No Misery in Bliss
Abby Houston (Lauren Holly - Do No Harm), an obituary writer turned famous novelist , has everything going for her other than love as she is unable to meet her Mr. Right and so has given up on romance. Whilst out on a book tour with her publicist, Jamie (Lucie Guest - Ring of Deception), they end up in the town of Bliss, a community full of quirky characters who are over the moon that they have Abby in their midst as they all think she would be perfect for Mayor Spencer Alexander (Cameron Bancroft - Profile for Murder), a widower single father of two. Despite not looking for love, Abby eventually relents to their charm offensive and after meeting Spencer things seem promising even if he is still struggling with moving on from his late wife. But when Abby decides to leave Bliss she finds herself being kidnapped by an obsessed fan who takes her to a cabin in the woods and only the people in town can save her.
I've watched a few UPtv movies now and to be honest they have been a bit diverse when it comes to style ranging from moving drama to throw away romantic comedy. It is because of that I didn't know what to expect from "The Town That Came A-Courtin'" especially when I read a synopsis which sounded like some sort of mutant cross between a Hallmark romantic comedy and Stephen King's Misery. How do you have this typical romantic comedy of a writer being set up by a town with their popular widowed mayor work with a storyline which then has kidnapping, an obsessed fan and a cabin in the woods?
The thing is that having now watched "The Town That Came A-Courtin'" I can't say that the combination made this anything more than just a fun little movie which is easy to watch and will most likely put a smile on the face of those who like the combination of Lauren Holly, Cameron Bancroft and the quirky nature of a town trying to find their widowed mayor a new wife. And this movie owes a lot to Lauren Holly and Cameron Bancroft as it is their appeal along with some nice location shots to make it a charming way to spend 90 minutes on a sleepy afternoon.
What this all boils down to is that if you are a fan of easy watch movies which you can guess how they will play out even before you start to watch then "The Town That Came A-Courtin'" should entertain. But it isn't the sort of movie which having watched once you will feel any burning desire to watch a second time.
