A bit of a different setting. A butler school. Not sure why a butler school, unless the school needs an advertising boost. Both "stars" were very unrefined. I assume that if one wanted to be a servant to the wealthy, one would speak and act better. A "yes sir/ma'am" answer would be preferred instead of yup. And there us no way a butler would bring a 4 plates to a wealthy household at dinner the same as in a common restaurant. The plates would be brought out in a tray and served singularly. And there would be more than one butler serving at a dinner party. And anyone who works in a restaurant and not a bar would know that the knife blade faces towards the plate. If thus were a real scenario, she would have been practicing place settings before she arrived. And she would have had both cufflinks in her shirt. Women butlers/maids wear skirts not pants. Hallmark should know this! Hallmark should have learned by all the other dud movies. Quality should be before quantity.
Plot summary
Emma Conroy has wanted to be a butler since she was a child being enthralled with the British television show Plumshire Manor depicting its life. As such, she is aiming to get a job in one of the royal estates of Europe. After several unsuccessful applications to many of the butler academies in the US, she bolstering her resume as requested after each of those unsuccessful attempts, she is offered the final spot in this year's class at the prestigious American Butler Academy in Maryland under the tutelage of Charles Willoughby, this only the first step as she learns upon arrival that one-third of her class will not graduate. While she has all the knowledge in her head and is diligent in studying, she is finding that it is like having stage fright in the actual execution in failing time and time again, she seeming to need to find a way to claw her way out of that bottom third. Conversely, Henry Walker, one of her classmates, doesn't even seem to want to be there in being less than meticulous in his attitude - he and Emma butting heads always getting her in trouble in the process - yet he seems to always come out smelling like a rose in having a natural aptitude to the work. Emma learns the reason for Henry doing well is that he is a legacy butler, having come from a line of two hundred years of butlers, but instead of following in his father's footsteps as his father expects, he has other thoughts as a wanted profession, namely to be a chef. Mr. Willoughby suggests that the two work together in each being able to provide a needed perspective and skill that the other does not have toward the work. In the process, each may open the other's eyes to what he/she truly wants and possibly how to achieve it.
January 31, 2022 at 01:58 PM
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Another dud
Being a butler is a bewildering business...
At an exclusive butler academy, a young woman who has always aspired to be a butler at first conflicts with and then befriends a young man who comes from a long line of butlers but wants to do something else with his life.
According to this film, all butlers need to know is where to put the fish fork and the salad fork, know which wine goes best with Beef Wellington, and be able to carry four dishes at once (Are butlers not allowed to use TRAYS?). There aren't that many butlers in the world and I certainly don't know any but I have this odd feeling that this is not a completely accurate reflection of reality.
If you're going to enjoy this film, focus on the interactions between the two leads (played by Farber and Cott). After a rough start, they become friends. Their interactions actually seem somewhat realistic and when they begin to be romantically interested in each other, it kind of flows naturally. Oddly, the focus of the film is not really their relationship but the idea of pursuing your dream and being flexible about that dream. And it's appealing to see how Farber really tries to help and support the character played by Cott (and vice versa). So it's a nice, pleasant, nonstressful film and such films do have their place.
What fresh hell is this?
Wow, just when you think it can't get any worse, it does. An absolute waste of time.
The female lead can't act her way out of a wet paper bag and it's not helped by the fact that her storyline is so ridiculous. She wants to be a butler based on some TV show? She works in a restaurant but doesn't know how correctly place silverware? The "butler academy" is harder to get into than Harvard"?
The male lead is a marginally better actor but is given another idiotic back story. How many young people enter a profession they hate because "it's a family tradition" anymore? Just tell the parents it's not happening and move on - the drama was ridiculous.
No chemistry between the leads at all. And at the end the female gets the job of her dreams, apparently works one dinner and, poof, the dream is over. Instead she "has an idea" but it's never clear what that was. She becomes, what, some sort of Leader of Waiters and her boyfriend becomes a chef at the same restaurant? Oh, how convenient. And the whole smooching in front of the staff was laughable.
Tow hours of my life I will never get back.