Thanksgiving in Plymouth
Successful Boston lawyer Mary Ross (Emily Rose) is shocked when her Aunt passes away and leaves her the huge house in Plymouth where Mary use to spend her summers as a child. Her slick restaurant owning boyfriend Rick (Adam Kaufman) sees dollar signs in front of his eyes when he goes with Mary to look at it as she sets about taking stock of what is there only to be confronted by her memories of her childhood and better times. It is there that she meets local high school teacher Everett Mather (Justin Bruening) an amateur archaeologist who believes the house could be built on the site of the very first thanksgiving. It leads to tension between them as Rick wants Mary to sell whilst Everett wants to preserve the place with Mary in the middle dealing with her memories and her conflict with her father.
I will leave it there but had better say spoiler alert as I am likely to mention something which gives the plot to "The Thanksgiving House" away not that it takes a genius to work out how this Hallmark romantic comedy will end. In fact blow it I will say it as inevitably Mary and Everett despite not getting to the best of starts end up having a spark of romance between them with her enjoying the wholesome charm when she is invited to meet his parents and the fact that his father is also a smart lawyer. Of course that just adds to Mary's conflict as not only is there still Rick to deal with but also what to do with the house.
But let me say this as "The Thanksgiving House" has plenty going on which fleshes it out. When Everett goes to send off the soil samples he took from the house the postal worker tells his blogger friend who thinks she has a big scoop. This leads to a media buzz surrounding whether or not the house is the site of the first Thanksgiving and turning it into a tourist attraction. We then have of course whether or not the house is the site of the first Thanksgiving which adds a pleasant diversion. Oh and just for good measure there is the fact that Mary doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving and has issues with her father.
All of the above is good fun, good harmless fun but also stereotypical Hallmark and so shall say that "The Thanksgiving House" is in the easy to watch bracket of movies where believability is right down the pecking list of importance. And so on that note I get to the casting and Justin Bruening has the adorable nature of a pup eager to please, an all round good guy and it is perfect for this sort of movie as is Emily Rose as Mary Rose who beneath the frosty exterior warms to the wholesome life in Plymouth. But these are the sort of good looking people and easy going characters who the minute you clap eyes on them know what their destiny is likely to be.
What this all boils down to is that "The Thanksgiving House" is simply stereotypical Hallmark and as such is quite pleasant. But it is as obvious as the day is long and within minutes of it starting you are already aware where it is going to go.
