A Picture of Her

Some reviewers didn't buy it, but I thought Rhiannon Fish and Tyler Hynes had plenty of chemistry as Beth and Jake. I was pleasantly surprised by all their easy breezy romantic moments together, and by all the scenes with actual kissing and intimacy in the MIDDLE of the movie, instead of saving the first Big Kiss for the very end (although there was an early "almost kiss"- one of my least favorite tropes). Their dates seemed very real and natural and I would've preferred a movie that was focused on just that without any serious conflict between them (but Hallmark writers seem locked into the meet, like, fight, reunite formula)

Hynes seemed comfortable with a camera and the Flower Girl photo of Beth really was quite beautiful. Unfortunately, the movie's depiction of Beth's instant fame was wildly unrealistic. The scene with a dozen people crowding her and trying to take photos and selfies with her after a free "Los Angeles Culture" regional magazine just came out, was beyond ridiculous. As I write this, Taylor Swift was just seen coming out of a NYC restaurant after her breakup and she didn't get half as much crowding in the street. That said, social media can make formerly unknown individuals into short term sensations. As I write this, a head shot of a beautiful woman spotted at the Masters golf tournament just went viral, and she became known as the "Masters Girl". Of course, that was a nationally televised event, watched by millions (compared to a free local newspaper cover).

Also, the movie's representation of the modeling industry (which has its problems) was also wildly unrealistic. My daughter was an international model (which helped pay for the Berkeley college degree that she is about to receive). First, we did a LOT of research into the agencies that were interested in her. And we met their representatives in their offices, not in some stairway landing. And we carefully reviewed her contracts. We also made sure to get all the details of where she was going and for what before she went anywhere (like a Coca-Cola ad shot at Venice beach). Models are hired to promote products, as part of carefully planned marketing campaigns. But it was unclear what Beth's sleazy agent (a plot line that was just abandoned) had lined up for her. She certainly wouldn't have been given her own trailer. And she wouldn't be dressed up in some ugly awards show gown that made her look like Ursula from the Little Mermaid for whatever "shoot" she was hired to do. Heck, any agent who knew what they were doing, would have approached a florist or flower grower to hire her for some marketing campaign that played off of her "famous" photo. Plus, there's usually at least several weeks of lead time for photo shoots (and auditions). No one gets an agent (without an office) and a big production photo shoot in a couple of days.

There's more. Aunt Dody suffers a compound leg fracture and says she'll be laid up for a few weeks (hence Beth's visit to help out). And, sure enough, a few days later she's walking around in a walking boot. I suffered a compound leg fracture during a football game and I was in a cast for nearly 6 months. Aunt Dody was far too mobile. And the only help that I noticed was when Beth loaded up a couple of flowers from her Aunt's fancy She Shed and put them in a box to take to the Farmers Market to a guy who mentioned selling some flowers back to Aunt Dody (??). Aunt Dody didn't seem to have much of a business and didn't seem to get much help from Beth.

It was also very unclear what Beth was planning to do with her Environmental Sciences degree. My son obtained one of those from UCSB and now works for a solar power financing company. There's nothing wrong with her working on boats but, when I was a bartender at a local Harbor, I met a lot of fishermen who used to get up at four in the morning and lead very rugged and difficult lives. There were a few women who did that kind of work, but the ones I met could've played football in college. Beth as a fisherman? Seemed like quite a stretch.

And what sort of work does Beth expect Jake to do to support himself? He's a photojournalist. No one buys photo albums and paparazzi shots can pay well (It's not as though he was badgering the people that he was photographing). And what's so terrible about him taking a picture of her before he even met her? The worst part of his behavior was that he wasn't completely honest about what he did, but that's easily resolved with one honest conversation.

But the movie got a few things right. Beth was upset that her photo was used on the cover of a local magazine without her permission, but that magazine's rep gave her a surprisingly good explanation. Hallmark movies notoriously get the law completely wrong (I'm a lawyer) but they got it right here. In California, under Civil Code Section 3344, the Right of Publicity protects against uses of a person's likeness "for purposes of advertising or selling, or soliciting purchases of, products, merchandise, goods or services, without such person's prior consent." If her photo had been placed in an ad for flowers, she would have had a claim, but being put on the cover of a "news" paper is not actionable.

More importantly, for Hallmark movie addicts like me, I liked the romance. Hynes has an easy going charm that has made him a Hallmark superstar. Last year's Three Wise Men and a Baby was the most watched movie of the year and he's been in a lot of other Hallmark movies. For good reason. This was my second exposure to Rhiannon Fish as a lead (her parents must have really liked Fleetwood Mac). I liked her in A Splash of Love and her performance there and here reminded me a little bit of Hailee Steinfeld. But I can see why some may have been put off a bit by her somewhat childish mannerisms (I'd call them endearing).

The thing I liked best about the movie was how it depicted their time together. There were no competing boyfriends, girlfriends, fiancés, schemes, failing businesses, or festivals, and all their dates were really enjoyable to watch- a nice meet cute at the dog park, a couple of bike rides, walking the streets, stopping for ice cream, stargazing, talking, and sharing home-cooked meals. It was all very cozy and comforting. Unfortunately, the movie makers decided they needed to add a conflict for the leads to overcome, as usual, in the fourth quarter.

I would've preferred a nice breezy happy ending without the contrived conflict.

My favorite line:

"That's ancient water under a very distant bridge."