
3:35
Eric Rutin: I can see some people maybe a thought, and I read a few comments that thought it was kind of dragged because it was a little redundant going to the same city again and again.
3:43
Eric Rutin: Sorry, you know, not same city, but going to this different city.
3:45
Eric Rutin: So I can see that I didn't mind it.
3:47
Eric Rutin: I really liked Mr Christmas, jesse Shram and Chandler Massey.
3:56
Eric Rutin: I thought once again had great chemistry, a lot of fun.
3:59
Eric Rutin: Banter it once again not what I would.
4:02
Eric Rutin: We said goes to Christmas always.
4:05
Eric Rutin: Last year was such a good movie, probably one of the top movies of the entire year for getting you know the holiday of the year.
4:12
Eric Rutin: I don't think that mystic Christmas is going to you know land there, but I kind of put it like a no next door last year, which was really cute fun gave me all the fun that I wanted from a Hallmark movie so I would have taken the next door over mystic and there was just something about mystic, I don't know, same as we were just talking as before we went live here.
4:34
Andrea: The Christmas guide is on and I'm, you know, halfway through that movie and at 30 minutes I look to see how much time was left and that's how I'm feeling about that movie already that same with mystic Christmas with me, like it was funny, it was quirky, but it also felt really slow to me for some reason and there wasn't enough Christmas in it.
4:54
Andrea: So that was kind of my complaint of the mystic Christmas.
4:58
Andrea: Otherwise, like I again, I just was like quick banter.
5:02
Andrea: I think that's the one I have.
5:03
Andrea: Next highest ranked in my readings is mystic Christmas.
5:08
Andrea: It's not like I hated it, it just wasn't it.
5:10
Andrea: It's to me.
5:12
Andrea: I'm a little underwhelmed.
5:15
Eric Rutin: I'm a little underwhelmed because I was watching it and wasn't wanting it to end.
5:19
Eric Rutin: I was having so much fun with the character.
5:21
Eric Rutin: So we have a very different, different take on that one.
5:24
Eric Rutin: But listen to, what was it called?
5:26
Eric Rutin: Guiding Christmas or what's the one?
5:28
Andrea: my Christmas guide, I think my Christmas guide, yeah.
5:30
Eric Rutin: So when I sent you the little note saying hey, can you record early and you're watching, you're like darn right, I can get out of this movie.
5:39
Andrea: I can fast forward through commercials when I watch it.
5:40
Andrea: You know in an hour, so right, alright.
5:44
Eric Rutin: Well, enough of Christmas, let's talk murder.
5:46
Eric Rutin: Are you ready?
5:48
Andrea: I'm ready.
5:49
Eric Rutin: Okay so match maker mysteries Stars Danica McKellar as Angie Dove, victor Webster who's Kyle?
6:00
Eric Rutin: What's his last name?
6:01
Eric Rutin: Carter, kyle Carter, detective Kyle Carter.
6:04
Eric Rutin: And Brooks Box later.
6:05
Eric Rutin: Who is Angie?
6:07
Eric Rutin: Loves dad Angie Dove, excuse me, and she does dad.
6:11
Eric Rutin: Yeah yeah, okay.
6:13
Eric Rutin: So the first it's a three is a three part mystery.
6:17
Eric Rutin: The first one's a killer engagement, when a woman is murdered and her fiance is the prime suspect.
6:24
Eric Rutin: Successful matchmaker Angie works to prove her client's innocence, much to the dismay of Kyle, the detective working the case Alright.
6:36
Eric Rutin: So just what were your initial thoughts, for you'd like this one, not the best of the three, or where were you on this one?
6:47
Andrea: So I remember when it first aired I was really excited about it.
6:51
Eric Rutin: I at the time this is what you saw, like you saw when it was yeah back in 2019.
6:57
Andrea: Oh yeah.
6:58
Eric Rutin: Okay 2019.
6:59
Andrea: I remember watching this and I was like this is, this is fun.
7:03
Andrea: I liked the intro.
7:04
Andrea: Watching it now present day I'm like this is so cheesy.
7:07
Andrea: I really hate this intro, this kind of how I felt about the rest of the movie.
7:14
Andrea: It just it didn't feel like cohesive in a way, like it was like they were kind of in two different movies, like Danica and Victor like it.
7:24
Andrea: It felt like they didn't quite gel and they didn't have a lot of scenes together really, because when I was watching it I'm like there's not a ton of I didn't feel the romantic chemistry whatsoever between the two of them During that first movie and didn't feel like they had enough scenes to really get anything off the ground.
7:42
Andrea: And I don't think Victor had a ton of scenes period in that in the movie.
7:46
Andrea: So that was kind of my initial takes watching it back.
7:50
Andrea: I also, for anyone Bravo fans, patty Stanger, the millionaire matchmaker I don't know if she I was trying to look up if she actually wrote these are what did she?
8:02
Eric Rutin: she's an executive.
8:02
Eric Rutin: She's an executive producer.
8:03
Andrea: Okay, because she plays a little guest star cameo in this first and in the second movie but, I, did not see her in the third movie.
8:10
Eric Rutin: Yeah, I don't think she's in the third either.
8:13
Andrea: So yeah, that was kind of fun for anyone who was a Bravo fan, you know, back in the day.
8:17
Eric Rutin: It's funny.
8:18
Eric Rutin: You say that because when I was watching it and yet in the scene she's getting her hair cut, next to her in the next chair Also, I'm like wait a minute, I know who that is.
8:26
Eric Rutin: And I had to rewind and I'm like, oh, and I didn't really like.
8:30
Eric Rutin: My wife watched it a little bit.
8:32
Eric Rutin: It's like one of those people who you kind of know but you can't know, you know recognize where you know her from.
8:38
Eric Rutin: So but yeah, so I went back and I watched it and the funny thing for me is I actually liked the beginning because it is that little funny thing kind of which I know you're not a big fan of picture perfect mysteries, but it also had that sort of you know, fun, real, more edited, polished, yeah, like you say, maybe a little corny, yeah, and intro, yeah.
9:09
Eric Rutin: So you know that was fun.
9:10
Eric Rutin: And I think mostly what I did is I liked that it was just kind of different as opposed to the other ones which sort of just show the black and white or dark crime scene, then roll into sort of the beginning with some sort of I like that it actually had a little intro.
9:24
Eric Rutin: I agree with you that not much sizzle here, because they.
9:30
Eric Rutin: Yeah, they just weren't.
9:33
Eric Rutin: You know Victor was definitely a definitely a secondary character in this.
9:39
Eric Rutin: You know it was the Danica show and you know I thought it was.
9:47
Eric Rutin: It was better than I thought or I shouldn't say that I thought it was better than I remembered, because I did not when, when we first were doing this, I was like I know Victor's coming up with this holiday one, so we got to do it, but kind of, you know, kicking and screaming to have to torture and watch it again.
10:08
Eric Rutin: I have.
10:08
Eric Rutin: I saw him.
10:09
Eric Rutin: I didn't see him when they premiered, like you, but I did because I didn't really get into mysteries.
10:15
Eric Rutin: Probably it was Probably getting into Gourmet and Mystery 101 around 2019.
10:28
Eric Rutin: And it was probably over COVID when I was like, okay, let's just bust into all the mysteries, because I was mostly rom-com at that point.
10:36
Eric Rutin: So then I ended up watching it and I was like ugh, there's a reason why, and we'll get into that later when we talk about what we didn't like.
10:45
Eric Rutin: Alright, let's talk a little bit about the second one.
10:49
Eric Rutin: What's that one about?
10:52
Andrea: So the description is a one sentence description.
10:55
Andrea: It is a fatal romance.
10:57
Andrea: A romance writer is killed and you've got to read between the lines in order to find the killer.
11:07
Eric Rutin: Alright, alright.
11:11
Andrea: I was like what I don't want to give away, like all of my take, but this one I remembered and I enjoyed it.
11:20
Andrea: When I watched it the first time, I enjoyed this one watching it a second time.
11:24
Andrea: I really liked the writer, the writer convention that they were at.
11:30
Andrea: I liked the setting.
11:31
Andrea: I think for me I had to be really invested in like what's going on, like what is the mystery about?
11:38
Andrea: I love reading, I love books, so I was kind of intrigued by the whole backdrop of like, oh, a writer convention, ooh, an author and you know kind of the different elements there.
11:47
Andrea: I also liked that they Paul Merck loves to throw in that love triangle and they threw that in there during this movie to do nothing with it the next.
11:58
Andrea: So that was kind of odd because they're like at the end of this movie that her ex moves in next door to her and I was like, oh, they're going to do something with this.
12:07
Andrea: And then, watching that third movie, they did, he wasn't even in it.
12:11
Eric Rutin: Yeah, I'll say there's no, they went nowhere with that love triangle, but they could have.
12:15
Eric Rutin: They went, no, they went.
12:16
Eric Rutin: No earth victory either.
12:18
Andrea: Maybe they knew the writing was on the wall and they're like this isn't going to go after three.
12:22
Andrea: So that was interesting, but otherwise I really actually I enjoyed this.
12:27
Andrea: One Like this is one that I would watch as a standalone, mostly because of that mystery element, and I thought it was a little better acted than the first one.
12:37
Eric Rutin: All right, I.
12:38
Eric Rutin: I liked the.
12:40
Eric Rutin: I thought that the inner there's definitely more interaction with with Victor and Danica.
12:47
Eric Rutin: In this one Victor definitely had more presence.
12:49
Eric Rutin: He's just good.
12:55
Eric Rutin: I would say that's probably the and we'll get into it overall, but really the guy deserves to be in a good quality mystery.
13:06
Eric Rutin: The other thing, though when I was watching this so I've gotten in the last, I don't know probably what's almost a year now since we've been doing this podcast I've gotten to where I've been reading cozy mysteries as well.
13:19
Eric Rutin: There's a series called Sherlock Holmes bookstore mystery by Vicki Delaney, and there's one of them which is called body and Baker Street, and it's almost exactly the same premise, where the writer comes in and murdered, poisoned you know who did it.
13:40
Eric Rutin: There's the disgruntled person in the audience, there's the publisher, there's you know all the very, you know the same things, and the lo and behold, it turns out the author really isn't the author, and you know the assistant isn't necessarily just an assistant.
13:59
Eric Rutin: So it's like so similar that as I was watching it, I had a really hard time like appreciating it for just what it was, because I was like who ripped off who I don't know, because they're so similar.
14:14
Andrea: So it's interesting.
14:16
Eric Rutin: Yeah, so that's, that's my take on it, but I did like seeing Victor being much more involved, and the funny thing about it, for me too, is with him.
14:26
Eric Rutin: I realize it's only, you know, four years old.
14:29
Eric Rutin: He just seems so young in it to me.
14:34
Eric Rutin: I don't know.
14:37
Andrea: I mean, it's only four years ago.
14:38
Andrea: So 2020.
14:42
Eric Rutin: They just saw All right Ruling into the third one.
14:48
Eric Rutin: This one's called the art of the kill and once again a very short description.
14:54
Eric Rutin: Angie dove, her father, and detective Carter, which is Victor Webster, investigate murder, theft, blackmail and fraud at the museum.
15:04
Eric Rutin: So remember when we did, when we over on the other one, when we did the big synopsis of all the Christmas ones I said one of my little things is if it has a really long description, that I think that makes it camouflaging for a bad movie.
15:22
Eric Rutin: You'd think these were fantastic movies.
15:24
Eric Rutin: Short descriptions are.
15:28
Andrea: Yeah, no, this was my least favorite of the three.
15:30
Andrea: I remember not liking this when I watched it live and I was like, well, I'm okay.
15:36
Andrea: At that point I was okay with this series ending.
15:40
Andrea: I remember thinking that because this is still when Paul Mark was keeping these mysteries alive, like this is when we were getting the gourmet, we were getting the garage sale or tea gardens.
15:51
Andrea: Obviously those have stopped for their own reasons, but we were getting these consistent mysteries.
15:56
Andrea: And at this point is when I was like I'm good on this one.
16:00
Andrea: I also was good on the Carlos and the pinnabaga mysteries.
16:05
Andrea: Picture perfect also was one that I was like I'm good on those.
16:08
Andrea: Those are the only two that I've ever been like okay, three is three is plenty, I don't need any.
16:13
Andrea: I don't need to see this continue.
16:15
Andrea: I'm finished with these storylines.
16:17
Andrea: And I will also say I thought Victor had chemistry.
16:22
Andrea: Is there spoilers on here?
16:24
Andrea: Can we spoil?
16:25
Eric Rutin: We can spoil.
16:26
Eric Rutin: This is like a three year old, four year old mystery.
16:31
Andrea: So so spoiler if you haven't watched the art of the kill, Victor and the killer.
16:37
Andrea: I thought had amazing chemistry, I know, but the killer I was like oh, there's some sparks flying here.
16:47
Eric Rutin: Oh that's too funny.
16:49
Eric Rutin: That's my take.
16:52
Eric Rutin: What's interesting is they were all directed by different people.
16:57
Eric Rutin: The one that you liked best, the second one, it sounds like, was directed by Terry Ingram, who is obviously one of the biggest hallmark directors.
17:08
Eric Rutin: He did the whole wedding veils but he's just done a ton of hallmarks.
17:16
Eric Rutin: Whatever.
17:19
Eric Rutin: It's interesting because the other ones have done hallmarks but they're not maybe as much.
17:24
Eric Rutin: This also one of the interesting things is you're talking about the Bravo connection with the millionaire matchmaker.
17:32
Eric Rutin: This one was co-written by Dave Thomas and you're way too young to know who Dave Thomas is.
17:39
Eric Rutin: He was this old comedian part of the SCTV with his brother.
17:46
Eric Rutin: They were the McKenzie brothers and they were like take off, eh, they had this whole little skit that was on the SCTV is kind of like a Canadian Saturday Night Live.
17:57
Eric Rutin: But then they ended up making a movie, strange Brew, which is one of the cult classics, but he was just like I don't know, a slapsticky type actor who you know.
18:10
Eric Rutin: When I sit there and I think about him writing a hallmark mystery, he's about the last guy you're thinking about, because there were these two brothers.
18:16
Eric Rutin: You would actually you're Minnesota, you would like it right.
18:18
Eric Rutin: They're like they take off your hoser, like they get off my toke and they're all like all this hockey and stuff like that because they're Canadians.
18:25
Eric Rutin: But they're just like these two idiots who brothers, who just drink a ton of beer and like hockey and I find it very funny.
18:35
Andrea: You don't like hockey.
18:36
Eric Rutin: Yeah, I know You're just not very good for your Minnesota in there, I know, but you're Minnesota, so that's the point.
18:41
Eric Rutin: So it's you know, getting up a little bit to Canada is not that far of a stretch for you.
18:47
Andrea: But he was part of this movie.
18:48
Eric Rutin: Yes, he was one of the writers, that's interesting.
18:51
Eric Rutin: Yeah, yeah, I'm going to say it just it seems like he would write like once again, slap like.
18:55
Eric Rutin: It seems like he would be more appropriate for haul out the Holly type.
19:01
Andrea: Yeah, there wasn't too much comedy in it that I'm thinking.
19:03
Eric Rutin: I think there were in all of them.
19:05
Eric Rutin: They actually had, I thought, some little good lines in there which you know here and there was not over.
19:14
Eric Rutin: It wasn't by any means cases of mystery lane or you know one of the ones that just has a lot of it in there.
19:19
Eric Rutin: So all right.
19:21
Eric Rutin: So of the three you said you liked the second one, the best, right what?
19:27
Andrea: about you.
19:28
Eric Rutin: Same here.
19:28
Eric Rutin: I thought it was the best, and we also thought the art of the kill.
19:32
Eric Rutin: I agree with you that it was the least favorite of the of the three, and it could have been because maybe we did binge them and kind of like at the time you're like, okay, I'm ready for this one to end, and so when you watch them pretty much back to back to back, it didn't stand much of a chance.
19:50
Andrea: I mean again, though, I remember dreading going into this one because I did not like it when I watched it live in 2021.
19:56
Andrea: So like that was one where I just knew and it was so this series one of my biggest complaints, I think, because you know I love my Cabot Cove.
20:04
Andrea: My murders wrote there's no like town, like where even is this space?
20:09
Andrea: They don't have the little coffee shop.
20:11
Andrea: They don't have like their.
20:12
Andrea: Like hey, like you know the murder she baked.
20:15
Andrea: Like they have their bakery.
20:16
Andrea: They have the little downtown, they have the police.
20:19
Andrea: We didn't really have much of.
20:21
Eric Rutin: Well, it is Philadelphia which is a major major city, so they should have like the little cheese steak shop that they like.
20:28
Eric Rutin: So the dad maybe, instead of the dad being Bruce Boxer.
20:32
Eric Rutin: By the way, I thought he was a fun wallpaper character, Like he didn't really plays in the gourmet detective.
20:39
Eric Rutin: He didn't really provide too much but at the same time, he was enjoyable when he was on screen.
20:44
Eric Rutin: But he could have very well not been in it at all and I don't think we would have noticed, because everything he would say is what does your gut say?
20:51
Eric Rutin: Just what would you do?
20:52
Eric Rutin: Like there wasn't really much?
20:54
Eric Rutin: He did provide it one way or the other, but he did provide one of the good, one of the best scenes of the entire series.
21:00
Eric Rutin: But like, yeah, he should.
21:01
Eric Rutin: Instead of being like a retired detective, he should have owned like.
21:05
Eric Rutin: Or he could have been a retired detective who opened up his cheese you know fully cheese steaks thing and that could have been a place that could have been a little more fun than just having him sitting around the house.
21:18
Andrea: Okay, angie does, so I also don't like the, the, the whole element, the matchmaking thing.
21:29
Eric Rutin: I don't like that.
21:30
Eric Rutin: What did you like it?
21:39
Eric Rutin: Just you know cumulative about the series.
21:41
Eric Rutin: Can you come up with, let me think All right, I'll start.
21:47
Eric Rutin: As I said before, I actually thought the the intro was fun because I also liked the the intro for picture perfect mysteries and, like I said it just it's different, it's fun, it's got a little bit of you know, flair to it.
22:02
Eric Rutin: So there, I also I just liked Victor Webster.
22:07
Eric Rutin: He in this movie, like you said in the first one, he doesn't really in a lot of scenes but when he's there he just owns it and his acting he's like, just, with very subtle and like he doesn't really have to say too much, he just comes across as I am detective Carter, right, he just you, he just exudes.
22:33
Eric Rutin: I am a detective.
22:34
Eric Rutin: And I actually thought in general the general writing of the mysteries wasn't actually bad.
22:46
Eric Rutin: I didn't in any of the three.
22:47
Eric Rutin: I was not like, oh, that's obvious, that's the person who, well, other than the one that was exactly like the other one I read.
22:56
Eric Rutin: I found like the the, you know I had seen him before and I hadn't seen him in a while, but I was like it could be, it couldn't be.
23:04
Eric Rutin: I thought they dangled it and I thought, like I say they had, especially Danica, had a lot of little lines that were in there that were just created a little chuckle.
23:16
Eric Rutin: I don't think it was sustained, but I definitely think there were a lot of little ones in there that just made it made it fun.
23:26
Eric Rutin: So you know that's pretty much where, where I was.
23:34
Andrea: Well, I feel like if one of yours was the intro, that's not a great sign.
23:39
Andrea: Mine is probably Victor Webster as well.
23:43
Andrea: That is probably the one thing I can think of that I enjoyed.
23:47
Andrea: I love Victor Webster, he's one of my favorites, so you know, seeing him in this it was funny because when I was looking through some I think it was on IMBD I was looking at reviews and someone was like or maybe it was on the Hallmark app, the third movie they commented oh, victor looks like he's actually interested in acting this movie.
24:05
Andrea: So it's like, oh, that's funny that they I mean, probably we can talk about that in the dislike, but there's which I had said earlier about the lack of chemistry.
24:15
Andrea: I just feel like he was probably disinterested in some capacities.
24:18
Andrea: I don't think they gelled well together as leads.
24:21
Andrea: So I think that was probably coming through in his acting, like it.
24:27
Andrea: Just it seemed kind of like that's why I said the killer and number three maybe he had fun, because maybe maybe their friends like off screen and they gel well together, because he seemed like he was having more fun and he had a bigger role in that third movie too.
24:39
Andrea: So that was nice.
24:41
Andrea: But yeah, it was just kind of an awkward lead pairing.
24:47
Andrea: I thought.
24:47
Andrea: See, you can't even do what you like I know I'm like I was trying, I was trying.
24:54
Eric Rutin: All right, so it is pretty much you just like Victor Webster, and so you have to see Victor Webster and Patty seeing the millionaire matchmaker.
25:02
Andrea: that was fun.
25:03
Eric Rutin: All right, all right, let's get into what we didn't like.
25:07
Eric Rutin: I have actually a surprisingly short list for it, but it's a pretty significant one.
25:12
Eric Rutin: Okay, danica McEller I just she's never been one of my favorites 100%.
25:23
Andrea: I'm right there with you.
25:24
Eric Rutin: I don't like when you put her up next to an actor who I think has as much charisma and it's funny, you're saying like, oh, he seems bored.
25:33
Eric Rutin: I thought it was a sort of more of this, that character of this, being I'm the, you know, I'm the detective and all that, so I didn't really think he was coming across as mailing it in or anything like that.
25:47
Andrea: That wasn't me, that was another fan.
25:49
Andrea: I didn't do that.
25:50
Eric Rutin: But he, she, just like.
25:53
Eric Rutin: You're talking about the chemistry.
25:54
Eric Rutin: Yeah, there was no chemistry in this movie, there's no real romance, and that they didn't even try to have other than hey, every six months.
26:02
Eric Rutin: Oh yeah, don't forget, we're going to get that dessert together.
26:05
Eric Rutin: That was about it.
26:06
Eric Rutin: You know the other ones were saying, you know, damn it, kiss, kiss, kiss.
26:12
Eric Rutin: This one is like, hey, give her like a high five or something.
26:15
Eric Rutin: That's about as good as the chemistry got in this, you know.
26:18
Eric Rutin: Or, hey, buddy, see you later, but so like.
26:22
Eric Rutin: But you know.
26:23
Eric Rutin: Getting back to Danica, I just never been the hugest fan.
26:26
Eric Rutin: I can't even think of a rom-com of hers on Hallmark that I'm like, oh I, that's a really good rom-com with her in there.
26:35
Eric Rutin: And the thing is she does her like sad puppy dog face.
26:40
Eric Rutin: I hate when she makes that little pouty face, like some people can get away doing it and still look cute.
26:49
Eric Rutin: She just looks at and I just want to turn the TV off.
26:52
Eric Rutin: I can't handle when.
26:57
Eric Rutin: I just I don't like her.
26:59
Eric Rutin: And so when she went off to GAF, I was like, all right, that's awesome.
27:05
Eric Rutin: You know, it's not like, you know, ccb, who I just don't like on any level, I think Danica could be a nice person and things like that, and maybe she's wonderful.
27:16
Eric Rutin: I have no idea.
27:17
Eric Rutin: I just don't think she's a very good actress.
27:19
Eric Rutin: So, which I don't think CCB is either.
27:21
Eric Rutin: But and then you met you alluded to a little earlier the whole premise of the matchmaker, which is a very big foundation of the entire series.
27:32
Eric Rutin: I just had zero interest.
27:36
Eric Rutin: I didn't think they did it.
27:37
Eric Rutin: I thought, when they were showing it on set and everything, maybe if they had a better, more engaging actress you know, throw Kimberley Sustat in this.
27:48
Eric Rutin: So there's got some real charm and cuteness to it.
27:52
Eric Rutin: But you know, you got Danica walking around giving us advice.
27:58
Eric Rutin: Hey, make sure you, you know, saying something nice to her women like that, like her love advice is kind of the stuff you getting told in sixth grade, you know, when you're getting ready to go to your first dance.
28:12
Eric Rutin: I don't know how she's so, so popular.
28:15
Eric Rutin: Her friend, her little producer, I thought was more exciting and I liked her a lot more than than Danica.
28:24
Eric Rutin: So you know, between the just the overall premise of the series and the main actress, so those are two kind of big things, not a very big list, but basically in the end, it comes down to the entire series.
28:43
Andrea: I mean, those were my two biggest complaints, I think.
28:46
Andrea: As well like I'm not a big Danica fan I have never been as well Like I wrote down in my notes for the first movie in general this is primarily that first one I thought the acting in that movie overall was really poor and I barely noticed stuff like that.
29:04
Andrea: You know me, I barely barely figure out the killers and I watch these movies all the time and I was, I figured out the killer though this first movie I was out of myself, but actually I figured out the killer and all three of these movies.
29:17
Andrea: So maybe that should say something, because, again, I watch these all the time and they.
29:22
Eric Rutin: Now you do that back in when they first air, do you remember?
29:25
Eric Rutin: Because it's.
29:26
Eric Rutin: I'm sure not predispose now, like I figured out in the third one.
29:30
Andrea: I have watched murder show how many times and my husband's like how do you not know the killer?
29:34
Eric Rutin: I was like because there's a hundred and 90 of them, I forget.
29:38
Eric Rutin: There goes my phone when you have, you know whatever, it is 70 years of episodes.
29:48
Eric Rutin: Of course you're not going to remember.
29:50
Andrea: I know.
29:51
Andrea: So I am with you on the acting not my favorite is a little stiff and not not very charismatic.
30:00
Andrea: And then again the matchmaker premise is not something that I found that interesting.
30:05
Andrea: I think they could have done a lot better job with making that more engaging, make it part of the mystery, like if you're going to do it like they were doing it, I feel like, oh, what are the ones with Holly Robinson, pete the morning?
30:19
Eric Rutin: show morning show.
30:21
Andrea: They do a lot better job of having the morning show and we got to see the background of that and the show.
30:26
Andrea: That was inviting, that was exciting.
30:29
Andrea: I enjoyed that.
30:30
Andrea: They should have done more of that with this.
30:34
Eric Rutin: I mean you just like it because got Rick Fox and he's a basketball player.
30:39
Andrea: No, I actually really I enjoy those the morning.
30:42
Eric Rutin: Once again, because you got rich, rich, rich, but it's interesting.
30:45
Andrea: So I need that part to be interesting to me and, like the gourmet detective, I enjoyed, like I feel like you know the work, like it's cooking, it's restaurants, that's kind of fun.
30:55
Andrea: I need the main character to have something fun going on and for me, this matchmaking part I think we didn't see enough of it to be fun.
31:02
Andrea: And then some of the scenes like in movie one I wrote down, like that hair piece they put on her it was so horribly cheap, like it was a clip on.
31:12
Andrea: It looked like you just put a headband over her and that was supposed to be like her salon do.
31:16
Andrea: And so if they're again, if you're going to do stuff like that, like, make it look believable, like.
31:20
Andrea: And again, I don't notice a lot of these little details and for me to pick up this, I'm just like, okay, this is not great.
31:27
Andrea: And so overall that's kind of how I felt of the series is it wasn't well thought out and some of those little details they didn't tidy up like they do in other ones.
31:35
Eric Rutin: So one of the things when I was watching this and it wasn't until you were just talking about it, but as I was reflecting on this, getting ready I was like you know what the you know to the overall, what I would say most popular.
31:49
Eric Rutin: I may do go all the way to three, but popular mysteries that have really passionate fan bases, let's get.
31:56
Eric Rutin: We won't, we won't put in science, you'll deliver as a mystery, even though that's very debatable whether it is or isn't, but it's its own genre right it's not a murder, right, it's its own genre, but the ones that really are, I think, have really loyal fans who just are.
32:13
Eric Rutin: you know, I want more.
32:14
Andrea: I want more are mystery one on one and gourmet detective, and so I'm going to go through all of these Crossword mysteries, but I would say garage sale, and the original auroras probably also had that garage sale, probably more so than anything you know.
32:33
Eric Rutin: I can even go with Aurora somewhat in here.
32:36
Eric Rutin: But I was going to say with the mystery and like garage sale was my top and gourmet.
32:44
Eric Rutin: Hold on, hold, on, hold on.
32:45
Eric Rutin: Sorry, but with with mystery one on one and gourmet.
32:50
Eric Rutin: One of the things that I think is so good about them is they really have the detective and the nosey body are basically in it together For most of the like.
33:04
Eric Rutin: They're in it on a lot of the scenes and they're, you know, going exploring together.
33:09
Eric Rutin: They're doing a lot of things together, so there's a lot of interaction, especially mystery one on one.
33:15
Eric Rutin: But whereas this one and some of the other ones that you know not quite a fan of it, it's hard to do garage sale, because garage sale really is focused on a singular person.
33:25
Eric Rutin: There's not really the detective in that.
33:29
Eric Rutin: But, yeah, but he's not really like that.
33:31
Eric Rutin: You know, it's not that.
33:32
Eric Rutin: The diner right, yeah, but.
33:35
Eric Rutin: But so it's like the two of them are really in it together and I think that's one of the things that people really like is seeing that chemistry.
33:44
Eric Rutin: So, whether it's the early episodes where they don't, you know, there's some romantic tension and they're not Totally, you know, they're not kissing and making out and smooching and all that yet.
33:56
Eric Rutin: But I think that's one of the things that we really enjoy in those mysteries are both of those is that companionship of of the main things and, like you said, it really was more simultaneous characters than combined characters.
34:14
Eric Rutin: And in this one and you know some of the other ones, even the picture perfect, which you're not a huge fan of, you know that's the case as well there, you know they have their scenes together, but there's not a lot of that, you know, cohabitation of screen together, so to speak.
34:30
Andrea: So that makes sense.
34:33
Eric Rutin: All right, we're just going to jump ahead down to style, because I do have a take on this one.
34:40
Eric Rutin: Do you have any opinions of the style of the movie?
34:45
Andrea: Well, my opinion was I would not wear the majority of clothes that she was wearing.
34:50
Andrea: It's too buttoned up, conservative Like I, it is just not her style, is not my style.
34:58
Andrea: It is way too like.
35:00
Andrea: All of the dresses like A line.
35:04
Andrea: All that is not.
35:05
Andrea: I am much more flowy hippie in the woods, flowy dress, braided hair, so complete opposite of the direction that this movie was taking.
35:15
Andrea: So that is my style.
35:16
Andrea: And then Victor was always wearing suits, which he looks great.
35:20
Eric Rutin: Yeah, so my notes.
35:22
Eric Rutin: I actually thought, despite me not liking her and liking wanting to decapitate her for a good chunk of the movie, I actually thought, liked the way she was styled.
35:36
Eric Rutin: I thought their clothes looked good on her.
35:39
Andrea: Now I'm not saying that I don't like that style for me when I'm looking at it.
35:43
Andrea: I'm like would I wear that?
35:44
Andrea: No, but is that style amazing for other people?
35:47
Andrea: Yes, and she was dressed nice.
35:49
Andrea: She had some nice like fancy designer shirts and like I thought they played when she like dressed up as that I don't know what she was dressing up and like acting like she was someone else and like she had a different wardrobe on, but it was still fancy.
36:04
Eric Rutin: I don't remember they tried getting into the party.
36:07
Andrea: Sorry, but it was a blue shirt with like gold and it was a popular.
36:11
Andrea: That was a popular design.
36:12
Andrea: What five years ago?
36:14
Andrea: And I don't remember which one of the three movies, since I watched them all back to back as well.
36:19
Andrea: But that was a funny scene and I remember that outfit and I'm like, oh, that's kind of a funny like.
36:24
Andrea: That looks like a different outfit, even though it's still nice and dressy.
36:27
Andrea: It looked different than like the dresses that she normally was wearing.
36:31
Eric Rutin: Oh, you made me forget the ones.
36:33
Eric Rutin: What I thought was the best scene of the entire series, oh, was when she walks into with her dad saying you know what that rookie detective did, and her dad is sitting there talking to Kyle, detective Kyle, and she's like, oh, I didn't know you were here.
36:56
Eric Rutin: And then it's just like that.
36:59
Eric Rutin: I found that scene very fun.
37:01
Eric Rutin: And then when he's leaving, it's like whatever, his final dig of like, oh yeah, the rookie cop who's been doing it for whatever 15 years or something has he left?
37:11
Eric Rutin: So I found that scene pretty fun because she just stumbled on him and he just dug it in on her.
37:18
Eric Rutin: But, like I said, I think Danica, she actually I thought she looked great.
37:23
Eric Rutin: I do agree with you that I found the one thing when she got her hair done at the salon ridiculous.
37:29
Eric Rutin: But whatever, we'll just throw that away.
37:32
Eric Rutin: And then Victor was just, he was literally the definition of a detective.
37:36
Eric Rutin: That's what he I think detective.
37:39
Eric Rutin: I don't spend much time at the police station, fortunately, but that's what I envision a detective looking like.
37:45
Eric Rutin: So I thought I was for what it was nailed, but it wasn't anything spectacular.
37:53
Eric Rutin: You know, they could have put him in some tight suit showing off his you know the muscles and stuff like that.
37:58
Eric Rutin: But they didn't do that.
37:59
Eric Rutin: They sort of made him a little disheveled and tie always undone a little bit, and working hard.
38:07
Eric Rutin: Yeah, working hard solving those crimes.
38:08
Eric Rutin: So, all right, let's get into our ratings.
38:14
Eric Rutin: I actually surprisingly which I didn't think it was possible for someone to be a little lower than me, but I have a feeling you may I may actually beat you on this one.
38:28
Eric Rutin: So where'd you have for the steam meter?
38:32
Andrea: Okay, so I'm doing this on the fly because I have not done this.
38:34
Andrea: Is this for all three movies we're doing?
38:36
Eric Rutin: Yeah, you just a combined overall feel for a zero.
38:39
Eric Rutin: A zero.
38:41
Andrea: Okay, good, good, good, and unless we're talking, about Victor and the killer and the third one that would bump it up to a two.
38:51
Eric Rutin: Okay, I gave it a two.
38:54
Eric Rutin: I say that there was a little bit of every now and then a little flirt banter, like I said, the line here and there, but by no means anything that sustained or thought there's any sexual tension chemistry that was going on.
39:14
Eric Rutin: So probably it would be more of the stuff that would get you in trouble with HR comments than real steam.
39:22
Eric Rutin: So okay, how about like the overall just stories of the three?
39:29
Andrea: I know that there's a little unevenness of them, but I would say, like the middle one, I would say an eight, the other ones like a four.
39:39
Andrea: So three, four.
39:44
Andrea: I was like, let me quit Divide it and do my math.
39:48
Andrea: I'd give it a four.
39:50
Eric Rutin: Okay, I, like I said, I thought the writing, I enjoyed it a little bit more.
39:56
Eric Rutin: I thought then once again, I thought it was okay.
39:59
Eric Rutin: I gave it a.
40:00
Eric Rutin: Surprisingly, I gave it a seven.
40:03
Eric Rutin: So I thought, like I said, I thought the writing was okay.
40:09
Eric Rutin: All right, how about the mystery?
40:14
Andrea: I'm going to go with a four again, because I'm about the middle one carries it and the other two are long for the ride.
40:20
Eric Rutin: I think I'm too generous.
40:21
Eric Rutin: I gave it an eight because once again I didn't know.
40:25
Eric Rutin: I thought like they did a good job of being kind of unexpected with the mysteries.
40:31
Eric Rutin: But I guess it's tough because do you have to like it to say it was a good mystery?
40:41
Eric Rutin: Because you're out.
40:43
Andrea: Well, I figured them all out, which is I know which yikes, I know.
40:48
Andrea: I don't.
40:49
Andrea: So I'm like, how did you not?
40:51
Eric Rutin: Yeah, well, like I say the second one I did because it once again, it totally was the was that other book?
40:58
Eric Rutin: I read the third one.
41:00
Eric Rutin: I actually remembered who it was.
41:03
Eric Rutin: I didn't remember it at first, but then, as soon as they they did the scene with the killer, I'm like, oh yeah, that's the one.
41:10
Eric Rutin: And you know what I am?
41:12
Eric Rutin: I'm knocking my down because of the third one.
41:14
Eric Rutin: It was ridiculous how the dude.
41:18
Eric Rutin: It was just ridiculous how he ended up getting caught and coming back and who's going to have cuff links.
41:29
Eric Rutin: Well, I guess he said it was a gift, but how do you not know?
41:33
Eric Rutin: You lost a cuff link, right, whatever.
41:36
Eric Rutin: I knocked my mind down.
41:37
Eric Rutin: I'm going down to a six.
41:39
Eric Rutin: I'm still thought, like I say, I still think the mysteries had some validity to it, but now I just talked myself down to a six, okay, so how about the acting?
42:00
Andrea: Okay, so this is all, Victor.
42:01
Andrea: I mean, victor would be a lot higher Again, this is, I'm going to say, a three.
42:09
Eric Rutin: Okay, I gave it a five, but once again because of Victor, I gave him a high score, her low score, so I sort of net out in the middle I think.
42:20
Eric Rutin: Like I said, I think it was Victor was good.
42:22
Eric Rutin: I think some of the side characters were all good, so that threw them in.
42:27
Eric Rutin: Like I said, I think really, mostly it was well.
42:32
Eric Rutin: I didn't like the author, the woman who gets murdered.
42:37
Andrea: I thought she was I loved her.
42:39
Eric Rutin: I didn't think she was good.
42:40
Andrea: I loved her.
42:42
Eric Rutin: And I didn't think her sister.
42:43
Eric Rutin: Her sister seemed to be so overacting.
42:47
Andrea: She did not seem as good.
42:48
Andrea: I liked the author, though.
42:50
Andrea: And then Danica, just like I said there, and I thought a lot of the people that were actually in the matchmaking.
42:56
Andrea: I didn't think that most of those were very good either.
42:59
Andrea: I mean, they were very low on the scorecard.
43:02
Eric Rutin: Right.
43:02
Eric Rutin: Well, they were probably like someone's brother who was like hey, we can get you on a scene.
43:06
Eric Rutin: No, I guess they had speaking roles, so they had to be actual actors.
43:10
Eric Rutin: So you know, they're not like me who's shooting to be dead body number two in something.
43:18
Eric Rutin: So All right.
43:19
Eric Rutin: So this is.
43:20
Eric Rutin: We're going to really disagree on this one then, with style.
43:26
Andrea: Well, okay.
43:26
Andrea: So style I won't think about my own personal style.
43:30
Andrea: I guess I mean a six.
43:32
Andrea: That will probably be my highest.
43:34
Eric Rutin: I thought that was the best of the whole series, was the style, and I gave it an eight because I think, for who they were, I think she looked like a television celebrity with her own little matchmaking show.
43:47
Eric Rutin: Like I said, I thought she they fit the clothes for her very well and I thought Victor just looked like a detective, which is, you know, beige.
43:56
Eric Rutin: I guess he made beige look as good as beige could look Right.
44:00
Eric Rutin: So, all right, my overall, I think, is a 28, which I think is my lowest I've ever done 17.
44:11
Eric Rutin: 17.
44:11
Eric Rutin: So this is what we.
44:13
Eric Rutin: I wouldn't even have to worry about adding them up.
44:15
Eric Rutin: So that's like what?
44:16
Eric Rutin: 45?
44:17
Eric Rutin: That's in the.
44:19
Eric Rutin: You don't even have to give it a watch, we can just say you know what?
44:24
Andrea: Skip it If you do go to the second one.
44:27
Eric Rutin: Okay.
44:28
Andrea: You're not missing anything.
44:29
Andrea: If you miss the first one, like you really aren't missing anything, you could easily hop into that second movie and watch that as a standalone movie and be done.
44:37
Eric Rutin: You're 100% agree, 100% agree.
44:41
Andrea: So, if you want to, that would be probably both of our recommendations, because they don't do anything again with the love triangle after that movie.
44:47
Andrea: That was it.
44:49
Eric Rutin: I would say, if we were doing that just as a standalone, my scores would all probably come up a notch.
44:58
Eric Rutin: Oh, mine would, mine would, yeah, so it would get in, like you said it would get into the worth watching.
45:04
Eric Rutin: Yeah, as opposed to, both of our scores were in the, well, yours was in the.
45:09
Eric Rutin: Don't even turn on your TV.
45:11
Eric Rutin: So your homework now, right now, you know, but at that, 17 is definitely the lowest anything has ever been.
45:19
Eric Rutin: Well, 28 is the lowest, I think too.
45:21
Eric Rutin: So, all right.
45:22
Eric Rutin: And then one of you just tell people if you can remember where they can find you, how they can follow you.
45:30
Andrea: Yeah, let me, let me find my Instagram all Mark Channel movies and I am reviewing all of the.
45:38
Andrea: Well, I always review every movie, all the Christmas movies and little previews for the weekend, and I love having the polls.
45:46
Andrea: So after every weekend I try to poll everyone and everyone votes for their favorite mystery.
45:51
Andrea: So, and I have a good chunk of people who are voting.
45:53
Andrea: So it's kind of nice because I'm saving them into a highlights tab, so if you're someone who doesn't watch all of them, you can see what I thought of the movies.
46:01
Andrea: But then I don't always like this.
46:03
Andrea: Last weekend I liked the Miss Christmas one, but missed it.
46:06
Andrea: Christmas was what everyone else voted as their favorite.
46:09
Andrea: So that's also a nice little way.
46:11
Andrea: So you can kind of go through my highlights and then see which movie might be best.
46:15
Andrea: If you don't have time to watch all the new movies which I don't blame you if you do it's kind of like a part time job, just to watch all of these.
46:22
Eric Rutin: I said it's a full time job to my wife, the, and Andrea is much better than me over there when I with my homework now, where I do my rom-coms and I usually get in within the week with my little minute and a half take, whereas Andrea you're very good at like the next day it's up first thing in the morning.
46:47
Andrea: It's funny that long as I catch it that night you, you do.
46:51
Eric Rutin: I will met, predispose me somewhat, where I'll be like okay, I got to watch this movie.
46:56
Eric Rutin: Then I see your review and you're like, and I'm like, you know, I don't think I'm gonna watch it this morning, I don't think I'm gonna watch it, like sometimes you make me delay.
47:04
Andrea: So I've had other people to say the same thing and some are like I think I'm gonna watch it now, like that's what.
47:09
Andrea: That's why I'm doing it, cause I have friends who that's literally why I created this account and started doing this at all, because I had friends who were like, just tell me what to watch.
47:17
Andrea: And I'm like, let me just do my own little Instagram page just for this.
47:21
Andrea: And then it's grown into connecting with everyone, cause, again, I love connecting in the DMs with people and chatting Hallmark movies so much I agree.
47:30
Eric Rutin: I know we have a couple of the same people who interact with us a lot, but it's just fun in general, some of the people who agree and then also the people who really never agree with us and keep telling us how wrong, wrong, the ones I don't like, I just the ones you just can't get past.
47:49
Eric Rutin: Mystery One on one needs to come back.
47:52
Andrea: We all know, we all agree, but it's happened.
47:56
Eric Rutin: So, speaking of moving on, I gotta go catch the rest of the Christmas guide.
48:01
Eric Rutin: Have a wonderful night.
48:03
Eric Rutin: I look forward to reading your review in the morning.
48:06
Eric Rutin: See you, bye.