Hallmark For All Seasons

Summer Nights

You Had Me at Aloha

“You Had Me at Aloha” was destined to be a winner. Two favorites from “When Calls the Heart,” Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith, were our leads. The movie was filmed on Oahu in Hawaii. The Kahala Resort where it was filmed looks amazing (and right now you have an opportunity to win a trip to stay there, courtesy of Hallmark Channel – the entry form and rules can be found on Hallmark’s website (contest only open through midnight on June 9, 2021)). Not only that, but the script was provided by Rick Garman, who previously penned “Christmas in Homestead,” “Christmas at Pemberly Manor,” and “The Perfect Bride,” among many others Director John Putch appears to be new to Hallmark but not new to making movies.

Music: While driving the UTV across the beautiful countryside of Oahu, the song you heard was the 1980s classic, I Ran (affiliate link) by Flock of Seagulls. It was a fun call-back to the 1980s-themed trivia contest that they won.

In a nutshell

I was iffy on the general plot since previous “we’re doing a TV show” movies just haven’t worked. But this one WORKED, and it worked really well thanks to a great cohesive cast, a sparkling script, and gorgeous scenery.

The Plot of “You Had Me at Aloha”

When the host of a popular travel show resigns, the network enlists Paige (Hutton), to step in for the next season set in Hawaii. Unbeknownst to her, they have also hired Ben (Smith), who likes to push everything to the extreme. As these two new co-hosts clash over their opposing ideas for production, they grapple with the fact that not only do they need each other to further their careers, but they also balance each other on and off the screen.

As I said, other TV-show based movies have really been poorly done, but this was cream of the crop. The writer had a good grasp on how to relay that they are filming a TV show without making it so obvious that what they are doing can’t possibly be a TV show (i.e., only using one camera to film, doing a live show and clearly not having enough content to fill 30 minutes or an hour). As such, even though the plot of the movie had me worried, Rick Garman came up with a great script with very few plotholes.

Actors & Chemistry

I am not a regular watcher of “When Calls the Heart” but I’ve seen enough to really appreciate Pascale Hutton’s acting. In “WCTH” her character is very dramatic and over the top, to the point where it’s easy to say it might be the actress versus the character who is over the top. However, when Hutton does other Hallmark movies, her characters are so natural and engaging that you realize the true scale of her capabilities.

Kavan Smith is great on “WCTH” and I’ve enjoyed him in his other Hallmark movies as well. He and Hutton clearly have a great rapport after working together for so many years, and it makes their character building that much more believable.

You Had Me at Aloha — image: Hallmark Crown Media

As for the supporting cast, I cannot tell you enough how much I LOVED Jennifer Aspen, the actress that played Paige’s boss Millie, as well as Valen Ahlo, the actor playing Ben’s production partner, Luis. They were perfectly cast and really did well in their parts. I loved that the secondary characters had scenes of their own and were there for more than just moral support. The relationship between Paige and Millie was a perfect mix of professional and personal – it reminded me of the relationship I had with my boss of 8 years at my last company. And same goes for Luis and Ben in their scenes. It was all fantastic and whoever did the casting on this movie should be given an award for pulling these four people together into a movie.

Six Degrees of Polaha: Jennifer Aspen is 3 degrees away from Kristoffer Polaha. She starred in 2004’s “The Ranch,” with Amy Madigan. Madigan had a role in 2019’s “The Last Full Measure.” One of her co-stars was Ser’Darius Blain, who also had a small role in Polaha’s 2019 thriller “Beneath the Leaves.”

Tropes

Our leading lady was wearing a circle necklace in her very first scene, albeit it was more like a horseshoe. But I’ll take it, especially since she wore a circle necklace later on. Main characters did not get along when they first met. Paige is sort of up for a promotion if she does well (she’ll get her own show from the network). Other than those, I didn’t see other tropes.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

I was going to complain about the fact that they weren’t DOING a lot of things for the TV show, but then Ben brought up that very fact when he challenged Paige to go snorkeling as part of the overview episode. But I did still have quibbles over how the show was being filmed, because you don’t have to be a Hollywood person to know that location shoots are done all at one time – so if they were filming part of the intro, a restaurant promo and a hotel promo that were all on Waikiki Beach, they’d try to film them all on the same day, if possible, since all the equipment is already there. But I was happy that the camera crew had more than just a camera there to shoot the show.

“Make a left at the two coconut trees.” On Oahu. And island covered in coconut trees. Okay. Great directions, Kekoa.

The trivia contest prize was basically a pineapple on a skewer mounted to a base. Were they meant to eat the pineapple and return the remainder of the trophy? Because they clearly couldn’t save that for posterity and take it home and put it on display somewhere. Weird thing to give as a prize.

Feelgoods

Let me say again that I LOVED the actress that played Millie the boss. Every scene she had was a feelgood moment for me because she was GREAT. The other main feelgood was the scenery – my goodness but Oahu is a gorgeous island. I had the pleasure of going there many years ago and it’s my #3 favorite vacation spot I’ve ever visited (#1 is Israel and #2 is Amsterdam).

Random Thoughts

Not many random thoughts to share on this one, other than it was really enjoyable, never felt slow, and kept me interested the entire time.

Re-watchability

I’d definitely watch this one again.

The Ranking

“You Had Me at Aloha” was a winner and if we went by raw points, they’d be in the #1 spot for 2021 right now. That’s how great this movie was, and the perfect start to a month of Summer Nights movies!

It Was Always You (air date: Feb 27) – 668 pts – weighted score: 114.2 (80.1%)
You Had Me At Aloha (air date: June 5) – 675 pts – weighted score: 111.4 (78.1%)
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%)