El legado de los Peyton

Years ago my wife asked me to watch a Hallmark movie with her. It wasn't my idea of fun...but I agreed to watch one with her. Years later...and probably 500 Hallmark type movies...I now can actually say I enjoy them. However, I have never taken the time to write a review. This movie motivated me to do so. My advise is to find another movie...even my wife admitted this was worth passing on...something she almost never does!

I'm a die-hard cheesy romance fan. Anything cute and schmaltzy is a go-to. However, I was disappointed by the acting of most of the main characters. Watching the lead female, her roommate and her roommate's two love interests was comparable to a middle school drama production.

The story was predictable, but I have no qualms with that. I wanted to give this a 7 or 8 star rating, but the poor acting drops it... a lot. As much as I liked the male lead and think he did a great job, this will not be a repeat view.

Sadly, movies like this one give people a poor opinion of what clean and wholesome romance can be.

As usual with non-Hallmark TV romances this one strays from the formula just a bit. First of all we have a lack of a festival or small town/big city conflict. This one is the "save the park or whatever" plot. Hey, I didn't say it was a complete departure! It's a formula, just not the usual Hallmark formula.

An indulged son of a real estate mogul has been drifting from one thing to another, while his father wants him to settle down and work with him at his company. He gives him an ultimatum that he has to find a job within a week or he will be cut off from his financial support. Leaving the building he runs into some protesters who are trying to rescue their beloved park from his fathers evil development plans. He conceals his identity and gets a job as a chef in the cute one's food truck.

Of course, it is only a matter of time before it will be discovered that he is none other than the son of the person who is trying to take the park away. Thus the suspense and tension. The predictable story is enlivened by the cast. Siobhan Williams is a fresh face and is a perfect spunky girl next door type. Steve Lund, a Hallmark regular is as attractive and reliable as usual. The Secondary couple have a sweet courtship, complicated by a rival love interest. Both of the guys are appealing until one of them turns out to be a big phony.

There is corporate-type other woman for our hero, and the Dad learns something about his own grandfather that leads to a happy ending for all. Of course.

An ok film, and the leads were easy on the eye. However, the actor playing Jared overacted to the extreme. Clearly hasn't learned the art of 'less is more'.

Steve Lund is good as Sean Payton, the son of a millionaire businessman trying for the last 10 years to avoid working for his forceful businessman father. Michael Kopsa is excellent in this role and when people call him Mr Payton, it is as if they wouldn't dare to call him William to his face.

Siobhan Williams plays protestor Alisson Johnson, who is active against the Paytons' scheme to level a park. Yes, she comes over well as being bruised and vulnerable, but I really struggled to find any chemistry between her and Sean. Perhaps it is because he is much taller than her, making interactions difficult?

On the other hand, Elise Gatien is convincing as the predatory female Candice, with matching body language showing she finds Sean attractive. There is a nice little twist near the end when we find out what her true motives are.

A distraction to the main flow of the plot is Alisson's housemate Beth (played by Allie Bertram) trying to make her mind up between the reliable Caden (played by Adam DiMarco) and the charming Pascal (played by Ben Sullivan).

I found Jaime Callica as Sean's best friend Jared to come over as not being serious enough for someone like Sean. Did like the scene where Alisson's boss Antonia (played by Karen Holness) lays into Sean. Yes, bosses do that.

However, for me, the best part of the film is the last 10 minutes where the father-son relationship and their motivations are explored, which brings the various strands of the film neatly together.

Overall, a very watchable and pleasant Hallmark film.