Hallmark For All Seasons

Bonus Originals

Sweet Carolina

“Sweet Carolina” has all the Hallmark talent in the world. This Hallmark Bonus Original aired on May 15, 2021. Directed by Peter Benson (who also co-starred as boyfriend Tony), written by Michael Reisz and Jonathan Prince, the movie starred Lacey Chabert, Tyler Hynes, Teryl Rothery, Gregory Harrison, and Cassidy Nugent (who was previously in Chasing Waterfalls).

Not only did Lacey star in the movie, but she was listed as producer, which means she had a hand in getting this movie made from behind the scenes as well. Given her clout with the network, I’m really surprised she didn’t push for this movie to be a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. It was more serious than typical Hallmark fare, and those movies are normally reserved for Hall of Fame status.

Music: The song that played when Josie traveled home was Free My Broken Hearted Soul (affiliate link)by Jesse Walton. When Josie shows up at school to drop off lunch, the song playing is Back to You (affiliate link) by Hannah Mae. The song from the “My Sister” playlist was Carry On (affiliate link) by The Light The Heat.

In a nutshell

I liked it a lot. I can’t stress enough how much this should have been a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. It was that good from a dramatic storytelling viewpoint. And Chabert and Hynes are great together.

The Plot of “Sweet Carolina”

Marketing executive, Josie, returns home when she becomes the unexpected guardian of her niece and nephew. While there, she reconnects with Cooper, her high school boyfriend.

The plot outlined on Hallmark is a bit misleading, because the romance between Josie and Cooper was really secondary to the plot of an aunt trying to connect with her niece and nephew once she is given custody of them.

Actors & Chemistry

Not only did the general plot make this different from a normal Hallmark movie, so did the love story. Chabert and Hynes only had four scenes together in the first hour of the movie. During those two scenes we found out they went to prom together, he moved back home, and they still get along since they were not awkward or upset at seeing each other. The third scene was a phone call. It wasn’t until the fourth scene almost an hour into the movie that the story showed a hint of any attempt to possibly bring romance into the movie. And part of me felt it was too little too late.

Sweet Carolina — image: Hallmark Crown Media

But that’s not a dig against Chabert and Hynes, or the rest of the cast, for that matter. This movie was NOT a romance – it was a drama with a hint of romance blended into the recipe. And the cast hit on all cylinders from that perspective. The kids were great (although sometimes the brother was written as though he was younger than his younger sister, which was a disservice to the actor, Glen Gordon), Teryl Rothery as Josie’s mom was a nice mix of supportive and maternal. And while I disliked the dad character, I thought Gregory Harrison was great.

The chemistry between Chabert and Hynes is legit. Even when it’s not romantic in nature, they are great on screen together and know how to play against each other. I’m glad they paired up again (their first movie together was Winter in Vail).

Six Degrees of Polaha: We have two immediate connections in this movie. First, Gregory Harrison co-starred with Polaha in 2012’s “Ringer,” but not only that, the young actor that played Ben, Glen Gordon, was on an episode of “Backstrom” in 2015!

Tropes

Josie had a Bad Boyfriend since he was dismissive of her hometown. family house had a front porch. The niece and nephew are teens but still fall into the “cute kids” territory. Josie wore the circle necklace. The marble laptop cover makes a return!

We had a baking scene complete with flour being thrown on the participants. I appreciate that Chabert is not afraid to get dirty in those scenes. One of my favorites she’s done is the painting scene in “All of My Heart,” with Brennan Elliott when they literally throw paint on each other. Here, she was doused in flour. Way to commit, Lacey!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

I have only minor quibbles. I won’t dig into all of them because they really are very minor.

When she first sees Cooper, Josie asks, “Did you come down from Atlanta for this?” Um…Atlanta is south of NC and especially south of New Hope, NC, which is in the upper east corner of NC.

Does the town of New Hope literally begin on Main Street? If not, weird place to have the sign.

In a flashback to when the kids were young (the son looked 5-6 years old), their mom is using the same phone that she used when she died 10 years later. Same case and all. So she NEVER upgraded her phone? Because phone sizes have changed over the years – big to small to big again – and I’ve never been able to continue using the same case from phone to phone and I have only replaced my phone once in 8 years.

As I said, there were several like that, but nothing that ruined the movie for me.

Feelgoods

I loved the WHOLE scene in the theater after he pulled the ring box out of his pocket. This is where Chabert and Hynes shine together, and the writing was very funny. I loved Hynes’ look when he asked, “What do you think we’re talking about?” So, so funny.

The other scene I loved that was so anti-Hallmark was the super cringey scene where Josie talked to Lily, the girl that her nephew Ben had a crush on. I’m a HUGE fan of cringe comedy, and that scene totally worked for me.

Random Thoughts

I did not like how dismissive Josie’s dad was during most of the movie. He kept insulting her and being passive-aggressive about her ability to take care of the kids, AND when she called him on it and asked, “Do you want me to leave?” he didn’t even have the courtesy to say yes or no. And while he apologized for his behavior later, I was still upset on Josie’s behalf for the way he treated her during most of the movie.

I liked the callback to her “Crossword Mysteries” Hallmark series when she knew the clue to the crossword at the jewelry shop.

Re-watchability

Because this was a drama versus romance, I’m not sure I’d watch it more than once or twice over the next several years, but if in the mood for a more serious movie, I’d definitely turn this one on if it was on the schedule.

The Ranking

“Sweet Carolina” is great and is currently 2nd for the year. It was a solid movie and one that I’ll recommend whenever it re-airs.

It Was Always You (air date: Feb 27) – 668 pts – weighted score: 114.2 (80.1%)
Sweet Carolina (air date: May 15) – 648 pts – weighted score: 110.1 (77.2%)
Taking a Shot at Love (air date: Jan 2) – 641 pts – weighted score: 108.9 (76.4%)
Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (air date: Mar 27) – 636 pts – weighted score: 108.5 (76.1%)
Right in Front of Me (air date: Apr 18) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
As Luck Would Have It (air date: Apr 10) – 638 pts – weighted score: 107.7 (75.5%)
A Winter Getaway (air date: Jan 23) – 620 pts – weighted score: 104.4 (73.3%)
Mix Up in the Mediterranean (air date: Feb 20) – 590 pts – weighted score: 102.5 (71.9%)
Two For The Win (air date: Jan 16) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
Chasing Waterfalls (air date: Mar 20) – 570 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
Hearts Down Under (air date: Apr 24) – 547 pts – weighted score: 95.2 (66.8%)
Fit for a Prince (air date: Mar 6) – 546 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
A New Year’s Resolution (air date: Jan 9) – 516 pts – weighted score: 90.5 (63.5%)
Baby, It’s Cold Inside (air date: May 8) – 495 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.0%)
Playing Cupid (air date: Feb 13) – 466 pts – weighted score: 82.6 (58.0%)
Beverly Hills Wedding (air date: Feb 6) – 431 pts – weighted score: 80.6 (56.5%)
Snowkissed (air date: Jan 31) – 402 pts – weighted score: 76.0 (53.3%)