Starring Aimee Teegarden and Benjamin Hollingsworth
***SPOILER ALERT***
Amanda (Teegarden) is working at her family’s flower farm. Because of bad weather, the spring flower harvest looks hopeless, and her mom is trying to get an emergency loan to keep the business afloat. Amanda is also missing her dad, who died a year earlier, and has lost her faith in God. To help make ends meet, she takes shifts at a coffee shop, where she meets a pastor, Derrick (Hollingsworth). Later, Lori (Frances Flanagan), has a minor car accident outside Amanda’s home. It turns out she’s a retired florist, and also Derrick’s mother. She encourages Amanda to enter a floral design competition, which has a big cash prize that could save the farm. While Lori mentors Amanda, Derrick attempts to restore her faith. And Amanda helps him open up about his past and be real about who he is.
PROS
With its emphasis on faith and colorful flowers, this was a nice choice for an Easter weekend movie.
Aimee Teegarden. Saving a family business is admittedly a tired Hallmark storyline, but good performances, particularly from Aimee Teegarden, elevated this movie. The talented actress sensitively portrayed a woman who was not only grieving but also coping with an imminent business failure. As Amanda said to Derrick, her life felt like punishment. Often Teegarden didn’t have to say a word; her facial expressions and body language perfectly conveyed that Amanda had abandoned all hope. You could feel Amanda’s pain as she tried everything she could think of, including selling baked goods, to hang on to the farm. The poignancy of Teegarden’s acting kept me engaged from start to finish.
Lessons in floral design—and life. Lori and Amanda’s relationship was perhaps the most vital one in An Easter Bloom, as Lori’s mentorship eventually gave Amanda confidence that she could win the competition. I enjoyed how Lori’s five principles of floral design were creatively shown. Harmony: Lori took Amanda to the church to listen to the complementary voices of the choir. Contrast: Lori and Amanda enjoyed a fun clothes-shopping excursion that highlighted how unexpected contrasts create beauty. Purpose: Amanda found this in making a garden-themed Easter basket for the church raffle. Balance: During an egg-and-spoon race, Amanda learned how to ensure balance. Love: When Amanda brought her a gorgeous arrangement, Lori pointed out that such beauty could only come from the heart. All these qualities had been missing from her life, Amanda admitted, and the mentorship was life changing. And it was heartwarming to see Lori, a stranger, take Amanda under her wing.
Amanda and Derrick’s relationship. The two had a gently flirtatious rapport that began with his giving her a big tip at the coffee shop because he appreciated her artistry with his coffee order. Though I didn’t think Teegarden and Hollingsworth had powerful romantic chemistry, I still found them delightful to watch together as they strolled among the snowdrops and gazed at the stars. And it was sweet when Derrick asked her what her favorite flower was, then asked if she’d accept a rose from him. I liked how they gradually shared their pasts with one another, he through his story of a day of rock climbing in which he and a student sustained devastating injuries—he later found God—and she through her tale of losing her faith after her father’s death.
Positive messages to ponder. Derrick said that instead of abandoning her faith during hard times, Amanda needed to look to God for support. And her message that he needed to be more vulnerable with others was also positive. A theme of forgiveness also ran through this movie—forgiveness of self and others. Derrick forgave himself for the accident, and Lori and her old friend Constance (P. Lynn Johnson), a florist competing with Amanda, ultimately forgave each other after years of estrangement. These messages were uplifting.
Heartbreaking moments, followed by joy. Amanda lost the competition to Constance and was visibly devastated, yet she graciously congratulated the winner and invited her to Easter brunch. The sadness was compounded by Constance’s cool refusal to commit to brunch, leaving Lori to despair that they could ever be friends again. All this gave me a lump in the throat. Yet in a fairy-tale ending, Constance handed over her winnings to Amanda, who she thought was more deserving, and the friends were reunited.
CONS
A misunderstanding. A cliché of Hallmark movies is the misunderstood conversation. In this case, Amanda overheard Derrick talking to his friend about relocating, and rather than asking him about this, she tearfully jumped to the conclusion that he was leaving. The movie could have easily done without this.
The pastor’s final sermon. Derrick spoke to his congregation about his accident and boldly declared that he’d forgiven himself and embraced who he was. This felt too quick and convenient—as if all his problems were solved in that instant. And I didn’t sense that he’d ever struggled much with forgiving himself to begin with; maybe it was Hollingsworth’s acting, but Derrick’s sorrow just didn’t seem to run that deep. The sermon also highlighted the way the actor’s Southern accent came and went; it was most prominent during his preaching but disappeared elsewhere.
My grade for An Easter Bloom: B+
Caroline Kaiser is a professional book editor who specializes in fiction and memoirs, and she’s been guiding writers toward publication since 2007. Caroline is also the author of two ghostly mystery novels, Virginia’s Ghost and The Spirits of South Drive. Before she embarked on an editing and writing career, she spent many years working in a Toronto auction house as an antiques appraiser. Apart from curling up on the couch and drinking tea as she watches Hallmark movies, Caroline enjoys baking and exploring London, Ontario, the picturesque city she now calls home. Her website is www.carolinekaisereditor.com.
