Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Movie Review: Flower Shop Mystery - Mum's the Word

Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Decent mystery; plenty of fun
Cons: Typical Hallmark cheese; lots of changes from the novels
The Bottom Line:
Hit and run; murder
In film with changes from books
Cheesy yet still fun

I Won’t Keep Mum About This Fun New Hallmark Movie Franchise

Since Hallmark Movie and Mystery seems to be making movies out of many cozy mystery book franchise, I have to watch them.  After all, it is one of my favorite genres, right?  Sunday night saw the debut of a new franchise for them, Flower Shop Mystery, with Mum’s the Word.  I really enjoyed myself while watching it.

After becoming a widow and losing interest in her profession as a lawyer, Abby Knight (Brooke Shields) has returned to her small home town and opened up a flower shop that she runs with her best friend, Nikki Bender (Kate Drummond).  It also means getting to spend more time with her father, retired detective Jeffrey (Beau Bridges).  It’s a quiet life, but one she is enjoying.

That is until one day when Abby’s car is hit by a car speeding out of an ally.  The car takes off, and she only gets a partial license plate.  Then comes the news that a murder happened in that ally.  Could the car that hit Abby have held the murderer?  Working with the handsome former PI who now owns the bar next door, Marco (Brennan Elliot), Abby intends to find out.

I have several books in this series, but I’ve only read the first three, and that’s been a while ago.  It’s not that I didn’t like the books, but so many other books keep jumping off my TBR mountain range at me.  As a result, I didn’t catch the many changes made from the books that my friends who do like the series have pointed out.  Things like where Abby lives (apartment vs. house), characters who were cut out, her description (short and red haired).  I did catch a big one since Abby in the books is significantly younger than she is here and never married.  I just had to let that go when I sat down to watch this film.  Many fans of the book are upset by the numerous changes, however, so if you are a fan of the books, be prepared for them before you start watching this.

As I stated earlier, I did enjoy this film.  The mystery was good, and as bits and pieces of it came back to me, I think that part was fairly faithful to the book.  Even so, I wasn’t completely sure what was going on until the movie ended despite the limited number of suspects.  Yet the conclusion was perfectly logical and wonderfully executed.  The characters we did get were fun, and some of the lines between Marco and Abby made me chuckle if not outright laugh.

Of course, the typical Hallmark movie cheese comes into play, both from the acting and the writing.  You just have to accept that it will be there going into the film, and you’ll be able to enjoy it.

Flower Shop Mystery: Mum’s the World is a fun, light cozy mystery movie.  And since that’s all it set out to be, it succeeds brilliantly.  Fans of the genre will enjoy it, but fans of this particular book series will have to forget the book to be able to enjoy it.

Looking for the movie on DVD?  It's part of the Flower Shop Mysteries 3 Movie Collection.

Looking for more information on the book?  Here's my review of this book in the series.

12 comments:

  1. I just came across this yesterday and am looking forward to watching it. I love that the Hallmark Channel is doing movies based on books!

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    1. I'm quite obviously enjoying them as well. You'll have to get past the great liberties they took with this one, but I still really enjoyed it.

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  2. I recorded it thanks to your tip last week about these cozy movies. Haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but enjoyed the Aurora Teagarden ones I saw.

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    1. I'm glad you're enjoying the movies you've watched. Hope you enjoy this movie when you see it.

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  3. I'm okay with them making Abby an older, widowed, mother of a grown child. I'm also so nitpicking about various minor changes (type of car, law school grad rather than dropout, etc.). What is most disappointing is what, or rather who, is missing. No Molly? No Grace? No "Mad Mo" or cousin Jillian? They're a big part of what makes the series so special. If I can remember to separate the movies from the books, though, I can enjoy them. It was a fun movie to watch, and I'll give the next installment a chance.

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    1. I hear you. I'm still hoping they work Hannah's youngest sister into those movies somehow.

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  4. why was it necessary to change everything in the book? faithful readers of Kate Collins books are so disappointed that the wonderful cast of charactors in the books are changed so completely.None of the people in the movie represent those in the books except maybe Marc who is too short for the 50 something abby and many of the people in the book were left out. If there are more of of favorite books being filmed, please let us know if they are going to be ruined by the casting.

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  5. the Hannah Swensen and Arorah Teagarden movies followed the books very well, with their families, friends and settings that copied the ones in the books. The movie left all of this out. Brooke Shields is too old to play Abby and the settings of her home, shop and Marco's bar are all wrong.Abby's Mother and the ladies who work in her shop, her family and friends are what make The Flowershop Mysteries so much fun to read.If anymore of this type of books are made into movies I hope readers like me won't be as disappointed as I am. Stick to the stories like the Hannah and Roe books.

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    1. I agree with you. There is too much left out in the movies that was in the books.

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  6. I've not read the books. I just think the casting could have been better. The male lead is clearly much younger than the lovely Brooke Shields.

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  7. I love the Hallmark movies, except for Brooke Shields and Kelly Martin. Brooke has never been a good actress and Kelly Martin is wooden. Hallmark should give one of these shows to Teri Polo and cancel the other one.

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  8. I am disappointed in a few things. I love Brooke, but she is too old to play the part of Abby. Abby was straight from college and is a short redhead with freckles! Her father was in a wheelchair. She has a cousin Jillian who is interesting.

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