Who would have thought a little college town in the heartland of America would turn out to be the center of the universe? Not only for those who witnessed the point of totality in Carbondale, Illinois during the solar eclipse, but also for Sarah Drew and Matt Long in their portrayal of Kim and Malcolm in “The Stars Between Us.”

What I assumed would be another cheesy Hallmark creation of true love’s destiny, still rings true. With “The Stars Between Us,” Hallmark has finally gained some interest in me. Never did I glance at my phone to check the time or scroll through Facebook as my mother would. I was simply able to sit and enjoy the cheesy classics that this company has upheld.

A prolonged love story, roughly an hour and a half, of two lovers, hoping to be reunited, but not until the final 20 minutes of the movie. A fast paced storyline, a triple dip of romance and a happy ending is all it took to get me hooked and hope for another southern Illinois Hallmark movie.

Hallmark, a TV channel adored by midwestern mothers for their annual run of Christmas in July, has tapped into the heart of the heartland and referenced our own center stone for the setting of their newest love story.

Stay at home mom and struggling Chicago reporter, Kim, is to return to Carbondale, Illinois to cover the total solar eclipse with her team, her best friend/cameraperson Claire and their clumsy field producer Reed. I was very surprised to learn that she was not a local from the area, but either way she followed the generic Hallmark storyline of “girl returns for work/family purpose”.

Across the country in Arizona, professor Malcolm and his friend/assistant Travis are planning to visit astronomer Dr. Longford from Malcolm’s time in graduate school at Southern Illinois University, in hopes of getting his book on cultural astronomy published. 

When they arrive in Carbondale, Claire and Travis seem to blossom a secondary romance storyline that takes away from the seriousness of Kim and Malcolm’s business and staggering reconnection. I adored this little scene of nerds falling into love at first sight. They were actually a fitting couple instead of being the “two people from different worlds” trope.

The groups both attend a masquerade hosted the night before the eclipse where Kim and Malcolm have a moment to reconnect and discover each other’s identities, until Kim’s boss calls and informs the group that they will be airing live, nationally. This movie might have ran on for so long, but I feel that this was a worthwhile wait. It made the ending feel so much more true. They were both on each other’s mind the entire buildup to the trip until they had to focus on their work and the friends took over that side business. 

Kim has been given the opportunity of a lifetime for her career to develop into her dream. 

Reed makes it up to Kim for his unhelpful character by scheduling an interview with the famous Dr. Longford before the eclipse by pulling a very sneaky move and getting their rival stations interview cancelled. This interview would pull in more ratings to make up for Kim’s nervous news reporting that spans from the pressure of being her first broadcasting assignment, as well as the door to a promotion. Her reunion is no longer a stake in the situation. She went into business woman mode and I adored it! She had a dream to live and that dream was set in her stars!

Malcolm discovers Reed’s connection to Dr. Longford, and persuades him to help get them connected so he can pitch his book for publication. Connections between the groups keep growing while Malcolm and Kim only keep getting closer to completing their business, until Kim feels a sense of deja vu from her visit to Carbondale, seven years ago. This is a telling statement for those who have come and gone from the small city. I have been told so many times that once you come to Carbondale, you will never truly leave.

Kim is brought back to reality by the difficulty of interviewing the morally complicated Dr. Longford. He becomes misdirected in the crowd of eclipse goers as an act of sabotage from the rival news station. The sabotage gave me a little giggle as it reminded me of those very obvious setups in cartoons

The couples are all finally brought together on the hill where Kim and Malcolm first met during the previous eclipse. 

Kim is now interviewing Malcolm for the live broadcast where they reintroduce themselves and express their nervousness and yearning to be reconnected. It seems to be a “cosmic coincidence,” only to be timed by the stars between them.

A final love story blossoms between Reed and Malcolm’s former student, Meredith with little to no explanation. Could this be a good pitch scene for a sequel? Possibly.

Kim and Malcolm finally have their moment to talk about their brief history, both admitting their passing feelings of a connection that had been lost and has now returned with the eclipse.

Kim was able to get the interview that would be the takeoff of her career. Malcolm was able to discuss his book with Dr. Longford on his newly founded podcast. As cheesy as this channel can be, we always end with a kiss.

For the life of these moon-crossed lovers, we can only imagine true love lived out its destiny once again in the Hallmark universe.

For years, my own mother has drained me of any passion that could develop for Hallmark’s cinematic work because of the constant streaming. Like a cheesy hit song you can not escape, that woman still keeps their ratings higher than the summit of Mount Everest. I am not one to be in awe over traditional love stories or same plot story lines, and that was all I felt the channel had to deliver.

The writing for this movie is still a hard delivery to digest, but I believe that Drew and Long gave the interactions (or lack of) throughout a natural and realistic feel. The actors did a fantastic cinematic portrayal of lovers with a flame that never truly died. The passion between the 2 actors felt more than passion for their career. 

I will honestly be watching this movie again in the near future, as if I have not already watched it twice. Applause to Michael Robison and his work that finally made me admit to my mother “I enjoyed a Hallmark original”.

I give this movie 89/100 stars!

Staff Reporter Carmen Tapley can be reached at [email protected]

Advertisement