Mount Hideaway Mysteries: Heartache and Homecoming (2022) User Reviews

Give it a chance, story is good, acting is bad

[mrsvicb · 5/10 · 21 April 2023]

It makes it difficult to continue to watch when the acting is that bad, my husband gave up and just went to bed. . but I am about giving everything a chance.. the story was a little hokey.. but at least it was clean. I am by no means claiming to know anything about acting, however I acted in high school, and one thing I learned was to forget myself, relax and just be the character I was portraying. These actors were obviously reciting their lines.

However, it is great to see a Christian film, without cursing, violence and sexual content. Good, clean and inspirational is most appreciated. Thank you.

Six Stars for Effort

[dianamackintosh · 6/10 · 15 April 2023]

I'll bet the books are fun. The movie? The script is bumpy. The film itself is 30 minutes too long.

The acting? Aside from Caleb Martin who plays the detective, these people can't act their way out of a paper bag. It is absolutely laughable that the town veterinarian, who rarely works, always open carries. Seriously?

I appreciate the faith angle. Christians have their point of view, and while not for everyone, it is nonetheless legitimate and positive.

I also appreciate the lack of profanity, sex & CGI. Too often today those elements carry a movie and acting is tossed to the side.

In this movie, the STORYLINE keeps it interesting. As I said, I'll bet the books are fun.

If you have time to kill, slough through it. You could do worse.

I Give 5 Stars for Average

[miller-steve · 4/10 · 28 August 2023]

I tried to contact the Producer with some of these comments, but I don't think they still exist. To them and potential viewers I write: This is a sequel. In the first movie, Bethany's dad had been in Special Forces (Army.) In this, his tombstone says he was Navy. At the 13-minute point, the police agreed there was no break-in, but they never Checked Around. The perp could've been hiding under the desk! The 19-minute point: Hector the Hacker is discussed, and the government agency doesn't want to launch an official investigation because he's a friend of the boss's daughter. That sounds like a "Color of the Law" civil rights violation, a.k.a. Favoritism, corruption, and these are the "good" people doing it!

-- Angie is a great real-world lazy kid. Good Reality, but I'm surprised Tina doesn't know how to handle it. As in the 1st movie, I think Elizabeth Kadeli is a great actress. Her expressions speak a hundred words!

-- At 46-minute point, Amy doesn't use her gloves to examine the object. She'd worn them initially, but not now. This was a point made during training at the beginning of the first movie.

-- SPOILER: at 56-minute point, "They weakened the guardrail so it would..." The bad guys blew the car's brake line. They had not done anything with the steering. Exactly where the car hit the guardrail would Not be predictable. The driver could have ditched the car on the other side of the road before reaching the guardrail.

-- At the 1:16-hour point, Angie opens a car door against the advice of experts. But it was a convertible with the top down. She should have climbed in over the door.

-- @ 1:25, Amy hides the gun; it's probably so annoying Grandma won't see it. That loudly tells me that Amy is not up to snuff on security and defense. Carry the gun; if it bothers Granny, ask her to leave. (instead of her security guard.) I don't know if Grandma is a terrible actor or perfect in every way. She definitely reminds me of grandmas.

-- @1:39 point, the government people start a meeting. It's their meeting, but in the end, it's veterinarian Amy running the show, calling the shots, and calling the meeting to an end. The government guys should've put her in her place real clearly.

-- @ 1:50, in the climactic scene, Rose kept shoving her gun into the bad guy's face, giving him the excellent opportunity to take it away from her. SO Many movies do this, not here, but it's so annoying to see. BUT, in the 1st movie, there were 2 cases of a gun being taken away.

-- @1:55, Caleb didn't read the villain her Miranda rights. Later that minute, everyone forgets Amy has some nasty injuries. There's an assumption in the lovely discussion right after that--Caleb knew Amy wouldn't shoot because she's "gentle, kind, full of mercy." The assumption is that St. Paul never said, "When you're a soldier, be a good soldier." What does that mean in YOUR church? I'd be okay with a few Christian movies showing the good guy blowing away the evildoer. Right, Wrong, & Forgiveness can be discussed later. Though not shown, it seems Amy had been deputized and authorized to carry a gun. (I have experience doing something quite different from Amy, so consider me biased. The projected message is that I am not "gentle, kind, full of mercy.") -- @1:58, the good guys immediately assumed a tricky thing had been done by Angie. Why wouldn't they have thought it was the bad guys setting up something to help them access info???

-- I'm confident we've never heard how old Angie is, which affects how the story ends.

-- ! -- I strongly sensed a Christian touch in the first movie. This one made it clearer from the beginning, and doing so with questions we're always asking.

-- I'm very passionate about Christian movies, but my (Gripe) is that 99.98% of them are purely "preaching to the choir." The target audience is Christians. Unfortunately, no one REALLY Reaches For the non-Christian with a message that holds their interest. I could name the points where non-Christians would stop this movie and go to something else. C. S. Lewis knew how to write for them, but the modern movies from his books water down his message. This movie isn't bad in this respect, but I'd like it a bit closer to the first movie. Keep trying.

-- Finally, one of the other reviewers said, "It is absolutely laughable that the town veterinarian, who rarely works, always open carries. Seriously?" That is not laughable. The veterinarian's life was in danger. In most places I've lived, all the hot girls carried guns, open or concealed-Texas, Wyoming, rural Arizona. City people just don't get it.

Poor acting, mediocre script and way too long

[rainerberger · 2/10 · 28 August 2022]

This is a made-for-TV family drama, but even so the acting and production are not up to standard. Some of the scenes look like a high school production. For example, in one screen the main actor visits the headquarters of the global evil corporation and at a door the company's logo is printed on a paper that is just sticky taped over the actual company's logo. In another scene, a dog discovers a buried body, and it is clear from the hand that we see that there is not the slightest blemish or decay. Then the main character arrives and instantly arrives at the conclusion that the body has been buried for 6 months.

As for the script, the plot is rather laughable and the writers seem to have no knowledge of cybersecurity. The process of the criminals breaking through a firewall is described as being similar to people with jackhammers breaking through a wall. On the other side, the defenders are shown as about 20 men on computers, trying to shore up the firewall. This is not how it works. And surely, if the organization was worried about their data being stolen, they would just disconnect their servers from the network, which makes the whole plot look utterly ludicrous.

The whole story is very simple and obvious and the length could easily have been cut in half with some proper editing.

Gave one plus point for the new detective in town, who added at least some charm to this rather dreary picture.

Refreshing Mystery

[cyfrvjrfn · 9/10 · 2 January 2023]

I liked this movie. It was equal to any in the same genre. I particularly liked that it was intellectual and interesting without the "F" bombs and slimy images mainstream movies throw in. It was brave of the filmmakers to create a principled movie. In fact, I would be bold to say it it better than some Greeting Card named movies.

You can tell it had a low budget and some the actors were better than others. In spite of this they have created a good movie. I enjoyed it and it held my attention. It was very entertaining.

I choose not to spoil the plot. You might want to see the first movie first for background.

It is worth your time to watch if you like mysteries and romance.

You Get Your Money's Worth

[kpassa · 7/10 · 22 September 2022]

According to IMDB this movie had a 200 thousand dollar budget, a speck compared to the big guys. It also plays on a religious theme aimed at Christians. That may sound like a joke but odds are this will be a money maker because of its intended audience, who will look past the tiny budget, lack of effects and focus instead on the passable acting, decent storyline and emphasis on the spiritual. The chemistry between the two protagonists was adequate and the supporting cast, from friends to villains, got the job done. You won't see rhis movie in Cannes but as the entertainment portion of a Church supper the target audience will have received their money's worth.

My wife and I aren't very religious. I got this movie because it had the word "Mysteries" in the title and we watch a different mystery every night. If we can sit through it the intended audience will be delighted.

Good mystery and hope for Series.

[baronessfc-95507 · 9/10 · 2 April 2023]

Mount Hideaway Homecoming is a good series for young viewers.

Amy took a long time to get emotionally unstuck. She was fun to watch her get back to her sleuthing.

But I saw how Amy was introducing each character that was left behind with tramas.

Detective Rogers was good! A natural feel to his acting.

Tina Shanholtz (Neff) and Brett Monk were good in their steady roles.

Heartache and Homecomings was great for me. Mystery, love story and God finally got a part in a good movie.

I liked this thriller. Showed complications being worked thru. And the characters grew with the storyline. Good stuff.

Give me more!