Summer in the Vineyard (2017) Tom Butler, Rachael Leigh Cook, Jeremy Guilbaut, Brendan Penny, Marcus Rosner, Laura Soltis Movie Review

Summer in the Vineyard (2017)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Brendan Penny and Rachael Leigh Cook in Summer in the Vineyard (2017)

Back to Sorrento

Following their eventful coming together when they fought over ownership of Sorrento Farm and the vineyard, Frankie (Rachael Leigh Cook - Summer Love) and Nate (Brendan Penny - Magical Christmas Ornaments) are now a couple and looking forwards to revealing their new wine at the town's Summer Festival. But when an issue with the wine throws their plans in to jeopardy it puts a strain both on their business partnership but also their personal relationship, especially when Nate volunteers to host the Summer Festival on the farm. Meanwhile Nate's brother, Marco (Marcus Rosner - Christmas In Evergreen), finds himself becoming involved with Frankie's cousin who has come to stay and is looking to open a bakery.

If this Hallmark movie sounds even more familiar than they usually do it is because "Summer in the Vineyard" is a sequel to "Autumn in the Vineyard" with it basically being the next chapter in the romance of Frankie and Nate as well as the life of the llama which lives at the Sorrento Farm. Now what that means is that firstly we get that mix of romance and competitiveness as Frankie and Nate are clearly loved up yet still rivalling each other over who can grow the best grapes. To add a bit more to this we get a subplot featuring Marco falling for Frankie's cousin and finding himself wanting to be himself around her rather than the player everyone thinks he is.

But the real story, the real parable, when it comes to "Summer in the Vineyard" is one of communication as on one hand we have Frankie hiding the fact that the wine isn't ready from Nate and trying to speed it up whilst Nate is gung ho when it comes to the business, volunteering them to host the Summer Festival as well as using his experimental fertilizer. It is all pretty routine stuff as lack of communication cause stress and issues which of course leads to arguments and etc etc before we get harmony in time for a happy ever after ending.

The thing is that whilst "Summer in the Vineyard" is at its heart a typically charming Hallmark movie I am in two minds whether these characters actually needed a sequel or not. In some senses there is something nice about catching up with Frankie and Nate but at the same time it does mean that there is a part of "Summer in the Vineyard" which feels even more familiar than a Hallmark movie usually does.

What this all boils down to is that "Summer in the Vineyard" is entertaining and it is nice to catch up with the characters of Frankie and Nate whilst the Sorrento farm is as beautiful as ever. But I am not entirely sure whether or not "Autumn in the Vineyard" was a strong enough Hallmark movie to warrant this sequel.


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