Opening 16 Aug 2018
Directed by:
Bethany Ashton Wolf
Writing credits:
Bethany Ashton Wolf
Principal actors:
Alex Roe, Jessica Rothe, Abby Ryder Fortson, John Benjamin Hickey
Liam (Alex Roe) had turned his back on family and friends and worst of all, left his fiancée Josie (Jessica Rothe) at the altar to pursue a career as a musician. Now a megastar, he comes back to his Louisiana hometown for the first time in eight years to attend the funeral service of his former best friend. No one is thrilled to see him, especially not Josie, who never got a return call to an urgent message she had left on his cellphone after his abrupt departure. Only her seven-year old daughter Billy welcomes him without reservations. What Josie doesn't know is that Liam kept her phone message all these years.
Before the film slows down to a longish 108 minutes, it gets off to a promising start; directing and editing keep a good pace coming straight to the point. Very soon we do put two and two together and know exactly where this is going, hoping in vain for some new twist in an all too predictable story. Somehow the actors manage to give a not very plausible story some credibility, and Abby Ryder Fortson steals the show as feisty little Billy who has a terrific sense of how to deliver her lines. This is an innocent summer entertainment for the entire family, nothing remotely to "x-rate". (Carola A)
