I enjoyed this movie a lot. It's not out to win any Oscars, but for what it is, a fun, family-friendly movie with a bit of fantasy and romance, it was great. This is an UPTV production, similar to Hallmark. The production standards aren't quite as high as Hallmark, perhaps, but the movie was a little less formulaic than Hallmark, and seemed to have a little more heart.
With any movie that has elements of fantasy, you're expected to suspend disbelief a bit, but the rest of the movie must still be believable in that context, and this case, it was. You had nice touches, such as the depiction of the angel headquarters, complete with bureaucratic rules. I liked that the daughter was not the squeaky-clean, perfect kid you see in Hallmark movies. She was mostly sweet and loving, but she also had a bit of sass to her. She also had a few problems, such as trouble making friends in a new school and doubts about her abilities as a soccer player. Lillah Fitzgerald did a great job playing her.
I thought most of the performances were good especially Shawn Roberts as neophyte angel Henry. He played the role with such a sweet, wide-eyed innocence that you couldn't help liking him. You knew from the start that he would break the rule about getting emotionally involved with Robin and her daughter Sophie, and you sincerely felt bad when the unbending rules forced him to brush off those people that he had become so attached to. Roberts does a good job of portraying the raw, unfiltered emotions of an angel who had never experienced them before. Katharine Isabelle was good too. She was cute, warm and engaging. The other supporting characters, particularly the hardware store employees, were juss so-so, although I did like the performance from Linda Sorensen as the neighbor Peggy. She did a good job of portraying prickly on the surface, but soft underneath.
The writing was kind of choppy in spots. I felt like the romance between Henry and Robin was a bit underdeveloped. The relationship between Henry and daughter Sophie was better and more believable. The subplot about the relationship between hardware employees Todd and Izzy was kind of clunky, especially the cringe scene where they shout at each other, then kiss each other, right in the hardware store. But the script was mostly solid. It just needed a bit of polishing.
The ending, where Henry is granted reprieve from the strict angel rules and is allowed to return to Earth as a human, is both sappy and satisfying. This is not a perfect movie, but if you just sit back and enjoy it for what it is and don't focus on the few flaws, you will leave with a big smile on your face.
With any movie that has elements of fantasy, you're expected to suspend disbelief a bit, but the rest of the movie must still be believable in that context, and this case, it was. You had nice touches, such as the depiction of the angel headquarters, complete with bureaucratic rules. I liked that the daughter was not the squeaky-clean, perfect kid you see in Hallmark movies. She was mostly sweet and loving, but she also had a bit of sass to her. She also had a few problems, such as trouble making friends in a new school and doubts about her abilities as a soccer player. Lillah Fitzgerald did a great job playing her.
I thought most of the performances were good especially Shawn Roberts as neophyte angel Henry. He played the role with such a sweet, wide-eyed innocence that you couldn't help liking him. You knew from the start that he would break the rule about getting emotionally involved with Robin and her daughter Sophie, and you sincerely felt bad when the unbending rules forced him to brush off those people that he had become so attached to. Roberts does a good job of portraying the raw, unfiltered emotions of an angel who had never experienced them before. Katharine Isabelle was good too. She was cute, warm and engaging. The other supporting characters, particularly the hardware store employees, were juss so-so, although I did like the performance from Linda Sorensen as the neighbor Peggy. She did a good job of portraying prickly on the surface, but soft underneath.
The writing was kind of choppy in spots. I felt like the romance between Henry and Robin was a bit underdeveloped. The relationship between Henry and daughter Sophie was better and more believable. The subplot about the relationship between hardware employees Todd and Izzy was kind of clunky, especially the cringe scene where they shout at each other, then kiss each other, right in the hardware store. But the script was mostly solid. It just needed a bit of polishing.
The ending, where Henry is granted reprieve from the strict angel rules and is allowed to return to Earth as a human, is both sappy and satisfying. This is not a perfect movie, but if you just sit back and enjoy it for what it is and don't focus on the few flaws, you will leave with a big smile on your face.