Title: The Bouquet

Special features: The Making of The Bouquet featurette

An elderly couple are struggling with their home florist business. They have two daughters, one is a New York business woman and the other is a dedicated activist; both are always too busy to see their parents. When dad suddenly drops dead at Easter dinner, the two women realize that being a family and helping each other is more important than their own selfish desires.

I’m not going to mince words, this movie was predictable and hella cheesy.This looks like something that will probably air on The Hallmark Channel or Lifetime as it is safe for children and religious families – I say that because God and prayer is strewn about throughout the film, but I wouldn’t call this a religious film.

Danny Glover plays a reverend whom is close to the family and is privy to a secret that the father told him before his death, that he reluctantly tells the family. Glover maybe appears for about less than 5 minutes and his character is not really essential to the story. They needed a token black man among an all white cast, and here he is.

Kristy Swanson is the businesswoman daughter who suddenly changes her tune when the family needs her and ditches her city life behind for the handsome love interest (Stargate’s Michael Shanks). Every step of her storyline was so predictable even from the beginning of the film.

Alberta Mayne is the activist daughter whose protests and co-op farm is too important to visit her parents, even when her supposed love interest urges her to see them. I didn’t like her character at all. She reminded me of so many hipster vegan skanks out there. I would slap my own sisters if they acted like her. She was so whiny and selfish.

As you probably can guess, they get the family business back up and running better than ever and everyone is happy. Hooray! I got tired of watching after an hour and kept checking the clock for the last 30 minutes. I already knew how it was going to end.

I will give that this movie is good for elderly people who are still running a business. They need to embrace the times, and not run in fear of it. The old woman Bonnie (Nicola Cavendish) was lucky her daughters were patient enough to get her started on learning about computers – my dad still calls me every so often to help him figure something out that seems simple for me but not so much for him. It teaches kids about compassion because not everything comes so easy for the older people. Some of us grew up with computers and we have take time to assist those who didn’t. The film teaches that we must be humble enough to accept help when it’s offered, because in this day and age, it doesn’t happen all too often.

I had to set aside some of my cynicism for this film, and I can recommend it for the elderly and people on the cusp of being elderly because I don’t see anyone under the age of 55 who would have the patience to enjoy this film. I need some drama in my drama, and romance in my romance. This kind of just floated along without real purpose. The story was not original and pretty sappy towards the end. If that’s your thing, then good luck with this one.

Reviewed by: JM Willis

Total Rating: C-