Starring: Morgan Kohan and Marcus Rosner
Released: 2020
Summary: An interior designer returns to her hometown to help her aunt run her inn, but while working, she meets a handsome seaplane pilot.
Image: Crown Media
Talk About Missing a Thumbprint!
You might remember Morgan Kohan for her role as Lillian Walsh in When Hope Calls. Hallmark builds Kohan a bridge to the summer release, Love on Harbor Island, by naming her character Lily Summers. Nice touch, Hallmark. You made a thumbprint.
Lily is a talented interior designer who produces impressive results, but when she interviews within her company for a better position, her boss tells her they will "circle back" to the possibility at a later time. As it stands, Lily's designs lack her "essence" and her "thumbprint," so her boss advises her to find what inspires her.
Hence, the trip home to Harbor Island (plus, her aunt suffers a fall and needs help).
Lily's interior designs aren't the only thing lacking a thumbprint--so does this fictional Hallmark character. Kohan fails to bring any charisma to the role. Her voice is a monotone, she sometimes appears to talk without moving her lips, and she seems dull and blah no matter how much she continuously smiles.
Fortunately, Kohan's co-stars shine and carry the load. Marcus Rosner nails it with his performance. He's handsome, charming, sardonic when necessary, strong, and capable--everything a leading Hallmark man needs to be. Plus, I'm a sucker for dimples! Maybe we'll see more of him in lead roles, rather than the supporting ones Hallmark cast him in previously.
Emma Cam (Christie) plays the perfect BFF, and Brenda Matthews is completely endearing as Aunt Maggie.
Even though Jeff Gonek (Bradford) plays the typical unworthy boyfriend who puts his career first and loves his phone more than he could ever love a woman, he captures the essence of his character perfectly. Did he look familiar? We saw him in Road to Christmas in 2018.
Love on Harbor Island Has Fatal Flaws
A middle school English teacher once explained to his Young Authors Club, "You can write a fictional account about anything you want. It doesn't have to be possible, but it does have to be believable."
The plot holes in this story are significant and unbelievable:
- When you're trying to climb the corporate ladder and snag a promotion, like Lily wants, you don't take an indefinite time off from work. You bust your heinie!
- Lily keeps referencing how much work she is doing to refresh the inn, but in most scenes, she's sitting on her rear while everyone else is doing the labor.
- Where did Marcus get his fortune? An executive director of an animal shelter might earn between $50,000 and $60,000 annually, but that's not enough to buy a gazillion dollar inn, especially when your counter-offer is accepted over a big real estate company like Bradford's.
- Have you ever attended an Open House for a property? Never in my lifetime has a potential buyer gathered all the attendees to attention so he can publicly announce his intention to buy, like Dan does in the movie. How weird is that?
- Despite having zero personality, we're supposed to believe Lily has a silly side based on her wildly embarrassing high school dance reenactment in the kitchen scene?
- Marcus doesn't have a website and claims not to be able to operate digital devices, yet, boom! His rescue shelter has a computer right there on the front desk, and his assistant, Angus, seems quite computer literate.
- For the Lantern Festival, Lily only has two seconds to create a lantern, and she just happens to whip up one that looks exactly like the inn, almost as if it were pulled off a manufacturing assembly line. It's glaringly obvious this isn't homemade.
Image: Crown Media
- Marcus thinks Lily has left town, so he's surprised to find her at the inn. Yet, he proceeds to tell her how he is fronting the capital for her to buy the inn and has already made a counter-offer for it in her name. What? Is that even legal? If it is, I'm going to head to a more upscale neighborhood and make an offer in some rich person's name so I can have a new house. Since Marcus thought Lily had returned to the city, when, exactly, was he planning to let her know of the life-altering plan he hatched without her input or permission?
Was this movie Lucie Guest's and Andrea Shawcross's rough draft before they worked out the kinks? I want my one hour and twenty-one minute investment back!
Can You Be Honest?
Hallmark movie fans nearly have a stroke any time a person doesn't gush over every movie--even when they are bombs with few redeemable moments.
Please don't hyperventilate.
It's a free country--you don't have to agree. In fact, it's only fair you have a chance to respond with your take on Love on Harbor Island. Take the poll below and let us know what you think!
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#loveonharborisland #morgankohan #marcusrosner
Yes I liked it very much, it was nice to see Marcus Rosner in a lead role finally get the girl instead of being the other guy ......he is very talented, the script was a little amateurish, but the actors still made it enjoyable because of their chemistry. Maybe they can be paired up again but make the storyline a bit more exciting or dramatic.
ReplyDeleteI love Hallmark movies and grade them on a curve. That said, I'm not blind to writing that makes no sense, and you've identified a number of things that drove me crazy too. I expect a few of those in every movie but this one had a few too many. Struggling merchants giving away store items, people living way beyond their apparent means, and a complete disregard for legal and financial realities That buyer speech at the open house was ridiculous, and sellers almost never interact with buyers. The leads were OK, but they're not on my long list of Hallmark favorites. Not a terrible movie (like Christmas CEO and Road Trip Romance) but also not worthy of repeat viewings (like Bottled With Love, Her Pen Pal, and Love Strikes Twice)
ReplyDeleteI feel that Lily was on a physical presence break from work but when she got the 2nd interview they told her the work she submitted on the Inn was what they were looking for. It was made in 2020 and working remotely
ReplyDeleteWas very common from then going forward.
I believe that Maecus got his money when he settled his grandmother's estate. He said he had been waiting to buy his forever home. On the island he would make enough money for daily living on his salary.
Lily was working on the design for the lantern the night before in her bedroom. It was decorated with flowers and there were flowers everywhere at the Inn...not a stretch for a designer.
The buyers speech was a corporate political maneuver by an aggressive
Business shark meant to throw everyone off guard so he could move quickly in the confusion.
I believe in Hallmark Movies symbolism is often used to save time and yet make a point. Little snippets of her "working" on the renovation were there to let us know symbolically the work was occurring.
Finally I researched buying a property in someone else's name and in fact you can.
There were things that could be better but overall I really liked it.
No offense, you made some great points! I honor that, it helped me watch the film more critically. In the end t's a matter of interpretation.