Signed, Sealed, Delivered (2013) (aka: Lost Letter Mysteries: Love & Tragedy) Eric Mabius, Kristin Booth, Crystal Lowe, Geoff Gustafson, Daphne Zuniga, Benjamin Hollingsworth, Laci J Mailey Movie Review

Signed, Sealed, Delivered (2013)   4/54/54/54/54/5


Eric Mabius in Signed, Sealed, Delivered (2013) (aka: Lost Letter Mysteries: Love & Tragedy)

It Delivered

Oliver O'Toole (Eric Mabius - Reading, Writing & Romance) works for the U.S. Postal Service in the DLO, that is the Dead Letter Office, where he and his team endeavour to complete the journey of letters and parcels which for a variety of reasons cannot be delivered. It is there he finds himself welcoming Shane McInerney (Kristin Booth - Banner 4th of July) to work alongside his existing team; Rita Haywith (Crystal Lowe) and Norman Dorman (Geoff Gustafson). And so after some initial confusion the team find themselves trying to unite a letter written by Kelly (Laci J Mailey) who spent a special day with Charlie (Benjamin Hollingsworth - Coming Home for Christmas) in the park after he quit his job and then sent him a letter to explain why it could only be one day, except the letter got lost and may now, if they can track down Charlie, be too late.

Okay I don't usually do this but within minutes, no seconds of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" starting it had me hooked as it had a vibe, oh it had other things but it had a vibe and it was this vibe which I enjoyed, which hooked me and never let me go. And what is even better than that is that "Signed, Sealed, Delivered", which airs as "Lost Letter Mysteries: Love & Tragedy" in the UK, whilst a TV movie does not feel like it was made on auto-pilot and instead it feels like love, care and attention has gone it to it.

Kristin Boot in Signed, Sealed, Delivered (2013) (aka: Lost Letter Mysteries: Love & Tragedy)

So what do I mean by vibe? Well it is hard to describe but for example in "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" we have the dead letter office where undelivered mail ends up, the letters where the address, for what ever reason, can't be read. It looks like it is an office which hasn't changed since the 50s with even old letters from the 50s probably stuck there waiting to be unearthed and sent on to their intended owner. And in this office we have Oliver, who looks like he has been transported in time from the 50s with his fashion sense and old fashioned good manners, accompanied by a pair of bookish/quirky colleagues who are more like family. It is such a warm set up that you can almost smell the air in the DLO with its old furniture, stacks of paper and old directories.

But on top of that we have the interjection of the 21st century with the arrival of the attractive Shane, which for movie fans leads to the amusing upset on Oliver's part as he doesn't like her name as it makes him think of the movie and that at some point he will have to say "Shane, come back Shane". Of course what this means is that we have the chalk n cheese friendship which forms as Shane tries to bring Oliver in to the 21st century and to stop being so jobs worthy whilst Oliver takes satisfaction in doing things not just well but the old fashioned way as they unlock the clues and search the directories for information on the smallest piece of detail they find in a letter.

All of the above works because of a fabulous cast in Eric Mabius, Kristin Booth, Crystal Lowe, Geoff Gustafson as well as a small part for Daphne Zuniga. But we also have the letter for them to unite with its intended which almost has a touch of "The Notebook" about it as we get to see the special day which Kelly and Charlie spend together before going their separate ways as Kelly doesn't want Charlie to know why it can only be one day. I won't tell you what happens because there are a couple of twists and amusing turns, although as we are taking Hallmark movie you probably will have some expectations.

What this all boils down to is that "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" works perfectly well as a stand alone movie but also as a great pilot to the TV series. Of course it is all incredibly sweet and cutesy but for those who intentionally watch Hallmark movies because they like the vibe they tend to deliver will undoubtedly enjoy this. In fact I know that this is so good that it will lead to more than one viewing as it is that enjoyable.

Tags: TV Mystery Movie Crime Solvers, Signed, Sealed, Delivered Movies


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