The storyline had so much potential. This could have been a blockbuster movie but in the end, your left feeling it was made for TV and was on a tight production schedule. I teared up a couple times but way too often I was left disappointed by the character development or dialogue. Many of the situations were not believable or lacked the gravity of the moment. Many elements just happened for the sake of continuity but seemed forced and kept me from being drawn into the movie. So many instances that were highly emotional and the actors were not reflecting a convincible or honest level of emotion. Good but not great. I can't recommend it.
11 Reviews
Good ... but a bit overdone.
Vic_max6 October 2008
I rate this a "7" if you're watching this on a DVR (digital video recorder) and a "6" if not. Basically, this story starts out good, gets cheesy in the middle and is way overdone at the end. If you're armed with the ability to skip through some highly predictable corny stuff in the middle, it's kind of interesting to watch. A saving grace of the movie is that there's a great twist at the end.
Basically, the movie is about a journalist who's about to lose her column "The Heart Healer" due to low readership. While pondering her situation at the ocean, she happens upon a washed up note from a plane that just crashed nearby. She begins to write about her search for the intended recipient and the movie progresses from there.
While it sounds good on the surface, it gets a little cheesy when everyone she meets is somehow "touched" and for the most part "reformed" by the note. For a lot of people, this middle section can be a bit too sappy.
Still, the movie is not "so" bad that I would say it's not worth watching. If you have a DVR, you can spare yourself from some of the scenes by fast-forwarding - and enjoy the overall story line. If not, I'd say it's a bit too hard to sit through without changing the channel.
Basically, the movie is about a journalist who's about to lose her column "The Heart Healer" due to low readership. While pondering her situation at the ocean, she happens upon a washed up note from a plane that just crashed nearby. She begins to write about her search for the intended recipient and the movie progresses from there.
While it sounds good on the surface, it gets a little cheesy when everyone she meets is somehow "touched" and for the most part "reformed" by the note. For a lot of people, this middle section can be a bit too sappy.
Still, the movie is not "so" bad that I would say it's not worth watching. If you have a DVR, you can spare yourself from some of the scenes by fast-forwarding - and enjoy the overall story line. If not, I'd say it's a bit too hard to sit through without changing the channel.
Delivers
lanechaffin-964-6319027 March 2022
The start is a bit slow but don't give up on it, once it gets rolling it delivers. Genie Francis is good. I would disagree that this is poorly written. I thought Francis and McGinley's parts were well acted. For what it is, basically a Christmas movie, I'm not sure what more the viewer would expect?
Great film!
mike-49149 December 2007
The search for the owner of the note by a newspaper columnist, that is believed to have come from and airplane crash touches the lives of all who read. The journey to search out the intended recipient has many little turns that keep your interest. Perhaps the biggest changes take place with the reporter. There is also a little conflict as a national television news reporter is trying to steal the story. There is additional personal conflict in the life of the columnist that comes to light as the movie progresses. The many elements come together to create a heartwarming film. I rated it at a nine rather than a ten, just because there were a few moments where the acting didn't seem quite on, and there were a few small elements out of place, but on the whole they distracted little from the overall story. This tale of loss, broken families, past mistakes, and most importantly forgiveness and love, definitely deserves a place in your viewing schedule.
Good Old Fashioned Story About The True Meaning of Life
Pres_Abraham_Lincoln24 November 2009
This movie had several hidden meanings the some people will miss.... Overall I enjoyed the movie and would highly recommend it to anyone that loves a story with a good ending. No matter how insignificant we feel we are, we are all inextricably linked to each other and play an important part in the fabric of one another's lives.
No violence ... Just wholesome clean enjoyment! I wish all movies could be this good! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. These are the types of movies I grew up watching.
Be sure to watch "The Note II".
This movie carries the typical high qualities of the HALLMARK movies! My hat is off to the Hallmark Movie folks! Thanks Hallmark!
No violence ... Just wholesome clean enjoyment! I wish all movies could be this good! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. These are the types of movies I grew up watching.
Be sure to watch "The Note II".
This movie carries the typical high qualities of the HALLMARK movies! My hat is off to the Hallmark Movie folks! Thanks Hallmark!
Not what you'd expect from a Hallmark Holiday movie
paulgxxiii9 December 2007
As a highly emotional person with absolutely no life, I'm a sucker for holiday movies of the type Hallmark usually shows around Christmas-time each year. Between Thanksgiving and the New Year, if a movie uplifts personal spirit, promotes feelings or thoughts of closeness with family, or otherwise has a happy ending, chances are I'll cry and I'll like it. Not so with Hallmark's latest effort: "The Note". I thought the script was very weak and the story itself just wasn't believable. The movie is about a Newspaper columnist who finds a note in a plastic bag following an airline crash. Assuming the note was written by a passenger on the flight, the lead character, Peyton Magruder sets out to to find the note's intended recipient - it's clear the note was written by a father to his child. With little else to go on, Magruder -played by Genie Francis - takes us on an unbelievable, unrealistic and ultimately unrewarding journey. Blame the script, mostly. I hadn't seen Genie Francis in quite some time and I was really pleased to see how she had changed since I'd seen her last (long long ago). I think I like her and I'd like to see her in something else; she has an interesting and expressive face. It's a good face. Even Ted McGinley who has unfortunately been type cast as the henpecked neighbor from Married With Children was fine. The rest of the cast was awful! The storyline was dreadful! I was tempted to rate this movie one star but I relented because I thought Genie Francis brought it up "a couple of notches" as Emeril might say. While it's a blessing that Hallmark isn't making any more of the dreadful "meet the Santas", their latest fare including this movie and another recent one in which a child sets out to find a husband for his mom (I'm glad I don't remember the name of it), make you wonder if maybe Hallmark's best efforts aren't behind them.
This Movie Hits A High (The) Note ****
edwagreen25 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Despite a far-fetched coincidence at the end, "The Note" is a wonderful movie.
It made me think of the 1952 film, "Phone Call from A Stranger." Again, we're dealing with the after effects of a plane crash. In this film, a reporter retrieves a note left behind from the passenger and tries to determine who the note was intended for.
There are 3 possibilities. While each does not pan out, the note has a definite affect on each of the possible recipients- a pastor, a country western singer and the son of a real estate mogul. The last 2 mentioned had falling outs with their parents. The note shows the importance of strong family relationships and the ties that bind. It is also shown that the note could be used for devious means as in the case with the son of the real estate millionaire.
With the spirit of the season, this is a timely, well-crafted film. Genie Francis delivers an interesting performance as the reporter. While she searches out the recipient of the note, we see flash-backs of her tragic life revealed.
The ending, while too coincidental, comes with the spirit of the season so I will have to forgive the writers.
This is still a memorable film and is well worth watching.
It made me think of the 1952 film, "Phone Call from A Stranger." Again, we're dealing with the after effects of a plane crash. In this film, a reporter retrieves a note left behind from the passenger and tries to determine who the note was intended for.
There are 3 possibilities. While each does not pan out, the note has a definite affect on each of the possible recipients- a pastor, a country western singer and the son of a real estate mogul. The last 2 mentioned had falling outs with their parents. The note shows the importance of strong family relationships and the ties that bind. It is also shown that the note could be used for devious means as in the case with the son of the real estate millionaire.
With the spirit of the season, this is a timely, well-crafted film. Genie Francis delivers an interesting performance as the reporter. While she searches out the recipient of the note, we see flash-backs of her tragic life revealed.
The ending, while too coincidental, comes with the spirit of the season so I will have to forgive the writers.
This is still a memorable film and is well worth watching.
The Kind of TV Film that Caused me to Stop Watching TV
wastebot1 September 2008
Poorly written story that's internally inconsistent, amongst other problems, including the dialog and acting.
Clichés: now, let's write another movie filled with clichés in an hour to dump on TV so the station can sell ad-time to holiday card makers. Halmark and others are losing money to the more enjoyable and personal emails, videos, and photos that can be shared directly without trying to find and pay for a card that sort-of says what you're really trying to say. So, they basically pay for movie length ads, in addition to the more well-known TV shows employing more obvious product placement.
The story had potential as a concept, but it's clearly motivated by the desire to promote and sell other things. In short, it's one more reason to limit your TV watching to PBS and Comedy Central and to demand some form of rebate system for the time wasted watching such simplistic stories.
Clichés: now, let's write another movie filled with clichés in an hour to dump on TV so the station can sell ad-time to holiday card makers. Halmark and others are losing money to the more enjoyable and personal emails, videos, and photos that can be shared directly without trying to find and pay for a card that sort-of says what you're really trying to say. So, they basically pay for movie length ads, in addition to the more well-known TV shows employing more obvious product placement.
The story had potential as a concept, but it's clearly motivated by the desire to promote and sell other things. In short, it's one more reason to limit your TV watching to PBS and Comedy Central and to demand some form of rebate system for the time wasted watching such simplistic stories.
A message with lasting meaning
Jackbv12326 September 2017
Admittedly, this movie is extremely sappy, or corny. It lays it on pretty thick. But that doesn't mean that some of that emotion doesn't stick to you.
The acting is good enough as is the production.
The story is a captivating mystery as the viewer longs to see what is the message that a dying man intended for his child. Peyton works her way one by one through the candidates and each one teaches her something about living. If you were really good, you might have seen the answer to the mystery, but I thought the clues were subtle. Unfortunately for me, I already knew the answer because I watched the sequel first.
As in the sequel, I didn't get invested in the relationship between Peyton and King, but the movie was really much more than that story.
The acting is good enough as is the production.
The story is a captivating mystery as the viewer longs to see what is the message that a dying man intended for his child. Peyton works her way one by one through the candidates and each one teaches her something about living. If you were really good, you might have seen the answer to the mystery, but I thought the clues were subtle. Unfortunately for me, I already knew the answer because I watched the sequel first.
As in the sequel, I didn't get invested in the relationship between Peyton and King, but the movie was really much more than that story.
Saw this film in 2023-it made me nostalgic for life in 2007!
doodawday2 December 2023
A good-feel of a Christmastime movie. Took me back to when it was ok to put heart-warming messages in films. And the fact that it dealt with a newspaper reporter was a big win for me. Genie Francis played her role with graciousness. Yeah-maybe it was a tad far-fetched that such a miracle like the one she had could really happen. But I like to be won over with happy endings in this era of divisive thinking on a large scale. The parts of the preacher and the songwriter were great, and the bad -guy TV reporter was believably smarmy. People constantly being on cell phones did not dominate this film (yay for 2007!). I am glad I found it on Amazon Prime for a trip back to a less toxic time in our country.
Immediately Identifiable as a Hallmark Movie
allie70118 May 2019
I don't know whether it is the poor sound quality, the flat acting, or the predictable dialogue, but as soon as I tuned in on Amazon Prime I knew it was a Hallmark movie and that did it for me. Why can't they rise above those obvious cheesy elements and aim a little higher?
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