Starring Margaret Clunie and Andrew Walker
***SPOILER ALERT***
Austen (Walker) is an American archaeology professor who’s visiting Malta to search for things a seventeenth-century Jesuit priest sketched and described in his diary—namely an old box and something called “the golden way.” Austen is under pressure to get funding for this research so he can secure tenure. He meets Eva (Clunie), a beekeeper who, along with her sister, Chloe (Amanda Victoria Vilanova), is planning bee-related events such as a festival and tours. On the local library’s exterior, Eva finds a wild hive. Beside it, she and Austen uncover a mysterious fresco that could be a map of Malta. Hoping it might shed light on the contents of the diary, Austen persuades Eva to take him to locations illustrated in the fresco, and they soon develop feelings for each other. However, what the golden way really is remains frustratingly unclear until a villager tells Eva about an ancient tradition.
PROS
I had high hopes for this movie for a few reasons. First, it was directed by Kevin Fair, credited with 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost (2023), possibly my favourite Hallmark movie of all time. And it was co-written by Michelle Ricci, who penned this spring’s Legend of the Lost Locket, an entertaining quest movie. The other writer was Caitlin D. Fryers. As well, Walker is usually excellent, and Clunie had impressed me when she played a duchess in Victoria.
The leads (sort of). I don’t deny that both leads have acting chops. In keeping with her previous duchess role, Clunie brought a regal quality to Eva, who was half English. Eva was independent, and also realistic about the chances of a long-term romance with a foreigner actually succeeding. She wasn’t afraid to assert herself, especially in protecting her honeybees. I liked all these qualities about her, and I especially liked the warm sisterly relationship she had with Chloe. Walker conveyed Austen’s passion for archaeology and his drive to get to the heart of the mystery. He could be cute sometimes, especially when he insisted on saying “I smell like fish” in Maltese to strangers. He told Eva he was saying “It’s a beautiful day,” but he knew what he was really saying. The problem was in Eva and Austen together—something crucial was missing (see Cons).
The scenery (sort of). The rustic historical buildings, deep blue sea vistas, and grassy fields gave this movie some appeal, though I couldn’t help thinking Malta looked much more picturesque in The Dancing Detective: A Deadly Tango (2023).
CONS
The writing. This movie was weighed down by a ponderous script, which let the actors down in a big way. In the first place, it’s a challenge to get an audience interested in an archaeological mystery, and perhaps in the subject of beekeeping as well. And combining the two for a Hallmark audience seemed bizarre, despite the factual basis of the story; Malta does have a history of honey making since ancient times. For Love & Honey was ambitious in its subject, and while I appreciated that the writers were trying to move beyond tired plots like trying to save the family farm, the movie mostly fell flat.
The mystery itself was convoluted. I felt lost in the overly talky script cluttered with informative details about ancient cultures and beekeeping. There was also lots of speculation about what the fresco depicted, why it had been covered up, what the knights had been protecting in the Roman tower (gold?), what the purpose of the box shown in the diary was, why the bee maidens on the fresco had been obscured by the map, etc. I still don’t know why anything on the fresco—the map, the maidens—had been painted over. The light bulb moment, in which Eva realized what the golden way was and she and Austen rushed to a cavern that contained a shrine, centuries-old jars of honey, and the box, was underwhelming. And if the box had been used to transport bees to the New World, why was it still in the cavern? Amid the intricacies of the archaeological mystery, Eva and Austen’s love affair got lost.
Where’s the romance? The relationship began as adversarial. Eva was ticked off with Austen when she wiped out on her motorbike while swerving to avoid him. She criticized him for swatting at a bee and then removed it from the library using a valuable old document. She also lectured him on the importance of protecting bees. Austen was the more open and sympathetic character of the two, but he too was prone to lecturing, mostly about car maintenance. The bickering might have been entertaining had their lines been funny. Only slight chemistry was apparent in this movie, and in too few moments: when Austen tightened Eva’s apron strings, when she stumbled near the tower and he caught her, when they kissed during the moonlit walk, and when he announced he was leaving and she tried to hide a twinge of sadness. But overall, this romance lacked emotion, especially on Eva’s side.
My grade for For Love & Honey: C-
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.
