Pumpkin Pie Wars

source: Pumpkin Pie Wars

Have not been a real fan of Julie Gonzalo but she is really good in this one and Rico Aragon they have genuine chemistry.love older hallmark like this one 2019 was not a good year for harvest movies.hallmark should go back and look at 2015 2016 movies real class good stories

Hallmark movies that bring back actors/actresses from other favorite films of mine, immediately a winner for me! Christmas with the Kranks is a holiday favorite of mine and seeing one of the main actresses (the daughter) be cast in this Hallmark movie was a great surprise for me. I was excited to watch this as soon as she was introduced! Right away, I thought the plot of this movie was great and I love how this family feud is being passed down from the moms and onto their grown children. As all of these films have cheesy plots or storylines, I thought this one was a good balance of corny & good storytelling. I love a good love story with a sappy ending and I'm glad this movie included romance and friendship into its focus. I would watch this again, sweet movie!

Overall I liked this movie. The acting was decent and the plot was good. I always enjoy a Hallmark movie when it has elements of things I like to do-baking, sewing, fashion etc. However, that just heightens the disappointment when Hallmark does stupid things. Casey and Sam are in the kitchen practicing and he mentions the oven is now at 350 after being preheated, there's some dialogue and then they leave. They don't turn the oven off, they don't use the oven. In another scene Casey brings her dad something from the bakery and it has a big huge cinnamon stick on top of it. There's not a baker that would do that. You can't eat it and it wastes money for a bakery that is struggling. During the bake off, the ovens are wide open, yes they are putting their items in the oven but their back is too the ovens while they finish preparing their loaf to put in the oven. One would never leave the oven door open that long, the heat loss would be a lot!! But I did enjoy it and was disappointed that I hadn't recorded it.

I mentioned this film on another review so felt I should have reviewed it. One of the few Hallmark films that worked, the leads had chemistry, the story was logical and the supporting cast was good. Don't know why Julie Gonzalo and Eric Aragon weren't cast together in any other Hallmark film since 2016. The writing is so generally poor in Hallmark films and their leads aren't all that consistently good, they should be focused on movies that really work like "Pumpkin Pie Wars" and similar films.

Four Fall Harvest films were made in 2016, have noticed that of all the seasonal blocks for all the years between 2015-2021 the Fall Harvest block has always been the briefest. 'Pumpkin Pie Wars' is the penultimate one, followed only by one of 'The Good Witch' films. The previous two Fall Harvest films were a bit mixed, was not really sold on 'Love on a Limb' but mostly liked 'Autumn in the Vineyard' (the best of the 'In the Vineyard' series). The concept here was the most appealing one of the four Fall Harvest films. Which probably did contribute towards it being the best of the four 2016 Fall Harvest films and the one that feels most like a Fall Harvest film. It is also one of the better 2016 Hallmark films, which was very up and down (like all the succeeding years too). It is a good representation of Julie Gonzalo, who is good when her role is written well and plays to her strengths, and it made me interested enough in seeing more of Eric (Rico) Aragon's work sometime in the future. 'Pumpkin Pie Wars' is not perfect by all means. Sure, the story is very formulaic and does very little new with a type of story that one pretty much knows how it is going to map out quite a bit of time before it happens. A bit over-simple too. It does also for my tastes end too neatly and unsatisfyingly so, it's pretty much what is expected but it is the sort of ending that works in some scenarios but not so much in others and the too pat treatment of one character didn't ring true here. However, so much is good. Gonzalo's performance is full of perky charm and sincerity and she has a charismatic and very easy to like leading man in Aragon. Their chemistry is very sweet and genuine, while moving at a realistically paced rate and not feeling aimless or too fast moving. Michele Scarabelli brings a lot of zest into her role and personally didn't think her character was tiresome and instead fun and well meaning. The characters may be Hallmark cliches but they aren't written too perfectly or with their flaws overdone. Furthermore, the story, despite its predictability, is always engaging and is light-hearted and heart-warming. The film is nicely scripted, with some nice playfulness between the leads and the sentimentality is not overdone. It looks good visually. Especially the gorgeous scenery. The music doesn't distract and really liked how the film made the absolute most of the setting without shoving it in the viewer's face. Very nice overall. 8/10.

When the story begins, Faye and Lydia go from long-time friends to bitter enemies. They soon open up rival bakeries and insist that their families honor their stupid feud. The husbands don't like this, because they are friends and Faye and Lydia even insist that their children follow along with their ridiculous arguments. And, for years, the pair compete against each other in a local pumpkin pie cooking contest. But this year is different. Faye is injured and needs her daughter Casey to compete for her...which is a problem since Casey is not a brilliant baker. At the same time, Lydia has decided to step aside and let her son Sam compete. Problems develop when Casey and Sam realize that they actually LIKE each other...and in fact, they are falling in love! But their mothers insist that the feud be continued....period. So what's next? See the film. I'll be the first to admit that this Hallmark movie is formulaic and mostly predictable. BUT, it's made so well that I didn't mind at all...and I had a nice time watching it. Unless you are a curmudgeon, you, too, will likely enjoy this sweet tale.

I thought the older woman was trying to get her friends back together by having them get back at HER for her comments on the local news. Then they'd find out it was all a rouse to make the ladies become friends again. She knew the kids would be less careful about hiding their recipes. I was hoping she would bake her own recipe. Not a fan of making her an actual villain. So she's not a bake off champ? It's not her thing, maybe she just does it for fun and she's the best at something else. Oh well. Hallmark movies rarely have a satisfying ending. I hate when they kiss in front of a huge crowd and everyone claps. That's so cringe.

I found the two lead characters believable. The lead female role's baking / kitchen scenes were comical. The male role lead was a good fit and found the two had good chemistry. Both mothers role were a bit tiresome nearing the end and I thought was an over kill through the whole movie. We got the point they were enemies but the jabs and angry comments grew old.

I am very rarely surprised in a Hallmark movie. I watch them for the beautiful seasonal photography and the romance. Two people find each other, things happen, yadda-yadda-yadda, happy ending with one opening the door and finding the other on the other side. Don't get me wrong, that is how this movie ends; happily ever after. But I also knew, from the get go that the two dads were not going to stop playing golf with each other. That was a given. And this Romeo & Juliet story was going to be that way. Heck, even their names McCarthy and Harpers were reminiscent of McCoys and Hatfields. When they got into the cooking contest and how would one win without hurting the other, I figure that they'd let the other woman win, and both loose but in the need find each other, patch up the feud, etc. Wrong. I never saw Betty as the sneaky, underhanded character that she was. THAT surprised me. And for a Hallmark movie, a surprise such as that is huge in my book. A very good movie, well done, good character development, good story and I definitely recommend this for your fall movie rotation!