Most of the 2022 New Year New Movies films were quite impressive, despite a rocky start with 'Where the Heart Belongs'. 'The Wedding Veil' being the best. Did quite like the premise for 'Butlers in Love' at first, it was a different location and not one of the ones one has seen many times with Hallmark and it did sound like it had potential to be quite fun if done well. The negative reviews though did dampen expectations and most of the particularly negatively received Hallmark films seen in the past year or so have been that bad.
Unfortunately, 'Butlers in Love' as much as it pains me to say it is one of the films that is that bad. There are far worse films out there for sure, but it is very rare for a cool sounding and different location for Hallmark to be completely wasted. It is one of the worst 2022 Hallmark films (up to this still early stage only 'Cut, Color, Murder' was on its same level of badness), and replaces 'Where the Heart Belongs' as the worst of the New Year New Movies batch. That is no easy feat.
'Butlers in Love' has some nice photography and scenery.
That is however pretty much it for the good things. Stacey Farber does try hard, but it never looked natural and it was like she was over-compensating or panicking. Of all the female lead characters of all of the recently seen Hallmark films, hers is up there as among the most unbearably irritating. It is yet another case of exaggerated flaws and her cluelessness and the number of times she messes up on even simple things is taken to vast extremes to the point of incompetence. Corey Colt is stiff and very vanilla in personality throughout, and his character's backstory is pure idiocy. The two have no chemistry together, their rapport is constantly forced and the romance is too hostile and underdeveloped for it to convince.
Not even Maxwell Caulfield, here looking bored and like he didn't want to be there, can save it and basically the whole cast either overact or phone in in caricaturish, idiotically written roles. The direction lacks any kind of distinction and is never in control or engagement with the material. The script is incredibly stilted and cheese ridden, with the banter being more condescending and contrived than playful. The story manages to be beyond ridiculous to the point of parody, is really contrived and lacks charm or heart. It also wins the award of a film having the most mistakes made by one character alone in its first third and it doesn't get better the further the film drags on. Absolutely agree with everybody saying that the ending is insulting and makes no sense, almost like the rest of the film did not happen. The music is forgettable at best and never fits.
Concluding, very, very bad. 2/10.
Unfortunately, 'Butlers in Love' as much as it pains me to say it is one of the films that is that bad. There are far worse films out there for sure, but it is very rare for a cool sounding and different location for Hallmark to be completely wasted. It is one of the worst 2022 Hallmark films (up to this still early stage only 'Cut, Color, Murder' was on its same level of badness), and replaces 'Where the Heart Belongs' as the worst of the New Year New Movies batch. That is no easy feat.
'Butlers in Love' has some nice photography and scenery.
That is however pretty much it for the good things. Stacey Farber does try hard, but it never looked natural and it was like she was over-compensating or panicking. Of all the female lead characters of all of the recently seen Hallmark films, hers is up there as among the most unbearably irritating. It is yet another case of exaggerated flaws and her cluelessness and the number of times she messes up on even simple things is taken to vast extremes to the point of incompetence. Corey Colt is stiff and very vanilla in personality throughout, and his character's backstory is pure idiocy. The two have no chemistry together, their rapport is constantly forced and the romance is too hostile and underdeveloped for it to convince.
Not even Maxwell Caulfield, here looking bored and like he didn't want to be there, can save it and basically the whole cast either overact or phone in in caricaturish, idiotically written roles. The direction lacks any kind of distinction and is never in control or engagement with the material. The script is incredibly stilted and cheese ridden, with the banter being more condescending and contrived than playful. The story manages to be beyond ridiculous to the point of parody, is really contrived and lacks charm or heart. It also wins the award of a film having the most mistakes made by one character alone in its first third and it doesn't get better the further the film drags on. Absolutely agree with everybody saying that the ending is insulting and makes no sense, almost like the rest of the film did not happen. The music is forgettable at best and never fits.
Concluding, very, very bad. 2/10.