Watched: 02/18/2025
Format: DVD
Viewing: First
Director: Leif Bristow
Job: Web designer for corporations
new skill: looking at giraffes, deus ex machina identification
Man: Jon Cor
Job of Man: Safari ranger
Goes to/ Returns to: goes to South Africa
Event: Birthday for Lacey
Food: Cookies
First of all, Brad sucks.
Brad is Chabert's City Man, and he prides himself on loving spreadsheets. That's fine. I love to spend time in Google Sheets, too. But that and misogyny are his whole personality. He's a gigantic tool, and we're supposed to dislike him, and, hey... mission accomplished.
Chabert plays a web developer from Chicago. In the way that only seems to happen in movies, when a great-uncle she hasn't seen in 20 years dies, Chabert inherits a whole frikkin' animal reserve and lodge in South Africa and is now responsible for miles of bushland, the animals upon it, and the people employed by the reserve. All without a letter or phone call from the uncle forewarning her of his plans.
She figures out immediately that she doesn't want to own and run a reserve, and that the place is in danger of folding as tourism has been off due to the Euro being down. Didn't expect international currency valuation to play a major part in a Hallmark movie, did you?
Man is a ranger for the reserve, and is supposed to be a jerk/ socially awkward. He is only good in comparison to the loathsome Brad. I think what Chabert really needs is to date herself for a while.
Chabert has to sort out that her City Man just sucks completely, Safari Man is adequate for her needs, she *does* love adventure, and how to save the reserve - which she does with a tax loophole or some shit that's a real deus ex machina maneuver in the last minutes of the movie.
Man's sister is played by Brittany Bristow, who is part of the Bristow Hallmark Movie family business - with dad Leif directing/ producing and mom Agnes also producing.
This is pretty clearly the Bristows wanting to dick around in South Africa on someone else's dime and Lacey Chabert wanting to see some elephants. And for that, I salute them.
Chabert also doesn't look cold for once in one of these movies, and isn't bundled in three layers.
Is it stupid? Well, the dudes in this movie are all terrible. But the actual elephant reserve where they filmed this seems cool (Belabela Sanctuary - this may be it, I'm not sure). I like zebras, and this movie has them. Plus elephants, giraffes, monkeys, lions, hyenas, ostriches and all sorts of wildlife. I liked the lady who plays Chabert's surrogate mom-figure. She was cool.
Does the story make sense? In broad strokes - sort of. But then there's stuff like making her fly in in a two-seater plane, saying it's the only way to the reserve, and then they drive to Johannesburg like four times in the movie, like it's right around the corner. And somehow walkie-talkies don't reach from the top of a hill to anywhere else. But otherwise, yeah, I guess it basically makes sense.
I think the movie had to stretch some of what usually happens in these films as they incorporate locals in small parts - this movie barely does it. But for how the movie ends, they probably needed to explain a bit more about the relationship with the local village and establish Chabert's relationship, which seems to get started earlier in the movie and then just dropped until it's needed as a plot point later. Lacey doesn't need to be a white savior, but it would be nice if you saw her meet and spend time with the locals beyond them all seeming like they're servants or a land you go by in a boat in It's a Small World.
You may notice the format for this movie was "DVD". As a gag, I put all of the Chabert movies I could find on my Amazon Wishlist. And guess what Jamie got me for Valentine's Day? Truly, she is my ride or die.
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