A Scottish Love Scheme (2024) Movie Review: Whenever I start to write a review of a Hallmark movie, I feel the need to provide a disclaimer. So here it goes. If you are new to the movie production of Hallmark’s year-round holiday cheers, it needs to be said that it is not like these movies to be creatively enriching or emotionally demanding. They are breezy and light-hearted and they have a certain template. The goal of these films is to be comforting and cheerful like one would be during the holidays, and they adhere to a certain family-viewing-oriented formula as the key ingredient for that.
So, some, maybe most, would find these movies predictable and superficial. And some, could be a fair few, would not mind this predictably cheery interruption of ninety-odd minutes. Regardless of whichever spectrum of mood you are in, there is a possibility that Hallmark’s “A Scottish Love Scheme,” one of the channel’s more mature works, might just work for you.
Lily (Erica Durance), a marketing professional, comes out of a fairly long marriage and is keen to have a fresh start. Romantically, and professionally. She decides to take a photography course in Seville, Spain. So, she bids adieu to her old profession and America. But before she can start her new life, her mother asks her to accompany her on a mother-daughter trip. So, we move to the lush green Scottish countryscapes.
However, Lily is not aware of her mother, Cait’s (Jo Cameron Brown) plan with Cait’s longtime friend, Mairi Campbell (Juliet Cadzow). The Campbell household plays host to Lily and Cait, and Lily gets a chance to reconnect with Mairi’s eldest son, Logan (Jordan Young). Logan is a widower with a young son, Finn. It is immediately clear what Mairi and Cait are planning with the usual meddlesome parenting tricks. And their efforts start to yield results almost immediately. Apart from being in a Hallmark movie, Lily and Logan are suitable singles, walking and waltzing through the scenic Scottish countryside. Their stars could not have been more aligned.
Director Heather Hawthorn Doyle, and writer Gina Azzi, have incorporated the usual dichotomy of opposite worlds. Lily, coming from the suave corporate marketing world, does provide a modern outlook to Logan and his brothers’ distillery business. Something the business desperately needs. Logan, and his son Finn, on the other hand, tantalize Lily with the possibility that one burnout office executive could find endearing. That is a peaceful, slow life in the countries. It is very “Sweet Home Alabama” and very much cliche. But, it works. As mentioned earlier, you are not here for novelty.
One thing that makes “A Scottish Love Scheme” a little different from other Hallmark offerings is that it reflects a maturity in some allowable amount. Both characters are not new to love, and neither are they new to death. The film does not pull the rug when it comes to death, throwing it in the midst just to have an appearance of seriousness. It tackles the big finality with the right amount of solemnity, without trying to mellow it with melodrama. Of course, it is a Hallmark movie, and thus it takes an obviously hopeful route, but that does not come with unnaturality.
Jordan Young and Erica Durance emitted a natural tentativeness that was enhancing for Logan and Lily’s romance. Both of them play the attractive heterosexual singles destined to be together quite well. As well as one would expect in a rom-com. Some of the lesser works of Hallmark often reek of poor acting, but “A Scottish Love Scheme” is safe from that. Kudos to the supporting cast for that.
Michael Coulter’s landscape photography does not disappoint. Hallmark’s signature move is that the film would have some beautiful landscape shots that could go straight into the greeting cards. It is one of their calling cards, and I would be lying if I said I was immune to the charm of that. Director Doyle and Writer Azzi ensure that “A Scottish Love Scheme” avoids the unnecessary frivolity of a third wheel, which could have been undercutting the theme of the story.
If you are already surfing through the Hallmark Channel then it is safe to say that “A Scottish Love Scheme” could be the one to press the button on.
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