Fly Away with Me

6.4 stars.

Angie has a very promising career in the TV commercial business but has always wanted to write movie scripts. Ted is an air traffic controller but has always wanted to be a pilot. She moves in next to Ted and eventually they meet and share awkward attraction, and forced dialogue. There is little to zero chemistry between them. They have a common foe which is the landlord's daughter Gineen, who is very attracted to Ted and wants to find any way to evict Angie, because she can sense that Ted is somewhat attracted to Angie. Both Angie and Ted are hiding pets in their apartments which is an eviction offense.

This movie has potential, so much potential, and it's wasted from the get-go. The main plot, which is probably the romance, is blurred by a few side plots, like having pets, and her relationship with her boss Kyle is in question...are they dating, not dating? The doorman side plot is only brushed upon, but is the most intriguing and entertaining of all. We don't get to see anything personal about Ted except for the dog. This movie focuses a lot on Angie's parrot, but it's a totally unsatisfying plot line. Is she an animal lover, or not, what will happen with the bird, what about all the words this bird can say, will Angie piece them together to figure our who the true owner is? It's a very scattered and disorganized set of circumstances.

Therefore: 'Fly Away with Me' is a jumbled mess that totally dropped the ball.

Both actors are really adept at expressing emotions except for one: passion for each other. The best part of this film is the doorman Louis. I have added 2/10 of star for the fact of his existence in this movie. 6.2 stars becomes 6.4. Almost enough to round up to 7.

Angie wind a condo lottery in a town where property is scarce. While moving in an injured exotic parrot flies in and sets up home. Unfortunately there is a no pet policy, but she discovers her neighbor is also harboring a pet...his sisters dog. They agree to help one another and a beautiful neighborly relationship grows between them.

"Being a good neighbor is an art which makes life richer."-Louis.

Neighbor Ted is an air traffic controller want to be pilot and easy on the eyes. Angie works in advertising but is a want to be romance writer ala Romancing the stone. These two are a match made in heaven and adorable together. They dream big and their dreams align.

Sweet, simple, colorful romance with pets! Hallmark romantic fans will appreciate this film.

Because the acting was quite good, I overlooked the fact that the plot was probably not very likely in reality. The leads were really fun to watch and see the slow progression of their relationship. However, when the female lead felt betrayed by a situation that could not have been helped without the male lead being put in a terrible position, I actually said out loud, "You've got to be kidding!" I don't know why almost ALL Hallmark movies seem to need a major misunderstanding or disagreement between the lead couple. You would think with some imagination the writers could developed their relationship in a more interesting way so that all the movies aren't alike with this same plot twist. So I'm sorry to say that what I was enjoying really let me down.

Natalie Hall is sweet and pretty, and I liked her in the horribly titled, but surprisingly entertaining Hallmark food truck movie, You're Bacon Me Crazy. But I absolutely hated the last movie she was in (Road Trip Romance) and the script for this movie did her no favors.

Hallmark once did a pretty good (and more realistic) movie about a character with a pet, living in a "no pet" rental (Nine Lives of Christmas). But doubling down with TWO such characters, each with noisy pets, in a luxury high rise "no pets" apartment building, that has a lobby security desk, with security cameras, and an ever present rules loving building manager, just made no sense.

First, it's not like Angie tried to move in with her pet. As the movie begins, a noisy macaw literally flies into her unit just as she's moving in and minutes before the building manager drops by. So why not simply tell that to the building manager (who was somehow able to evict the prior tenant for "feeding the pigeons")? Angie had zero connection to the bird at that point and yet inexplicably lied and went into full stealth and deceit mode for a pet that wasn't even hers. Why?

Second, Ted has a big dog that needs to walk and pee and poop every day. And likely barks if left behind (and even when Ted is there). Which means that dog is coming and going multiple times a day. Past the "security" guard, past the cameras, past other tenants, and past the "condo cop". What was he thinking? Answer: his part was written by a lazy writer unconcerned with logic and reality.

Third, given how hard it was to find a decent rental, why would Angie or Ted jeopardize their hard to find rental units by repeatedly lying to the building manager and blatantly violating the rules?

Otherwise (if you overlook the fundamentally flawed main premise of the movie, which colors every aspect of the story) the romance between the leads was believable, pleasant and would have worked in a different movie.

Random observations:

Having Hall's character do an elaborate jumping and dancing routine out on the deck, in a stunningly ineffective attempt to get the bird to leave its cage, was just ridiculous.

The luxury apartment is at least 15 stories tall and seems big. If daddy owns it, and his daughter is the building manager, why isn't she living there?

Who moves in and out of a rental unit one plant at a time?

If you're trying to pretend you don't have a pet, why are you carrying a LARGE uncovered pet cage?

Tenants can't be immediately evicted. Even if they break the rules. There's a process. Sometimes it takes months.

Arguably, a truly "new" no pets policy would only affect future tenants, unless the existing leases already had that prohibition or purported to make tenants subject to future policy changes.

The casting director on that TV commercial needs to be fired.

Where did wannabe pilot Ted get that pilot's uniform?

Hallmark writers, like many of their characters, seem to have a childlike sense of financial realities.

Sometimes, a workplace is so toxic you have to quit even if you don't have a new job lined up; other times, quitting is just stupid unless you're a trust fund baby.

Good luck paying rent anywhere, let alone for a luxury apartment, without a job.

Good luck turning a first script into spendable cash right after (almost) finishing it.

And the "lines" that we heard from her script sounded more like descriptive text from a novel.

Gladys Taber once said "BEING a good neighbor is an art which makes life richer." But Louis says "a good neighbor is an art which makes life richer." The missing verb is the key to the original quote. The neighbor isn't the "art" , it's the act of "BEING a good neighbor" that's an "art"

Louis seems like a nice guy. But he's REALLY bad at his job and is begging to get fired (has he met his boss?)

I can't think of a premise like this one. And it brings a lot of funny situations and physical comedy. The dialogue is good.

Natalie Hall has been hit or miss for me in past movies, but I liked her quite a lot in this one. Angie has a playful side and Hall does it well with a bit of showwomanship. I've seen Peter Mooney before in lighthearted roles and he's perfect for this. They have definite chemistry and good comedic timing.

The mystery bird provides the opportunity for a quest for Angie and Ted to figure out his story and hopefully where he belongs. And there's the constant efforts to hide the pets. You know how long that will stay secret.

I was a little surprised the two villains didn't overplay their parts. Melinda Michael did a good job as the strict landlord without going overboard. Joseph Kathrein wasn't quite as good as Kyle but could have been worse.

I was surprised at how much I liked this. I'm pretty sure I'll watch it again.