Starring Jodie Sweetin and Corey Sevier
***SPOILER ALERT***
While travelling in Greece, June (Sweetin) learns that she’s lost her vast fortune and must return to the US. She later discovers, however, that she’s inherited a farmhouse from her late aunt. Seeing her new property for the first time, she meets Bart (Sevier). He owns the organic farm next door with his sister, Nina (Anna Pirvu), and June mistakes him for the hired help. Soon, they run into Dotty (Eve Crawford), a fiercely competitive woman who was the chief rival of June’s aunt at the harvest county fair. Dotty sneers at June’s chances of winning the pie-baking contest, and June decides to compete in all the fair’s categories in order to maintain her family’s dignity. Bart and Nina enthusiastically throw their support behind her, helping her triumph over Dotty. But after June unexpectedly regains her fortune, her budding romance with Bart is on shaky ground.
PROS
Despite its wobbly start, I ended up enjoying this movie more than I expected to. There was a eccentric quality to much of The Heiress and the Handyman that you either appreciated or you didn’t.
A different kind of character. Sweetin’s performance as June was perky and quirky. June was a fish out of water who didn’t fit well anywhere, either in her moneyed world or down on the farm. Socially awkward, she sometimes created uncomfortable situations (see also Cons). And she lacked basic life skills. I had to laugh when she was watching a video about how to make a sandwich. And her pie-making efforts were initially inept, leading Bart to call her first attempt “interesting.” June’s comical qualities were exaggerated for laughs, but there was a sad undertone to her life story. She’d inherited her fortune at fourteen, but affluence hadn’t brought her any sense of connection, and she was essentially alone in the world. Yet she didn’t wallow in self-pity about being isolated or losing her wealth, and she was kind. She found a sense of purpose from entering the county fair and showed great determination to win. June had many qualities I liked.
A sympathetic brother and sister. Immediately, Bart and Nina saw June for who she was and befriended and supported her. Their devotion was a sweet aspect of this movie. Pirvu sparkled as Nina, who made it her mission to create a family tree for June and connect her to distant family members. And Bart took it upon himself to ensure that she had his help around her farm and was adjusting to her new circumstances.
From rags back to riches. The film’s crisis occurred after June’s business manager informed her that her grandfather had held an impressive stock portfolio; suddenly she was wealthy again. June’s first instinct was to return to a lavish lifestyle, and she wanted to take Bart with her to travel the world—the exact opposite of what he desired. He was content to remain on the farm and had nourished the hope that June wanted to be there at his side. Sweetin and Sevier were good in the pivotal scene in the magnificent but nearly empty concert hall, where they came to realize that their different goals were pulling them apart.
Fun characters. The movie had goofy, cartoonish secondary characters such as Dotty, Tyler (Deepak Mathews, who played June’s personal assistant), and Wendy (Jenni Burke). With her exaggerated expressions, Burke made a hilarious county fair judge, and it was nearly impossible to tell whether or not she approved of June’s entries. And let’s not forget Gillian, the loveable pig June attempted to train. Gillian won best in show in the livestock category while wearing a floral crown and snagged a sponsorship deal.
CONS
Too much awkwardness? June babbled when she was nervous, which made her meeting with the bank employee who allowed her to access her safe-deposit box uncomfortable to watch. Likewise, her first meeting with Bart, in which she ordered him to get food for her, was a disaster; with each new remark, she dug herself deeper into a hole. Generally speaking, I liked June’s quirkiness, but the awkwardness was overdone in these early scenes.
An odd couple. Sweetin and Sevier were good in their roles, but their characters were unlikely lovebirds, as they had little in common. Though I liked watching them together, their chemistry wasn’t strong.
Puzzling bits. June had left town but returned to find her house overtaken by strangers, as Nina had gathered June’s relatives together and was throwing a party for her. Did Nina not realize June had left, or was she counting on the fact that she would return? And at the party, June learned that her aunt and Dotty were first cousins. Wouldn’t Bart and Nina have already known this and told her? As well, though Bart had supplied June with a list of daily chores, she didn’t appear to be doing them.
Hair and wardrobe. Sweetin’s hair, apparently a wig, was distracting. The style looked dated and stiff. And some of the clothes, particularly that hot-pink suit, weren’t becoming, though I did like the navy-blue dress with the gold foliage that she wore for the date.
My grade for The Heiress and the Handyman: 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.
