Jazz Ramsey: A K-9 Mystery

I just watched another Hallmark movie that was really good. This one not so much. The only reason I stayed on it was because of the dog. One of the more stupid dialog was where Jazz says "there's a 3rd floor". OMG how dumb is that. It was indicated that she went there as a student and then there were several times where the outside of the school building is shown. How could you not see that this school had a 3rd floor? And how would a body get put in the floor when there was only a vent? Plus wouldn't the odor from the body give it away? Try to do better Hallmark, or at least preview this to an audience.

I found this movie really, really boring. And I love dogs! No, scratch that. I LOVE dogs. But here dogs are used as props, the main character isn't even believable as a dog trainer. The worst part is it's a really boring Hallmark mystery. I love cozy mysteries, I don't mind crazy storylines about bakers and floristis who solve crimes. I don't mind stupid unrealistic plots as long as they make me feel good and entertain me. To be honest I couldn't even finish this one, this film was... bland. I mean the plotholes were hilarious, but not in a good way. The lead actress is pretty, but the script was way too weak. The detective - also fine, but weak writing. Same about her friend. Actually they don't even seem to be friends! I mean they say they have such a long history between them, but we see no chemistry, nothing. Just random actresses saying their lines. Unfortunately very poor writing and directing made this movie unwatchable. I'm being generous with 5 stars.

I found this movie really, really boring. And I love dogs! No, scratch that. I LOVE dogs. But here dogs are used as props, the main character isn't even believable as a dog trainer. The worst part is it's a really boring Hallmark mystery. I love cozy mysteries, I don't mind crazy storylines about bakers and floristis who solve crimes. I don't mind stupid unrealistic plots as long as they make me feel good and entertain me. To be honest I couldn't even finish this one, this film was... bland. The lead actress is pretty, but the script was way too weak. The detective - also fine, but weak writing. Same about her friend. Actually they don't even seem to be friends! I mean they say they have such a long history between them, but we see no chemistry, nothing. Just random actresses saying their lines. Unfortunately very poor writing and directing made this movie unwatchable. I'm being generous with 5 stars.

First I have to comment on the terrible wardrobe in this mystery...it was truly atrocious, with the exception of the detective Nick, whose suits dapper enough for his station. Second I thought the German Shepard who played Zeus was a lovely dog, who I wish was used a lot more in this film especially sine it is called "a K-9 mystery". Third, I didn't really appreciate the negative backstory between the two leads. It didn't seem like a very believable story...but maybe that was just due to their lack of chemistry. I really like the actor Corey Sevier, who played Nick, and I have seen him put in some great performances, but I think he needed a better script. Finally, I thought there were far too many coincidences for this story to be believable...and the dental records-wow! In general I am a fan of Hallmark mysteries, but this isn't one that I can recommend. While giving a corpse smelling dog demonstration for the forensics club at the school she and the now principal both attended, she finds a year old body under the floorboards...it looks like it might be a strict teacher from the school, but who did it and why?

Rachel Skarsten and Corey Sevier telegraph their performance. I felt no dynamic between the two of them. In fact, there is zero chemistry in almost every interaction regardless of the actors. Listlessness. A good bowel movement would have been more enjoyable. There are too many holes in this story which drives a thoughtful person insane. This movie gives safety personnel a bad name. Skarsten's character doesn't come off as someone that would have ever been in search and rescue. She exhibits no traits in the movie. The former girlfriend/boyfriend angle does not resonate. It wasn't how they broke up or the lame excuse that he was not emotionally there for her. They would have never dated period. How Jazz lamely weaseled her way into the case was cringe worthy. Nick allowing it was even more vomit worthy. Hallmark bombed big time with this mystery dud. Redemption is far far away.

A K-9 Mystery? The mystery throughout the movie is, "Where's the dog?". As few scenes as Zeus has, he's the 2nd best actor in this mess. I think Rachel Skarsten is the best because she's using all her acting skills to save the writing and directing. I have to admit I'm not a fan of Corey Sevier. He seems better off as a villian, not a cop. His role is very wooden and uninterested in the case. Jazz's mother is so defensive for no reason ...what's up with that? Almost every other scene has improbable questions and silly answers. Oh Hallmark, what happened? We couldn't wait until the next mystery but now?

Love the actress, but the actor was very wooden. They had no chemistry together. There were plot holes you could drive a bus through, and we were left trying to figure out how the villain of our picture could pull off what they did. And the 2 times they had coffee - it was blatantly obvious the cups were empty. Come on - can Hallmark actors not "act" like there's something in the cups? They implied the person murdered had been missing and no one noticed for almost a year. Then when we find out she's not dead - where the heck did she live for a year? Not in her own home, and no one notices this other person missing - even though she was "public speaking for years", according to the detective. None of it made sense- and like others have said- it was a K9 movie with very little K9 in it. Very odd. I won't watch it again, but if Hallmark is smart, they won't air it again - it was THAT bad.

The deficiencies noted by previous reviewers are accurate, including holes in the plot and continuity, as well as the "K9" not really being a main character. Then there is the soapy dialogue between mother and Jazz, the heroine's rather unappealing unforgiving attitude toward the hero detective, and a blow to the head that yields only a scratch. At the top of the list, however (and this is not a spoiler since it occurred at the outset of the movie) is the simple fact of the murder victim being placed through an impossibly small floor vent and the body lying dead yet hidden for a few months, but NOT being putrid within the room, or the whole school for that matter. Think back to William Powell discovering the dead body of The Thin Man! All these TV mystery movies require some "willing suspension of disbelief" but that goes over the line. As a more general comment, the recent Hallmark Mystery movies -- for example, this one, the Aurora Teagarden prequel, Mystery in G Major, The Cases of Mystery Lane -- are all subpar compared to the 1st generation -- think Garage Sale Mysteries, Aurora Teagarden, Murder She Baked, Mystery 101, Crossword. Only The Curious Caterer and probably Tipline are measuring up. I believe Hallmark is in danger of losing out on its Mystery franchise due to poor quality.

Like almost all the other reviewers, my issues with this movie are many and varied. The plot holes and jarring disconnects from the lack of continuity leave the viewer confused and focusing on trying to figure out what they missed rather than the film. I myself really like both leads as far as previous work goes but in this, it seems they were instructed to act as poorly as possible. Not a single human in the movie was tolerable, with stilted delivery of lines, poor body language and non-descript facial cues for the situations. The writing was in short, horrible, and the acting delivered as the same. Spoiler... the most horrible, at least for me, was the ex-girlfriend/K9 trainer/not a cop or investigator saying to the DETECTIVE, well she must have lived somewhere before she retired, let's look it up. I'm sorry, are you trying to have me believe the detective in a homicide investigation had not only not been to the victim's home but didn't even know the address and hadn't thought to check this out before Jazz mentioned it. It's like it was a fanfic written by a 12 year-old. I've used a lot of words here to say this movie is just too horrible for words. Perhaps Hallmark needs these bombs for tax write-offs, but for the love of the universe, send them direct to video. Don't promote and pump up this trash.

It is difficult for me to imagine how a script like this gets made. This has a plot imagined by a 7th grader. Whoever approved this script for production needs to find a new job. To be fair to this person, hallmark mysteries as a concept have been an a precipitous slide for a while. "Jazz Ramsey: A K-9 Mystery" is just the latest in a long line of subpar efforts. The murderer in "Jazz Ramsey: A K-9 Mystery" is an aging teacher who has suddenly disappeared. She leaves a body dressed up to look like herself under some floorboards. Why? For the love of God, why? Oh. I know - so it can be found. The killer is who is crazy - absolute bonkers - but smart enough to break into two dentists offices computer systems, in order to swap dental records, has not considered that no body at all would be a better way to go. If she wants people to think she has dropped off the map - then don't leave any body. But then our mystery solvers would not spend most of the movie trying to verify who's body it is. Actually they send most of their time making calf eyes at each other because they used to be a "thing." The DNA evidence, proving it's not the missing teacher's body after all, shows up in the last 10 min. Unbelievable. Damn those DNA labs, they are so slow. Its only a the body of a woman shoved into an air duct months ago whose identity we need to verify. What's a murder when there is work from 23andMe and AncesrtyDNA piling up? When found and confronted the murderer says, "I'm getting on a plane and you can't stop me!" while holding a fireplace poker. Yup, that is gonna work. Who approves these stories? How stupid do they think their audience is. Or is more like, "Its only a Hallmark mystery so people won't expect much." There was time when good mysteries movies appeared on Hallmark. McBride and Mystery Woman come to mind. There are also gems in the category of "amateur female sleuth, of a certain age, who is way better at solving mysteries than the policemen who are paid to do it." Hanna Swensen, Aurora Teagarden and Garage Sale Mysteries are/were the best of these. Another problem is that the line between Hallmark romances and mysteries continues to be blurred. At this point the murder is merely a plot device to bring the lovers together. It could be a lost puppy, or a fender bender, or two people working together after the same promotion or a body under the floor. Does it actually matter? Does anybody care? If it does not matter - and trust me it does not - please shift these titles over to the romance channel. BTW - the lead actress is fine.