Gilded Newport Mysteries: Murder at the Breakers

Does Hallmark not hire professionals to write and direct their movies? I found the script to be typical and extremely lazy. The continuity of emotion was all over the place... it just didn't make sense at times and left me scratching my head and rolling my eyes... and it was obvious it was to create drama that just wasn't realistic at all. The main character's dialect was that of a high school teenager from Southern California in2024 while the accent of her main love interest was like he was a part of the British royal family itself. Racism sucks and we all hate the way it was in the past, but for a historical piece it was just not realistic at all. And finally why is the main character the ONLY ONE who does ANY investigating? It's like every one of the other investigators are completely incompetent.

LOL @ having a black supporting main character in 1895 Newport. A black medical assistant in 1985? Really? Nothing like changing history to suit the "diversity" nonsense all these networks have placed on themselves. Please for the rest of us, if you are going to do a period piece, try to keep it authentic. I mean, I cannot wait to see a movie with a white Nelson Mandela! It's okay to have an all white cast, especially considering that the Vanderbilt's where rich WASP's. Outside of all that the main character in this movie is laughable. How do these poorly written and acted movies ever get made? The plot is laughable, the acting as well. The girl in this movie is supposed to be a Victorian character yet sounds like a 2024 college student.

I generously gave this a 5 mostly because the story is fairly good. The acting is not. There's some bright spots in the acting but otherwise it's much like watching a middle school play. There's problems in the casting which I'm sure relate to Hollywood's need to be diverse. In this period, there's a lot of unlikely relationships and job positions in this show. The gilded age is a period where eugenics is highly popular due to much prejudice and not just to people of color. (I'd suggest "Under a Gilded Moon" for a fiction read more realistic for the period.) The dialog is weak and for people in this gilded class, not as familiar with each other as in here. Combine that with lapses into 20th/21st century language and it's uneven. Fix these things & it might end up a franchise for a few seasons.

I cannot stress how unfathomably BORING this movie is. It lacked in EVERY category. The writing was atrocious. The acting was INSUFFERABLE; notably the starring actress who played Emma. Her voice, her MUMBLING drove me to near insanity. The actor for Jesse also mumbles. I can hardly understand either of them. The inconsistency in accents was "interesting" as well. The dialogue feels like it's written by AI, and they all talk like robots. It's so cheap feeling, like they're trying to replicate proper English but instead I feel like I'm speaking to a customer service chatbot. If I hear "perhaps" one more time, I will guild myself. I was waiting for someone to say "affirmative" instead of "yes", or "negative" instead of "no". On the topic of dialogue, this whole movie is basically just a bunch of shots of one person talking, then another person talking. Then it cuts back to the same person, then the other. And they're sitting down. And it's not remotely interesting at all. They just word salad dump the whole story. It's patronizing how obvious "clues" are, especially when Emma has to have a flashback for every "a-ha!" moment. It's like the producer knew that everyone would have forgotten about the clue by the point it became relevant because the pacing is so strenuous and STAGNANT. The cinematography is nonexistent. So many shots you can tell are only there to make a TV advertisement preview. Not to even mention the total lack of any world building at all. I had no immersion at all to this "story". This movie is far from historically accurate, but not even in a way where it's acceptable. If the plot were really good, or the characters lovable, or even the story ENTERTAINING in any way - even if it were laughably bad - I'd STILL be able to excuse it. I really don't even understand why this story takes place in the Gilded Age, It could've been any other time and still the exactly same story. Say, it could've taken place in 2010 and swapped out all the old timey stuff with modern equivalents - like a ball with a house party, or a carriage with a car. Not only is it historically inaccurate, it's also borderline offensive how it erases racism and misogyny. It's trying to be progressive, but instead it comes off as ignorant. They could've used period typical misogyny as a plot device to make you actually care about our protagonist in a way. None of the characters have any chemistry, or really personality. The actors and actresses have *so* little emotion in their acting that you just have to laugh. The story put me to sleep. I watch a lot of TV mysteries, and read mysteries too. I probably have hundreds of hours of mystery media consumption under my belt, and it is my favorite genre. I have never been this bored by a mystery. I don't want to include spoilers in this review, but I will say that as I'm writing it I'm forgetting more and more of the story. It is so forgettable that I feel like in order to tell you about it, I'd have to be watching it at the same time. I heard this was an adaptation of a book, and I can only hope the book isn't as terrible. I feel bad for the author. On a positive note, I did like the actress for the housekeeper/maid.

Kept trying to like it, but the acting was so bad. For a period piece, only a couple of the characters portrayed it well. The others characters were like JR high students merely just reading lines for a play. I like the lead in Firefly Lane, so I expected a much better performance from her. I was excited for a new mystery series on Hallmark, so I hope if they do more if these, they improve the acting. I enjoy most of the Hallmark mysteries and he really find the acting and stories to be decent. I managed to finished it but only because I really hoped it would get better, but it didn't but at least I know who did it.

I looked forward to this group of Hallmark movies. I was so disappointed to see them ignoring historical truths of the time. I don't think different races mixed in higher social settings. The clothes didn't fit right and were of the wrong fabric. Baggy full length gloves , baggy bodices, even the men's jackets and shirts were baggy. The female hairstyles had curls dangling onto the face. In this time, hair was put up and didn't usually have curls hanging on the face. If curls were present, the were next to the ears, not in face. Houses could have been wonderful but instead looked cheap and had the wrong floor coverings. The plot wasn't bad but the directing and production aspects left it wanting. I think these mysteries have big potential but can't be done on the "cheap".

I confess I am a huge cosy mystery series fan and I have enjoyed several of the series on Hallmark tremendously (especially Hannah Swensen, Aurora Teagarden-the original and Mystery 101). I haven't read that many, but I have enjoyed the ones I have. Having said that, I was unfamiliar with this particular cosy mystery series...Gilded Newport Mysteries, but I might add them to my to read list and I am looking forward to more Hallmark films. I will talk about the elephants first before tackling what I did like. There are tons of inaccuracies in this film...from dialogue, to sentiments, to names, to antiques, to race, to etiquette, and ultimately the actual location. Unfortunately, it seems to be very popular these days to apply 2024 sentiments to even period pieces, which in this case is even more of a shame since there really is popular source material to draw from. If you can ignore all of that...aka press pause on the logical part of your brain, there were some enjoyable moments and I am likely to be kind when they are attempting to start a new mystery series which can sometimes get off to a bumpy beginning. The lead actress, Ali Skovbye, was lovely as Emma Vanderbuilt-Cross, our lady's entertainment reporter and amateur sleuth. It was really fun to see Danny Griffin outside of Fate the Wynx. He looked fantastic in period costume as Detective Jesse Whyte and potential romantic suitor to Emma. It was fun that they used a real life mother and daughter acting duo to play the Vanderbuilt mother and daughter, April and Ava Telek. Geoff Gustafson appeared outside of his beloved role as one of the Postables, as Emma's editor and boss. It was a bit role...but fun to see him nonetheless. I loved seeing all of the antiques, as a collector that is always a fun pastime for me. The clambake at The Breakers was an entertaining pursuit to depict with it's festive crowd. I would definitely give this series a second chance and I feel like the mystery itself is a stronger offering than some that I have seen...but I am not sure that it makes it into my recommendations quite yet.

Whew this one was rough. And I love a hallmark mystery. I also love a period piece. The main actress was rough. Her inability to finish conversations with people. Her 2024 vibes in this era... nope. Her actual acting. 0 stars. Also, she's kissing and almost betrothed to one guy but very easily flirting with another. Not for me. How many times was she going to almost die in this movie? The worst one I've seen in a LONG time. Script -1 out of 10 Plot- 2 out of 10 Acting- 2 out of 10 Set design- 7 out of 10 Level of annoying- 10 out of 10 If you're looking for a hallmark mystery that's good- go for mystery 101 or A Flowershop Mystery.

...when an author of two series you have followed for years turns her work over to become unrealistic portrayals one cannot help feeling betrayed. Not only does the author allow her work to be dressed up like a tart, her work is then turned into the ridiculous in a television movie, which in turn allows the name of a very good murder mystery book series to be dragged through the Hallmark spit and polish machine to become shiny, flashy and gaudy with no true redeeming features. The Hallmark gilded age murder mystery series bears very little resemblence to the books they are based on. Alyssa Maxwell you have let yourself down, while the main cast of characters in your novels fight for their rights as individuals, and the rights of the down trodden, you have pimped the characters, props and scenery up and sold them off to the highest bidder. The movie is a mite purdy, and like a lot of purdy thangs, it lacks any form of substance to recommend the book series or Author.

Get taken away into the world of the Newport mansions, the olden days, with lovely dresses and a backstabbing mystery. The plot was good, acting was excellent. The scenery is beautiful with a garden party at the cliffs. Historical references are accurate and there is humor too. What more could you want for a fun watch! If you love Newport, Rhode Island you'll enjoy this tale of murder. See inside the mansions, and out on Newport city streets. A well done murder mystery. A feast for the eyes. The details are amazing in the fashions and the scenery. I highly recommend. All in all, hard to find any fault!