Something of a prequel ahead of the 2014 Hallmark series of the same name - though, other than Lori Laughlin, none of the cast of this 90-minute movie return for the series - When Calls the Heart tells the twin stories of impressionable young Elizabeth Thatcher (played by the lovely Poppy Drayton, which is the main reason I watched this, to be honest) who is sheltered, but when she decides to become a teacher, is assigned to a frontier town. She is given inspiration by the journals of her Auntie Elizabeth (played by Maggie Grace) who has similar experiences and, after some initial confusion as to his situation, develops feelings for RCMP officer Wynn Delaney.
The narrative switches back from one timeline to the next, though most of what happens to Grace's Elizabeth Thatcher is presented as a diary narration by Drayton's Elizabeth Thatcher, who has her own Mountie in tow en route to Coal Valley. That kind of sucked the fun out of the events. The movie ends in a cliffhanger...which by all accounts isn't resolved in the series, where Erin Krakow takes over from Drayton and a new Mountie is introduced, played there by Australia's Daniel Lissing.
Family-friendly, though a little flat and boring at times.
The narrative switches back from one timeline to the next, though most of what happens to Grace's Elizabeth Thatcher is presented as a diary narration by Drayton's Elizabeth Thatcher, who has her own Mountie in tow en route to Coal Valley. That kind of sucked the fun out of the events. The movie ends in a cliffhanger...which by all accounts isn't resolved in the series, where Erin Krakow takes over from Drayton and a new Mountie is introduced, played there by Australia's Daniel Lissing.
Family-friendly, though a little flat and boring at times.