La Dolce Villa (Netflix - 2025) ft. Jacklyn Collier

[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Bran and I love Netflix movies. Hi, I'm Jax and I like Netflix movies. I'm Dan, I guess I despise Netflix movies and this is the Deck The Hallmark Podcast. Deck The Hallmark gets his podcast. And friends host his podcast. We hope you like this jolly podcast.

[00:00:32] Yes, yes, yes. Oh boy. Hello everybody. It's great to be here today. It's great to be joined once again by Jax. Jax, hello. I'm honored to be here for the Netflix movies. Thank you. I think that's because you guys know I have very discerning taste. Yes. Higher quality movies deserve a higher quality guest. I was saying before we started recording like this, you could update your LinkedIn that you're on the Netflix beat now, which is pretty exciting.

[00:01:01] To go from UpTV, UpFaith and Family streaming only. But did you see? I mean, obviously we've been, we were recording those in real time, but they started premiering them on UpTV. Streets out. While we, like I don't know if they heard that we were doing it. They heard that they were getting coverage. Yeah. They were getting coverage. Yeah. I, I, I honestly, I think it's thanks to us and our rave reviews. I think so. For sure. And then next week. The gang over there, the Tara, Joe.

[00:01:32] Lupone. Lupone. And what was the fourth one? Janiah. Janiah. Harper. Harper. We'll go with Harper. Yeah. They really, we, Nila. Yeah. You guys, you all can send your thank you cards to our new P.O. box. That's right. P.O. box 6365 Greenville, South Carolina 29606. That's where you can send our mail. That's pretty cool. Yeah. That was sure. Um, next week Adam Sandler movies. So you're really doing it, Jax. You're really like moving on up.

[00:02:01] We're really, really doing it. You guys. I, and I love mysteries. I mean, I know Dolce Vita was not Dolce Villa. Dolce Vita. Now that's another step up. That's Fellini. We're not there yet, Jax, but we'll get there. But I'm hoping to work my way up. Wait, shoot. Did I watch the wrong movie? We'll find out. What if once a week we did a Fellini movie here on Deck the Hallmark? You know, I'm still praying that we're going to cover West Wing. Of course.

[00:02:28] Jax, if you and I need to start a West Wing podcast on all our free time, we don't do a lot around here. Exactly. And the problem is, is I actually would probably make time to do it, but there's already Josh. What's his name? Has a West Wing podcast and, and he crushes it. He crushes it. He's been doing it for 10 years. He'd finished all of them. Right? Yeah. Yeah. And it's really good show. Like they do a really good job. So it's hard to really justify, but us don't our voices to the mix. That's exactly right.

[00:02:59] I, there is something to be said. He didn't hear you. No. Well, no. I just think there's something like, just cause somebody has done it doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it. That's true. Do your own work. But like, that's why we, Gilmore guys, we didn't do Gilmore girls. Right. Because of that. Uh, back to Bayside. We pretty much shut that down when the Zach Morris trash came out. We did finish it, but you had to, had to be on Bramble Jam plus. So, uh, today we're talking about. It's good, dude. It's me. It's Brendel.

[00:03:29] Okay. It does hit. You went French that time. But it still works. There's so many about the way you say the don. Brandon. Brandon. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Yes, it is. This is how he's going to romance his life tonight. This is how you know, this is how you know Jax is a good actor. Yeah. Well, for me, it's no big deal. You know? For me, no big deal. Oh my God. We're talking, uh, La Dolce Vila. Uh, came out on February 13th. We missed it. We did.

[00:03:59] Or we saved it. We saved it. We saved it for the dark month that is May where nothing happened. Nothing happens. Nothing happens. No one's putting out stuff. And so here we are, uh, covering the movie from February 13th. Are we ready to dive in? I think we should. Uh, okay. I'll like, yes. Yeah. I'm sorry. This is just a terrible seltzer water. I don't know what. Oh, it's the watermelon. Ooh, I love watermelon. I love seltzer, but not together.

[00:04:27] I don't like any watermelon flavored anything. Live your life. Do it. Do what you want to. I was at a restaurant in Greenville. I know we have time for this and just watermelon season just now started and we got watermelon had an appetizer, uh, like a seasonal appetizer that was just fresh watermelon with chamoy tahine and lime juice on it. Okay. It was, what's that first thing you said? Amazing. Chahoym. I actually didn't know the first thing either, but I just pictured the chamoy and the lime juice. Chahoy. Chahoy.

[00:04:57] It's like a, it's like a, uh, oh, oh, hand the watermelon. God bless her. Whose hand is this in the shot? Follow it. I think he's such a GCH. Oh, Karen. I love you. Uh, it's like a, it's like a Mexican condiment. Okay. And then tahine is like a, you can get a tahine, uh, rimmed margarita. Like it's like a little spicy, a little salty, a little sweet and lime juice. It was phenomenal. So good. But watermelon flavored things. Nah, I'm out. That was at Chili's. It was not at Chili's.

[00:05:27] It was at a local place called Willie Taco. That's where it was. Um, all right. Well, shout out Willie Taco. Um, all right. Are you guys ready for a Brunzel to, uh, do a little synopsis for you? You have to stop saying that it's, it's working. It's just his name. It's not the rest. It's just practicing. You're practicing. All right, go. I'm practicing my, uh, Italian. Yeah. Yeah, sure. Brendel. Uh, La Dolce Villa. Uh, February 13th, 2025. Something like this.

[00:05:57] Uh, Eric Fields. He hops on a train heading back to Italy. Why? To find his 24 year old daughter, Liv. Eric has a complicated relationship with Italy, so he's not exactly thrilled to be there. He's even less thrilled to learn that his daughter is apparently trying to buy a villa. Uh, Liv catches him up on what she's been up to.

[00:06:16] She's tutored English in Milan, nannied in Florence, uh, worked at harvesting olives, then came to this village for a wine festival and fell in love. And Eric is like, I thought you'd, uh, you know, come over here for a little bit and then come on back to Ohio. But alas, here we are. They walk into a coffee shop where Eric meets a woman who, uh, clearly strikes his fancy.

[00:06:40] Uh, he immediately starts unloading about how his daughter is being, uh, ripped off by the mayor of this village who's trying to get her to buy some dumb house for one euro. Turns out this woman is the mayor. Uh, Liv explains to her dad that she wants to buy a place here to feel closer to her late mother who was very proud of being Italian. So the three of them go to check out some dumpy houses.

[00:07:07] Apparently the mayor, Francesca, is, uh, doing this one euro housing program to help boost, potentially boost the village's economy by bringing in new people. The first few houses, real bad, real dumpers. But the last one, truly amazing. Uh, the problem though is it's not technically on the list yet.

[00:07:29] Uh, basically when a house, you know, has been abandoned for a long time, they reach out to the, uh, the people who are related. Yes. Succession, if you will, the TV show. And if they, you know, if they don't hear from anybody or whatever it may be, they are then able to, uh, sell it. So she's like, this one's not on the list yet, but I don't see any problem with this one, uh, clearing. Uh, Eric does, uh, goes out with the mayor for gelato to talk more about the house.

[00:07:58] And this guy named Bernardo, uh, shows up who is in charge of the permits and, uh, such. Uh, and he is not fond of the idea of a non Italian buying property in the village. He's where they'll change things like bringing in their, uh, you know, uh, pizzas that aren't good. So it's a, it's a valid concern, uh, as people who like pizza, uh, as, uh, work begins on the house.

[00:08:25] Eric keeps trying to take over and, and pushes live to just renovate it and sell it. But live stands her ground since I want this to be my spot. Eric finds out that Francesca has been widowed for five years. So, uh, just a couple of widowers falling in love. Uh, there's a guy named Giovanni, a chef who is very into live, but, uh, she's not going for it. Eric, however, likes him very much and is super impressed with his food.

[00:08:54] That gets Eric thinking the villa has an authentic brick pizza oven and a chimney. Wow. Maybe there's something we can do. Maybe there's something we can do with this. Yeah. Uh, Eric invites everybody, including Francesca and Bernardo to pitch the idea of turning the villa into a culinary school, uh, which could help boost the local economy. He asked Giovanni to participate and encourages live to give that guy a shot. Eric and Francesca go out on what might be a date. Who can really say? Uh, but things are getting serious.

[00:09:24] Meanwhile, Eric has been gone for two months and his employer tells him that, uh, the, uh, employee actually, uh, tells him that the competition is trying to poach her. It's getting serious over here and she's considering taking the offer because she's not sure if Eric is ever going to come back. Valid. Uh, later Eric and Francesca go to a beach party. They dance and they end up kissing. They head back to her place for, uh, coffee. Yeah. All above board. Uh, the sparks are flying though.

[00:09:53] And Eric begins to wonder if maybe he should just stay here, be close to his daughter, be close to his new, uh, friend, Francesca. Uh, but then Liv drops a bomb. She has been given the opportunity to do a year long interior design, a printer ship and print this ship. It's an apprinter ship. Hey, what's that ship over there? Honk. That looks like a printer ship. Oh, I got printers all over that ship. Sometimes. Oh my gosh. I got to be around you.

[00:10:23] Uh, knowing that at any given second, just one, you could make a mistake. A whole slew of them. And then that's the whole day. The rest of the day, I'm going to hear about the ship that has printers on it. Uh, Eric is like, that's amazing. And Liv is like, uh, but you should stay here. You should help run the villa and then I'll be back. Uh, things take a turn when Bernardo finds out. Working on my boating license. I have an apprenticeship on the apprenticeship. Uh, things take a turn when Bernardo finds out that Eric and Francesca are together and he's not happy.

[00:10:52] At the unveiling of the restored, uh, villa. Um, and, uh, Bernardo shows up and brings these Americans who claim that they are the rightful owners of the villa. You talking about Larry Longo? I'm talking about her. I'm talking about him. I'm talking about the Longos. Yeah. And, uh, Eric basically is like, hey, just pay for the, what we've done. The renovations and the support. Yeah. Like this is your place. It is what it is. Uh, Francesca isn't about to give up without a fight though.

[00:11:20] She investigates and discovers that the Longos are actually related to a different house in town. It's, it's the difference between the Longos and the Lingos and the, in the, in the, in the lounges. And, uh, basically the villa is not theirs. So she rushes to the train station to stop Eric just in time. He, uh, says that he doesn't want to leave and she tells him, well, you haven't lost the villa and you haven't lost me. Come on, stay.

[00:11:46] Some time passes and they open up the culinary school and they all dance the night away. That my friends was. La Dolce Vila. We did it. Thank you, Daniel. I don't like that. Thank you, Daniel. Uh, are you a vampire? Thank you, Daniel. I am going to suck your blood. We're going to take a break. We're going to come back. We're going to talk with La Dolce Vila. Here on deck the hallmark. I got it. Jax is all in her feels over here.

[00:12:16] What's going on with her? Jax, pull yourself together for the light of God. Hello. I feel like I accidentally encouraged Brandon to really try out all these voices and I'm enjoying myself. Sure. It doesn't quite hit like when he just says Brandon in an Italian accent. You know, I get it. I get it. You know, Italian accent. It's like the way of Olive Garden's Italian food. Yeah.

[00:12:43] Dude, I saw somebody take a, uh, Olive Garden bread stick and make it a hot dog bun. That's amazing. Split in the middle, make a hot dog with an, uh, Olive Garden bread stick. Wait, this is, that's genius, right? Like you're saying that could be maybe, maybe the world's next great invention. Yeah. I'm 100%. That's phenomenal. Like you can't stop it. Now you're all in. Well, no, we can go to Costco. Yeah. We can get the hot dog. Get the dogs. Right on up to Olive Garden. There's so many places that sell hot dogs that you don't need to go to Costco for that. You know, I don't need 36 hot dogs.

[00:13:12] You'd have to be a real skinny dog though. No, no. You get the hot dog at the hot. You buy the, the 150 hot dog with the free drink. You just go to cookout. Go to Woodruff Road? No, you get a long boy. That little long boys. Okay. All right. You're not thinking big enough. Okay. I'm sorry. How big is a long boy? Okay. Look up a Costco hot dog. You don't have to type in long boy. You can just type in Costco. Costco hot dog and it'll get you there. Well, I think it's the difference between like, it's a, it's a foot, it's a foot long dog.

[00:13:42] It's a foot long dog. It's a foot long dog. And the other day I was at Costco and I forgot that they were long boys and I got two. You got two dogs? You got two dogs, two long boys. You're over your skis there. No problem for brand. I can down a dog. All right. Let's talk about the, the, the, the, whatever the movie is. La Dolce Vila. Let's start with the hot take is where we share our thoughts on this movie. Jax, what are your thoughts? So I didn't know much about this movie beforehand.

[00:14:09] And when I saw that, the, like the poster for it, when I was about to watch on Netflix and I saw Scott Foley and then this lovely actress is playing his daughter. I had a little bit of a jump scare. Cause I don't mind a May, December romance, but I think he's like 52 and she's 24. And I was like, right. I was just like, I don't think I'm going to feel great about this, but it's his daughter. So what a delight. Um, the last time I saw Scott Foley in anything was on stage, um, in a show called Thanksgiving play.

[00:14:39] And he was brilliant. He was playing a character that dressed exactly like Paul green does like button down shirt, a bunch of rings, like real cool guy vibe. And he was so good. Like, I, I love Scott Foley. I think that his talents in this, like it shows when you, when you're doing one of these movies and you take an actor who's, who's really, you know, quite good. And was there anything about the plot that I thought was fantastic?

[00:15:05] Not really the, it's not my kind of movie really, even though it's gorgeous. I don't really go in for this Italian villa business, but it was shot beautifully. I thought the father daughter connection was lovely. And I thought the romance, um, between him and this, you know, sexy Italian woman was a delight. So overall it doesn't, you know, I wouldn't watch it again. Um, I would watch Scott Foley do many more things.

[00:15:35] Um, that, I didn't mean that in a weird way. Just like put them in more of these. I promise. I wasn't even trying to. Top five things Jackson watched Scott Foley do. Number five. Eat a long boy. Oh, there it is. Um, but I would say so this one. We gotta re-rate the show. It's a dollar fifty. It's a dollar fifty. It didn't move mountains for me, but overall I thought this was very well done.

[00:15:59] And you know, hats off to Netflix for, you know, taking them to, to Italy and making a real sweet rom-com. You were under the impression that I wanted to go to Costco to buy raw boys. To make at home? You've got, you've got, I, all I thought you were wanting to do was, I didn't think you were trying to get one bread stick. You want to sneak one cooked hot dog into Olive Garden. Yes. And I'm crazy for thinking you wanted to pick up an order of bread sticks and go home and make hot dogs. No, no, no, no.

[00:16:26] You want to sneak a Costco long boy into Olive Garden, sit at a table, have them bring you fresh bread sticks, have the hot dog be kind of cold and the bread sticks hot. Yes, the bread stick being fresh is more important. That is the flip of what I would do. No, no, no. The bread stick you can warm up in the oven. It's fine. Oh my God. Dude, it's Olive Garden. I know. Tell me those bread sticks have been warmed up numerous times. Yeah, you know what? I was thinking the same thing as Dan, but brand's kind of changing my mind now. What?

[00:16:55] Were you sneaking a Costco hot dog into Olive Garden? Okay, so first of all, the hot dog comes in the aluminum foil, which will keep it warm for quite some time. And the Costco's not that far from Olive Garden. What if it's good? You have one. You just have one. If you go and buy a bunch of hot dogs, you get a couple dozen bread sticks. You go and put them in the oven. You make the hot dogs on the griddle. You have the perfect combo and everything's the right temperature. Get out of here. Yeah, but the bread stick's not right. But also I don't have to order anything at Olive Garden this way, which is my dream to not order anything at Olive Garden.

[00:17:24] But actually, if you get the unlimited salad and bread sticks and sneak in like five hot dogs, that could be economically fair. Now we're talking about sneaking five hot. Also, I know we shouldn't ever have respect for Olive Garden. Five times one. Have some respect for restaurants to not bring in hot food. Guys, order the bread sticks, go home, let everybody make their money. Sheesh. That's actually a good point, Dan. But Olive Garden makes more money though. Dear God Almighty. If I go.

[00:17:52] I can't believe that you're trying to talk this to be normal. I'm not saying it's normal. Okay, but my version is above board. Your version, you're sneaking Costco long boys into Olive Garden. But also we're not just buying the bread sticks. We're getting the unlimited salad and bread sticks. So brand is right. We're buying more from Olive Garden. I like how you're just here. I love it, Jack. I love how you're just here. If you buy an order of bread sticks to go, that's a, what is that, 350? I'm not saying you can't do it your way, but to act like sneaking food into. Fine, I'll ask.

[00:18:22] How about I ask? Okay. I'll call Olive Garden. That's not what you said. Based upon the information you gave me. No, this is what I think is important. I don't think that there is anything morally wrong with sneaking a handful of long boys into Olive Garden if you spend more money. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Typically it's rude to sneak food from somewhere else into another salad. Who's going to get mad? Olive or Garden? Who's going to be offended? Both of them. You don't want to. Are you just holding them in your bare hands or do you have them in like a Tupperware? He's sneaking them in.

[00:18:52] No, I'd probably put them like in my jacket pocket. He's wearing a jacket? I got one of these kangaroo pouches. Oh no. Okay. But they're in the aluminum foil. I'm not raw dog in it. Oh okay. I thought they were just bare dogs. No, they're not bare dogs. They're not nude dogs. They're not raw dogs. No. No raw dogs. Where were we? Oh, my thoughts on the movie. Your hot take. I liked the movie. I, uh, yeah, I thought, I didn't know anything about this going in. I also had the same exact concerns as Jack's looking at the cover.

[00:19:21] Uh, cause I, I, you know, I've been conditioned, uh, to, to see two people on the cover of a Hallmark movie and know that those two are going to get together and up together. Yeah. So I saw these two and I was, I had my concerns. Uh, Scott Foley, uh, wowsers. Uh, what a looker, what a looker that I think he's, he just keeps getting better looking. Like 100%. What's up with that? He's 52.

[00:19:47] You said by the time he's like 92, he's just going to be like a hundred out of 10. Like, I don't know what's going on here, but I was like this Scott Foley from Felicity. That's Scott Foley. Like he looks unbelievable in this movie. Yeah. And the eyes, you can just tell things have happened to him. Yeah. Yeah. I'd like for him to tell me about it over, over, you know, a few long boys at the OG down the street. Um, yeah.

[00:20:15] And I thought, uh, I love garden getting so much play this week. So much play. I thought, uh, the actor who played live was delightful. I'd never seen her before. And, uh, Francesca, she was great. Lots of like really great performances all the way around. I wasn't necessarily like invested in any of the romance, but I found the, uh, the, the father daughter side of it to be quite compelling.

[00:20:39] And I now, like, I never, I never thought about buying a villa for a dollar for the, you know, the dirt, the one Euro deal that they have going on over there. Um, if I can get a house that looks like this for one Euro boy, boy, howdy, boy, howdy. What a, what a house this was. They walk in and they get the, the arches of like of the old stone and stuff. And I'm like this place so much nicer than all of the other places.

[00:21:07] And for one Euro, you'd be dumb not to do that deal. Yeah. Um, so shout outs, but I liked it then. Yeah. So if you had never seen one of these movie of the weeks and you were trying to be pitched on, if it wasn't Christmas, why you watch them? I imagine the pitch would be something like the scenery is nice. It's an easy watch. Everybody just seems to be having a fun time. It's not a big deal. It's very innocuous. That is the pitch for this movie.

[00:21:35] I think the crazy thing is, is Hallmark doesn't live up to those standards for me a lot of times, but it's amazing what happens when you get really capable leads, put a real budget behind it. And the scenery plays a role in the actual movie that makes a difference. This is not going to win any awards. There's a bunch of wait, what's, but Scott Foley, the aforementioned Scott Foley is timeless and amazing. I do want to shout out these, these two actresses who we've talked about them, but not their names. Violante Placido plays the love interest of Scott Foley. Their chemistry is off the charts. It's great.

[00:22:05] And then Maya Rufiko plays his daughter. She does a great job. I've never seen either of them in anything. They both are excellent. Scott Foley is excellent. The movies. Yeah, it's Matt. It's whatever. Nobody cares. It just so happens that this, all the other villas that were a buck sucked. And this villa that's a buck is amazing. Um, so there's plenty to unpack from a standpoint of that.

[00:22:30] It doesn't make sense, but I can see, unlike a lot of the movies we watch, I can see how, if you want to turn your brain off and have a beer, a glass of wine, and just have something on in the background. Beer and a glass of wine? You could do both. Wow. Yeah. You could double fist it. That's a whole lot. Double fist it? A couple of long boys in there? Yeah. A couple long boys. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Living the dream.

[00:22:52] Um, nothing pairs, nothing pairs better with a Costco long boy than a Pinot Noir and a Coors Banquet beer. Brother, if you're not down and near glizzy with a, with a nice red, well, I mean, what are you even doing? You know what I mean? So like I can see it's not necessarily for me, but this fits the bill. It does the thing it's supposed to do. Everyone is uniformly great.

[00:23:18] As far as acting in the movie that helps a ton and it all works out. And you know, uh, at the end of the movie, you get white American Scott Foley sitting there over the sunset, looking at all he's accomplished in a foreign country, which is like the perfect cherry on top of this. Uh, that's the dream right there. It's just like another, another one of the column for the white guys. We did it, man. We just crushed it again. And, uh, you know, we get a bad rap here, but, but we got this one. Scott got us one.

[00:23:46] He does have to live with the reality that his, uh, Italian girlfriend is the one that really saved the villa. That's true. He's going to have to live with that. He doesn't have to say it out loud though. Yeah. He can internalize it. If it wasn't for how much she liked him, she probably would have even looked into She probably wouldn't have done anything. So in a sense I did it. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. It's pretty much me. Yeah. Uh, it's not for all the fields where we talk about what in this movie gave us feels, uh, Jax. Um, so these, um, Oh, just to circle back, Dan, thank you for saying the actresses names.

[00:24:16] I was afraid to butcher it and Brianne, it's better off that you did it. So thank you for that. Um, right. You and me, we'll let Dan take care of that. It's Jackson Braddorn do names. What are you doing? We try, we try. Um, I loved the little, I had such feels for the, the little, um, elderly three little Antonias. Yeah. Yeah. They're distinct personalities were so much fun. I love how the one was all horned up. Like they were just this cute little trio.

[00:24:46] It was such a delight. I, I absolutely thought it was wonderful. Um, and I did have some big feels in that, um, last big father daughter scene where they're sitting on the bench and you know, they're, they're looking out and they're just having this heart to heart about, you know, um, his wife, her mom, and how, you know, having this villa, the, the, she's still here.

[00:25:11] I just thought that was really beautiful and connected and her giving, um, the daughter live, giving the blessing to move on with this hottie. I just thought this whole scene was just really, really sweet. So, um, and also just like food feels I had food feels throughout the movie. Dan, I think you said it very well when you're just like, this does what it's supposed to do. Yeah. Yeah. You want to see some good Italian food and you're not at Olive Garden because that's where it's authentic.

[00:25:38] Uh, and then, uh, and you see the real Italy, you see a villa, you see attractive people. It all works. Yeah. Uh, yeah. I mean, I got to take the horned up olds off my list and Jack's already took that one. So that's, sorry. That's okay. Horned up old. That's okay. Guys, I gotta be honest with you. I cannot stop thinking about a hot dog and a, uh, Olive Garden Breach. This is where we're at today. I don't like, I don't like, I still have a whole day ahead of me. This is the first thing we're doing today. Hey, smoothies in front of you too.

[00:26:07] You don't even like, yeah, I'm going to need some time, man. Yeah. I thought that, um, I said it in a hot take, but the chemistry of these two, um, are unbelievable. Like they're just the, the romantic leads and the romance storyline here is the C I would say Jack's the C storyline, like the father, daughter, and then the villa are probably a and B in any order. And it's the C storyline.

[00:26:34] And so it almost to the first half hour of the movie, you think they don't even need a romance in this movie. Like you, it would be fine without it, but boy, I'm glad they did it because as brands that the horned up holds, like they're like the chemistry is better than 90% of the chemistry in the Hallmark movies that we, we watch. So very well done there. That was my feels. Let's, uh, let's take a break. I love it. Let's take a break. We'll come back. We'll get to the way with the, what the Hallmark here on the Hallmark.

[00:27:12] Can I go back to something you said earlier? Please do. Uh, you are under the impression that they are reheating breadsticks at Olive Garden. Do you think they're making the breadsticks fresh every basket they bring out, Brian? Heck yeah, brother. Buddy. No, that's a new batch. Buddy. That's why sometimes you probably think they make the dough at Subway too. No, I didn't say that. Buddy. They're not reheating. It's like, it's like chips at a Mexican restaurant and not reheat. They're sitting in a warmer. The Olive Garden is busy from the, listen. That's different than reheating. From those.

[00:27:42] That's different than reheating multiple times. Okay. Well, if you make them in an oven and put them in a warmer, what do you call that? Keeping it warm. Yeah. Okay. In my estimation. Reheating. Reheat implies a cool down. Stay with me. No, it doesn't. It implies a cool down. Cool down. Great. When it leaves the oven, Brian, it gets cooler immediately. And then they put it in the warmer. Some of them go straight out. Some of them go in the warmer. It's just how restaurants operate. You have to acknowledge that, Dan.

[00:28:11] There's a big difference between oven to warmer to table versus oven to a bag to your car, drive home, put it in the oven, put it in the oven. Very little. Very little. Very little. But my point wasn't that they're reheated anyway. My point was, you're getting reheated breadsticks in Olive Garden. You can reheat them at home too. You're getting still heated breadsticks from Olive Garden. I think that's an important distinction. For those of you that love Olive Garden, I need you to hear what I'm saying, not what I'm not saying.

[00:28:41] Because I'm giving Olive Garden a hard time does not mean they're not successful. And that does not mean they're not for someone. Okay? I'm not here to yuck anybody's yuck. I love Olive Garden. It's actually making me want to eat Olive Garden, which makes me think they should be sponsoring this. And it would be a genius. Like they really, they really should be paying you guys big bucks for this. I haven't been to Olive Garden in maybe a full decade, maybe 15 years. Oh, I've got to be honest. I can't remember. I go at least once a calendar year.

[00:29:11] I can't remember the last time I was at Olive Garden. I can't remember it. And I literally, it might be 20 years. That explains so much. Yeah, it does explain so much about you. But my thing is this, is if I was really wanting to go to Olive Garden, which I'm not, but if I wanted to go to give another shot, the one in town here, it's crazy busy. It's always busy. All the time. It is. It's Saturday afternoon at 2 30 in the afternoon. It's on a wait. Yeah, it's like carton out of room in the parking lot.

[00:29:40] It's a bad parking lot. It's a bad parking lot. Yeah. Let's go to the way. What's we're talking about? Well, this movie in the neighborhood when you're here, your family, I live for frustrating Dan with my takes about various foods. That's what I live for. You and I love food. You love different food than I do. That's right. But my frustration was purely the best way to do a breadstick hot dog is sneak a bunch of cooked dogs.

[00:30:10] You have to do it. You have to acknowledge that that's a better way. It is. Honestly, as the neutral third party, I'm not convinced either way. Of course not. Of course not. Yeah. Yeah. Jax isn't taking a strong stand on it. Get out of here. It's time for the way. Well, Jax, what you got? I've got to whoever was Scott Foley's stunt double is like twice. Oh God. When he's flipping, it's like, dude, he's been in the weight room. Totally.

[00:30:38] And also look, I am glad like that was a horrific fall and the little Antonia's are laughing. He, he pops up right away. That's fine for this movie, but that would have been something that you would have seen. And it would have been like, should we actually call? Yeah. The fact that these three old Italian women immediately start laughing is, is a little bit demonic. Like completely.

[00:31:05] If they see, he pops up, laugh all you want. Dumb American doesn't know the city went down the thing too fast. Brake stopped working, did a full flip over a wall landing. God knows where we didn't see. And these Italian women laugh like it happens every day. Yeah. They didn't get up. Nobody checked on him. It's just like, that's funny. Maybe he broke his neck. Ha! Like that's basically what happened. That's what was crazy.

[00:31:34] It was like, this wasn't just a wipe out. This was like, you probably would have ended up in the hospital with what happened. For sure. For sure. And then the, my second, wait, what was at the end, the scene that I mentioned with the feels when they're sitting on the bench together and her suitor is like watching them and eating a plate of pasta. Oh, it's so creepy. What the actual, what was that? Why did they have that? It was the weirdest. It's one thing to have this guy in the background. That's already weird. And like nod and smile.

[00:32:03] But you see it in the frame. They're talking and he's over like, I think Scott Foley's left shoulder about 30 or 40 feet back. But then we get a closeup of him like, yeah. Yes. Father, daughter time. Really weird. The way he's eating the pasta, it seemed creepy rather than like, I'm so glad they worked it out and I feel heartened by this. I was like, no, get out of here. So those are my only two. Fair. I have a few.

[00:32:29] One, as they're looking at, going to look at some villas, he says, you know, they're in really bad shape. And one of them has a hole in the ceiling. And he says for one Euro, I at least expect a ceiling. Why? Why would you like not only are you getting a structure, you're also getting the land. Like the land itself is worth more than one Euro.

[00:32:56] So to sit there and be like, I expect a ceiling buddy. It's a, it's one Euro. Like that's, you're already getting significantly more than what you pay for there. So I don't know. Like just lower your expectations of it. But, um, I love that she's like talking to her dad and she's like, Hey, actually like I've, I've maxed out all my credit cards already. Like that's what like every parent wants to hear from their 24 year old that they're in the, they want to buy a house and they want to renovate it.

[00:33:26] But also I've already maxed out all my credit cards. Like I could just, I like, he didn't react strongly enough to that. Like, Oh you, but well, he reacts so strongly to other stuff. Didn't she say they're going to reimburse it? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. But, um, yeah, which she does, but yes, yes. Um, her, his, uh, booth thing, uh, keeps some of her books in the oven and it just seems so dangerous to me.

[00:33:52] Like I understand that, you know, you've put your books in the oven, but one day, you know, you're, you might not be thinking, you might be like, I gotta, you know, preheat the oven and like, that's just, it's a hazard waiting to happen. Guys, please don't store your books in the, in the oven. It just doesn't seem safe to me. It's ridiculous. Jax, do you store your, any books in the oven? No, but growing up the dishwasher that my parents had, they put, they put papers in it. They use it as a filing cabinet.

[00:34:21] But a dishwasher isn't lighting anything on fire. That's true. That's true. Worst case they get wet. They just would have soaked my birth certificate, but that's fine. Whatever. But I mean, you still, you still would have had a house. Talking about the birth certificate was in the washer? Why did they do this? What? Like in lieu of, in lieu of like a, like a, like a lock box, they. Yeah. We're in the, we're from the coal region. We were just doing whatever. We had two little basketball hoops in our kitchen. Like it was a free prop. Jax, you can get away with a lot by saying you were from the coal region.

[00:34:51] But we asked why your birth certificate was in the dishwasher and you say we're from the coal region. That is those, that couldn't be more non-sequent. And so you all just, you didn't use the dishwasher. No, we did it. Nah. You didn't use the dishwasher. Imagine having a dishwasher and being like, this is the perfect filing cabinet. And we will now just wash our dishes by hand. Yeah. We're going to put them kids to work. That's exactly. Coal region, y'all. Coal region. I don't know what else it is. Coal region.

[00:35:20] Last but not least, there's this couple in the coffee shop that we, first time we walk in there, they're arguing and Liv is like, they break up like every day. It's a whole thing. Towards the end of this movie, he walks, Eric walks in there and this, you know, the guy's real sad. And he's like, it's really over this time. And he like gives him this like pep talk about how the things that we, you know, that we fight for or whatever.

[00:35:48] It was like, maybe it's meant to be like, I don't know. Maybe the couple that breaks up every day isn't meant to be, isn't meant to be like, just cause I don't know. It just seemed, uh, I know that he was flying high this day. You know, he's got, he's got his new boo thing. He's living his best life, but you can't like, just, I don't think they should be together. Is that, am I, am I, am I, am I fighting like that every day? Probably not a good recipe for, I'm over here. I think I listen.

[00:36:16] I love, I love love and I love listen, go for it. But it's weird that he goes every day. He basically Scott Foley's advice is, is that the fact that you're fighting every day proves that you love each other. And that is not true. Real bad advice gang. It's just bad advice. Scott, you've been out of the game a few years. What are you a Southern Baptist preacher? Maybe sit, sit the next few plays out is all I'm saying. Uh, what you got?

[00:36:41] You mentioned it in your synopsis brand, but it's comical how much nicer this villa is than the other ones she has shown first. They show her three or four villas that have a significant glaring, uninhabitable at the time problem. And then they show her this villa, which is pristine and they've made it messy on purpose to try to fool you into thinking that it's dilapidated.

[00:37:08] Like literally you can see that it's really nice and they've just like set deck has come in and made it dusty and like worn, but it's clearly not that. Like it's the scenes where this villa looks bad. They're the last scenes they shot in this movie. I guarantee you like they, they did it all because it looked great. And then they go and they make it look air quotes bad. It's, it's crazy how much nicer it is.

[00:37:35] At one point they're in the kitchen and they pull up there. There is this authentic original Moroccan tile in the kitchen and they've covered it with like 39 cents a square foot laminate. And they're pulling up this laminate and the daughter's like, I've always dreamed that my house would have Moroccan tiles. I've got great news for you because for one Euro, you got it. And someone covered it up with laminate for some reason. We don't know why they just did it.

[00:38:05] Uh, we also watch a lot of these movies brand where at some point someone realizes like an idea just flies into their funnel. It's just, I, I could quit everything and do the thing I love. Like that is something that happens a lot in these movies. It's like, why don't I stay in the small town and, and run a bakery or why don't I finally pursue my dream of carpentry or whatever it is? This is the worst one I've ever seen.

[00:38:32] Scott Foley has clearly, he's super wealthy. He loves to cook. He has no family back home. None. His only living family is in Italy and we are late in this movie. And he goes, I can't possibly do it. Could I, I couldn't possibly move to Italy where your only family is in a beautiful $1 villa with a, with a pizza oven already installed. And you have plenty of money to spare.

[00:39:00] Yeah, you possibly could do it. Scott. I think you could pull it off. If you think real hard, I bet you don't even have to go back home. I bet you can hire movers to get your stuff over. This is the no brainer of the century. It's not like when somebody goes to Ireland and their family's back home and everything's back home, but they love a dude here. This guy has literally no reason to, to stay in the United States. None. You just do it, bro. Just come on out. And there it is.

[00:39:30] Uh, Scott Foley for most of the movie is a really good, loving, protective father. But at one point he just goes overboard with the fact that she doesn't, doesn't know what she's doing. He begins just talking to other dudes about selling the place and all right, dude, like maybe back off just a hair, just a little bit. Um, and then last but not least, actually, I'm going to save that. I'm going to say that for what the hallmark. That's okay. It's time. It's time for what the hallmark is where we wonder what could have been.

[00:40:00] Maybe it gives the clarity question. We still have, what are you still wondering about? Jacks? Um, I am just not feeling this romance with live and the pasta eating guy. He's a handsome guy. He's a good actor. Like nothing. It's Giovanni. Giovanni. Giovanni. Giovanni. All right. Well, that one, not quite as good as the Brandon, but we'll get there. It's Giovanni. Yeah. Say it louder. That'll help. It's Jim. Yeah.

[00:40:28] Um, yeah, I just, I think she was right. I know we were going to, it was going to be this thing where she's like, oh, you're on the charm offensive. We know by the end, he's going to wear her down or she's going to like, I think her instinct was right. No, I don't think he's the guy. I wish him well, but I was not feeling that whatsoever. Uh, fair. Uh, there is, uh, in the very final scene, they're at the plate.

[00:40:56] It's the big opening and, uh, you know, a dance party takes off. And there is a guy who I think is an extra who's just causing havoc on the dance floor. He's like going around grabbing people by the arm and doing the thing where you like, you know, swing your partner around and around. And he's running around like he's about to like start a mosh pit. What, who, who is this guy? And I just want, if this guy's listening, like I saw you, I see you, I appreciate you.

[00:41:26] And I just want to know like what, like, I can't believe that nobody stopped him. Like he is going so much harder than everybody else is on the dance floor. And I think he's an extra and I don't know why they let him stay. Can you believe that no one stopped him? Or can you believe that no one said to everyone else, we need to kick it up to this. It's a, it's a, it's a both and I think I think I do think that everybody else was matching energy except for him.

[00:41:52] And I think he probably should have brought it down, but I'm glad he didn't cause it was awesome. And I just want to know what his deal is. Dano. Uh, yeah. Early on they go out for gelato and it's, it's the two leads. It isn't. And there's the guy who doesn't want Scott Foley around and he's buying the gelato. And then he's like, do you want anything? And this guy says chocolate, but only if you're buying and why? Like it's gelato. We're here. Like is the $4?

[00:42:20] Is that the breaking point for you as a, as a person who needs or wants gelato? Like, is this only a, you got a full-time job. Like you're out for gelato. You you're all there. You're only getting gelato if he's paying. Is that, is that what I'm to understand? Does he have a rule? Like I never pay for one of those things where it's like, I don't really, I don't really care that much to buy it myself. But if it's like a round, I'll do it.

[00:42:49] So if you're already buying somebody, want to throw one on their shirt, I'll have it. Like a round of drinks. Yeah. A round of gelato. It's like, I don't really need another drink, but if someone's getting another round of drinks. You mean to tell me you think he'd thrown back three or four gelatos? I don't know. No, I think it's possible that he's there and he's like, what? Like I, I wasn't planning on getting a lot. I'm not driving. Yeah. I think it's one of those things, you know, it's like, whatever. Like if you're offering, you know, I don't know if it's a, and maybe this is more of an American male thing.

[00:43:17] And I think it's in a little bit of a, it's a little bit toxic, but like, I think it's funny that he didn't try and get his own gelato because of wanting to like signal to the mayor. Like, Oh, I got the money. Don't worry. But instead he's like, Oh, Scott Foley, you have to buy it. Yeah. It was like the reverse of that. It's like, you're not paying for, you're not paying for my gelato. I have $4 and I can. That's exactly right. Yes. Yes. But no, he does not do that. He's like, you better pay for it. The European way is please buy me gelato. That's right. Oh, you're buying. Absolutely.

[00:43:47] I'll do it. Yeah. I feel I'm, I'm so European. I love it when people buy me gelato. I never really want to go and get it, but like when it happens, I'm really happy about it. What's your favorite flavor? I don't really like it. Oh, okay. But you love it. That was like a, if I love it when people buy me gelato, you just like, like you would like, if I got you some long boys. Yeah. Yeah. Of course. I'd be pumped. I'd be pumped about it. He just likes free food is what we're trying.

[00:44:16] I don't like buying things by and large. And so, but I'm happy when it happens. It's like, Hey, I got this for you. It's like, Oh, that was really great. But I never want, I'm never going to go. You're never going to go buy somebody else a gelato. No, I would buy, if they want gelato, I'd buy it for them. Okay. I'm just saying, I would like. You're not going to go buy yourself gelato. I would never, I'm never craving ice cream so much where I would go and get ice cream. Same.

[00:44:42] But if ice cream's happening, I will happily eat the ice cream. That's where I am with ice cream. Actually. Yeah. I get that too. That's all I'm getting. That's all I'm getting. Yeah. We did it, everybody. Congratulations to us. Hey. Over the next couple weeks, Jax, you're going to be back and we're going to be covering Murder Mystery 1 and Murder Mystery 2, the Netflix classics. Just came out six years ago. We finally, I mean like, we're getting it right in time. Well, it's too good. Saving it. We're saving it. It's too good to not cover these movies with Jax. Well, I mean, she's a mystery maven. We know this about her. Thank you so much.

[00:45:13] She loves the mysteries and she's our Netflix correspondent. And so it makes too much sense here. It's mystery. And it just so happens there's two of them. And it's like we needed two weeks to fill in the Hallmark. So it's about the Netflix mysteries is what it's about. That's exactly. That's exactly. I won't hear it any other way. Nope. Hell. Come on back for that. It's going to be a lot of fun. And then Dan, you and I, I think we're going to be back tomorrow with another episode. I love that. Come on back for that. Until then, maybe the first to wish you a Merry Christmas. Deck the Hallmark is a Brave Will Jam podcast is produced by Aaron Shea.

[00:45:42] What? For more information on Deck the Hallmark, you can go to deckthehallmark.com. For more information on the Deck the Hallmark family, you can go to bramblejamplus.com. Deck the Hallmark is presented by Philo TV. For a free trial of Philo, go to philo.tv slash DTH. You're about to hear some ads that help keep the lights on here in the old studio. Thanks for listening or don't listen. It's really up to you at this point.

[00:46:12] It's at the end of the show. I mean, you're listening to me. Hi. But here they come. I promise they're coming. Yep. Here they are. Happy day.