“Two Turtle Doves” is a movie I’ve been looking forward to since I heard who wrote the script, and who was starring in it. It aired on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on November 1, 2019. It co-starred Nikki DeLoach and Michael Rady. This movie was filmed entirely in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
In a nutshell
I’m going to warn you now. Of all four movies that aired this weekend, this one was my favorite. I’ve already watched it three times. I cried through the whole thing and thought DeLoach and Rady were perfect together and if Kris Polaha and Jill Wagner don’t watch out, DeLoach and Rady might become my favorite Hallmark pairing of all time. I LOVED this movie. LOVED it.
Plot
Dr. Sharon Hayes (DeLoach), grieving after the loss of her grandmother earlier in the year, begins her holiday searching for a beloved family heirloom left to her by her grandmother. When she unexpectedly discovers an adorable little girl and her disheartened father Sam (Rady), a man dealing with his own grief during the holidays, they both realize that they just might help each other process and move forward into happiness.
Actors
This is where I gush about Nikki DeLoach all over again. She. Is. Amazing. Her performances are SO heartfelt and real – she’s just a true gift to the work she does. And Michael Rady? Pffft. A true gentleman on the screen and such a perfect match for DeLoach. They are so well suited in their interactions that I fell in love with these characters almost immediately.
A nice bonus was having Michaela Russell portray Sam’s daughter, Mikayla, who also co-starred with DeLoach and Rady in “Love to the Rescue” back in the spring. Also, I really enjoyed the couple that played Sharon’s cousin and husband, as well as the bakery owners, including Hallstar BJ Harrison, who frequently plays wonderful secondary characters. I also loved Zach Tinker, who played Sam’s younger brother Alex.
As for Six Degrees of Kris Polaha, I can’t do Nikki DeLoach since I compared them back when “Love to the Rescue” aired, so this time I’ll connect Polaha to Michael Rady. Rady, as most of his fans know, starred in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants back in 2005. One co-star he had in that movie was Mike Vogel, who went on to co-star with Elias Koteas in 2013’s “Jake Squared.” Elias Koteas has a lengthy imDB page, but appeared in “Devil’s Knot” with Polaha, also in 2013. Therefore, Michael Rady is three degrees away from Polaha (but technically he’s two if you count Rady co-starring with Nikki DeLoach a couple of times).
Chemistry
OFF THE HOOK, y’all. I mean, seriously. These two are so great together on screen. And really, the entire cast had chemistry together. But especially Sharon, Sam, Mikayla and Alex as their own self-contained family.
Feelgoods
As I said earlier, I cried throughout this movie. I loved when Sharon described using synaptic pruning to deal with her grief over the loss of her grandmother, and how she would focus on only positive happy things in order to get through it. Her cousin lectures her, telling her that she can’t bypass her grief and pain with positivity. And while I agree with the cousin, I also agree with the philosophy that concentrating on positive things yields positivity, and focusing on negativity breeds negativity feelings. As I told a friend many, many years ago, “Some people just decide to be unhappy.” Even though synaptic pruning is something that happens in early development (childhood), I think it’s true for adults as well.
Having Grandmother Vera record a message on Sam’s phone for Sharon to listen to reminded me of the voice recordings I made of my own grandmother in the months leading up to her death. While I didn’t know she would be leaving the earth so soon, I wanted to record her stories for posterity. So grateful I had the forethought to do it versus thinking, “I’ll do it someday.”
I love that they watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” as part of the movie marathon. That’s one of my favorite Christmas movies of all time.
I particularly loved the scene between Sam and Mikayla when she admits she doesn’t want to make muddy buddies because it would remind her of her mom and make her sad, and he tells her it’s okay to be sad. She tells him he’s never sad, and at that moment he is honest with her and admits he is sad as well. Just wonderful. I loved the very open and honest conversations about handling grief throughout this movie. And not avoiding that grief as part of the process of moving forward after the loss of a loved one. Sarah Montana’s script was simply outstanding, but I knew it would be since I loved her other Hallmark movie this year, “Love to the Rescue.”
Tropes
As expected, this movie had a lot of tropes.
Vera’s house (and Sam’s too) had a front porch. Sharon had a deceased parent in the form of her grandmother that raised her. Sam was a single parent. The man who co-owned the bakery with his wife was named Nick and coincidentally looked like Santa. They went ice skating, they went to the town’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony, they decorated a Christmas tree.
Sharon wore a big scarf repeatedly throughout the movie (not as big as seen in some other movies, but still pretty big). They had one almost-kiss, but it was a DOOZY and a complete departure from the cheesy non-kisses that normally occur in Hallmark movies. There was baking (although not a montage – we only saw the decorating portion). Mikayla participated in a children’s Christmas pageant.
And they TALKED about getting hot cocoa in one scene, but I’m not sure we actually got to see it happen. A bit disappointed by that. I love my hot cocoa scenes. But we did get carolers and a man in a Santa suit. By the way, that scene was so amazing – while Mikayla is happily helping Santa pass out presents, Sam and Sharon stand in the back of the room talking about when Sam lost his wife, and how Sharon is so sad about losing her grandmother, all the while smiling and encouraging his daughter during that deep conversation. Just sheer perfection because isn’t that what parents do? We deal with serious stuff while wanting our kids to enjoy their childhood?
Bingo Card Score for “Two Turtle Doves”
Yet again, no bingo! How is that possible?! However, “Two Turtle Doves” covered 12 of 25 spots.
Did I Hear/See That Right?
As much as I loved this movie, there were a couple of confusing things that I could not ignore. As in other Hallmark movies, does no one pay for anything? In the opening of the movie when Sam is getting coffee while Sharon waits behind him, HE pays for his coffee, but she most definitely did not pay for the dozen cookies that she bought.
When Sharon was before the board interviewing for the fellowship grant, she walked out and called her mentor to let her know she won it. Um…do they really tell the candidate right then and there that they won the grant? Shouldn’t a bit more thought go into who they choose from the list of candidates?
But really, those are my only two nitpicks. Other viewers may have things that stand out to them, but the fact is that I loved this movie so much that even my nitpicks are minor things in the grand scope of the entire movie.
Re-watchability
Over and over and over again. You may recall that I started this review by stating that I’ve watched it three times already. I predict I’ll watch it many more times than that. The two people I pictured below? A couple of my all-time favorites.
The Ranking
While I do love “Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses,” and didn’t think that movie could be beat. “Two Turtle Doves” is a Christmas movie that was about so much more than just Christmas. “Mistletoe Kisses” is the light side of Hallmark, and “Doves” is the deeper side – and I love them both. But in any event, this has become my favorite Hallmark movie of the year. And Nikki DeLoach now has three of her movies in my Top 10.
- Two Turtle Doves (air date: Nov 1) – 742 pts – weighted score: 123.7 (86.8%)
- Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (air date: Oct 26) – 719 pts – weighted score: 121.0 (84.9%)
- Love to the Rescue RE-RANKED (air date: March 23) – 708 pts – weighted score: 120.6 (84.6%)
- Winter Love Story (air date: January 19) – 685 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
- Mystery 101 (air date: January 27 (HMM)) – 454 pts – weighted score: 94.2 (80.5%)
- Love on the Menu (air date: February 23) – 642 pts – weighted score: 113.8 (79.9%)
- Bottled With Love (air date: April 13) – 649 pts – weighted score: 112.2 (78.7%)
- Love Takes Flight (air date: April 27) – 670 pts – weighted score: 111.0 (77.9%)
- Love, Romance & Chocolate (air date: February 16) – 627 pts – weighted score: 110.2 (77.3%)
- The Last Bridesmaid (air date: June 22) – 643 pts – weighted score: 109.2 (76.6%)
- Love, Fall and Order (air date: Oct 12) – 636 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
- Paris, Wine & Romance (air date: May 4) – 638 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
- My Boyfriend’s Back: Wedding March 5 (air date: June 8) – 635 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
- Over the Moon in Love (air date: Oct 5) – 613 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
- Flip That Romance (air date: March 16) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
- My One and Only (air date: Aug 31) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.6 (74.1%)
- Mystery 101: Playing Dead (air date: June 23 (HMM)) – 425 pts – weighted score: 86.5 (73.9%)
- A Summer Romance (air date: Aug 17) – 577 pts – weighted score: 103.7 (72.7%)
- True Love Blooms (air date: April 6) – 598 pts – weighted score: 103.1 (72.3%)
- Forever in My Heart (air date: Sept 14) – 560 pts – weighted score: 102.4 (71.8%)
- The Story of Us (air date: February 9) – 605 pts – weighted score: 101.3 (71.1%)
- A Brush with Love (air date: March 30) – 563 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
- Ruby Herring: Silent Witness (air date: January 20 (HMM)) – 357 pts – weighted score: 79.5 (67.9%)
- Love, Unleashed (air date: July 6, 2019) – 559 pts – weighted score: 96.2 (67.5%)
- Love Under the Rainbow (air date: March 9) – 581 pts – weighted score: 96.0 (67.4%)
- One Winter Proposal (air date: January 12) – 535 pts – weighted score: 95.8 (67.2%)
- Just Add Romance (air date: March 2) – 548 pts – weighted score: 95.6 (67.1%)
- From Friend to Fiance (air date: May 25) – 555 pts – weighted score: 94.8% (66.5%)
- Christmas Camp (air date: July 11) – 530 pts – weighted score: 93.9 (65.9%)
- Love and Sunshine (air date: Aug 3) – 504 pts – weighted score: 91.7 (64.3%)
- Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (air date: March 10 (HMM) – 354 pts – weighted score: 74.1 (63.3%)
- Sister of the Bride (air date: June 29) – 516 pts – weighted score: 89.8 (63.0%)
- Valentine in the Vineyard (air date: February 2) – 503 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
- Love, Take Two (air date: June 15) – 507 pts – weighted score: 87.8 (61.6%)
- All Summer Long (air date: Aug 24) – 512 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
- Snowcoming (air date: January 26) – 485 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.2%)
- The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
- Nostalgic Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 446 pts – weighted score: 79.2 (55.6%)
- A Merry Christmas Match (air date: Oct 25) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.3 (54.9%)
- Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
- Rome in Love (air date: July 27) – 436 pts – weighted score: 76.7 (53.8%)
- A Taste of Summer (air date: Aug 10) – 403 pts – weighted score: 70.9 (49.7%)
- A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
- A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 pts – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)
- Love in the Sun (air date: June 1) – 361 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.8%)
To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!
What did you think of “Two Turtle Doves”? Comment below and let me know!
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Loved it, too, and plan to watch again. It has taken me a while to warm up to Michael Rady and I think it was the beard he wore in previous movies that put me off. He seemed dark and brooding before; without it he comes across as much more open and vulnerable. Now, that could be by design for the particular parts he played but, nevertheless, I prefer his sweet, clean-shaven face and hope he keeps it for future roles.
We will have to agree to disagree regarding Michael Rady and his beard. He’s one of the few actors that I prefer with a beard. I was sad he shaved it off for this movie. For both “Love to the Rescue” and “Christmas in Homestead” he had the beard and I love those movies. He didn’t have a beard in “Cloud with a Chance of Love,” so try to catch that one (it’s an older one though, so they don’t air it often).
Will look for that last one, thanks!
Any idea who did the voice overs as Gramma Vera? That voice sounds familiar from other Hallmark movies…This is one of my all time favorites, too. Those actors are simpatico on too many levels to count.