Starring: Bethany Joy Lenz and Victor Webster
Released: 2020
Summary: A travel writer arrives at a family's bed and breakfast unexpectedly, so they all try and pretend to be guests to try and get a good review.
Image: Crown Media
How Many Stars Would You Give This Movie?
The premise of this movie is fun. When patriarch, Ted Ralston, gets lonely, he decides to convert his sprawling family home into a bed-and-breakfast. He waits until Christmas to spring this shocking change onto his family, who have all come home to celebrate. If business doesn't take off, Ted will be in big financial trouble, so when the family realizes a bed-and-breakfast critic is their new guest, all but Lucy (Bethany Joy Lenz) pretend to be either guests or staff. Their goal is to earn a five-star review to boost business.
The family is convinced Beth Thompson is the travel writer, but it ends up being the handsome Jake Finley (Victor Webster). Since Lucy has already revealed the big secret to Jake, she assumes his review will mean the loss of their family home. With Jake being clearly smitten with Lucy, one would think she'd be confident in a stellar review and not think the worst.
Lucy's brother and sister-in-law, Will and Suzanne, pretend to be world travelers, and her grandma and grandpa are very colorful and fun characters, too. Their dramatic antics are almost vaudeville and very entertaining.
There are a few serious issues with this movie. First, what widowed parent would transform the family home into a bed-and-breakfast and not run it by their kids first? It's a huge undertaking and financial investment, so it's unlikely Ted would have ever made such a drastic change without at least seeking his family's input.
Second, Ted might not have business experience, but common sense dictates that he have a plan to feed his guests. When Ted's B & B suddenly has two unexpected lodgers, their bedrooms are prepared, but he relies on his daughter, Amber, to whip up something for everyone to eat. If his family hadn't arrived for Christmas, it doesn't appear as if he had a meal plan.
The viewer can assume that with a five-star rating on the B & B, Ted will now be able to afford hiring staff as business booms. He even says as much, and Will volunteers to stay and help. With Amber deciding on culinary school as a career path, we might even assume she will eventually be the B & B chef. Still, no one opens a business without telling their family, hiring staff, and developing a website, another thing Ted skipped. The script writers could have done better.
It's still a fun movie about a family pulling together and working as a team, while finding love and purpose at the same time.
As a special treat, the viewer gets to hear Bethany Joy Lenz sing. Did you know she had such a beautiful voice?
polls
This movie calms me down so much, when my High Blood Pressure gets extremely high and I get tremors. I recorded it on Xfinity DVR, under MY RECORDINGS. I am waiting for the DVD. It is kind of like medicine for me, so I have to give it Five Stars for making it feel like home, with a comic twist.
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