In memory of Dickey Betts, I’m wearing my Allman Brothers shirt to The Hayley Jane Band show tonight. Maybe Miss Hayley will like it so much that she lets me listen to her heartbeat. Yea, probably not. However, in an alternate timeline, this will happen, because in that timeline I’m bold and unabashed about my heart interests.
I guess I didn’t realize this was a Netflix original. I thought this would be terrible, but it wasn’t. I typically like Netflix originals a bit more than Hallmark originals. Something else I discovered about myself while watching this- I am not really a fan of Brooke Shields, but I did warm up to her a little by the end.
Sophie Brown (Brooke Shields) is a famous author whose fans have revolted against her because she killed off the love interest in her popular Emma Gale series. After an appearance on the Drew Barrymore show goes a bit off the rails and with her fans and her publicist Claire (Desiree Burch) breathing down her neck to bring back Winston from the dead, she decides to go to Scotland for a while. Specifically to the small town near the castle Dun Dunbar because her father worked there as a kid before moving to the states. She quickly meets several people from the town, including the castle tour guide Thomas (Lee Ross) and the groundskeeper Myles (Cary Elwes) and his dog Hamish. After visiting the castle and getting into a fight with Myles, she goes to the pub. There she meets a knitting club and quickly befriends them all- middle aged divorcee Maisie (Andi Osho), elderly Helen (Tina Gray) who went to school with Sophie's dad, young and free spirited Rhona (Eilidh Loan), and strong and silent Angus (Stephen Oswald).
Sophie is trying to write her next Emma Gale novel (and she plans on giving in to her fans demands), but it's just not coming to her. She is also trying to buy Dun Dunbar from the owner, who she discovers is Myles, but he's not going down without a fight. So between failing to write, spending time with the knitting club, fighting with Myles, and video chatting with her daughter Lexi (Vanessa Grasse) in college, Sophie is very busy. Claire is still harassing her, but life is showing her that she might have a different story she wants to tell.
I really enjoyed the music in this movie. Like, I'm strongly considering looking into other movies with scores by the same person. Also, I appreciated the de-glamorizing of life in a castle. Brooke Shields isn’t a great actress, but everybody else did well. As an aspiring writer and avid reader, I can appreciate the position Sophie is in. I don't think I'd be someone wanting her to bring back the dead guy, though.
[our friends] are not pull string dolls for our amusement,” Rekha said, standing on an apple box she had been manoeuvred onto like a pull string doll for Jess’ amusement