Far from Home (2014)

(On Cable TV, October 2021) The premise of Far from Home ought to feel familiar: “Prodigal child returns to their hometown where they discover the meaning of their lives, and romance along the way” is the ur-plot of Lifetime/Hallmark made-for-TV movies, and the only halfway interesting thing about this film is how it goes for a male protagonist. (The formula is usually told from a female perspective.)  Our protagonist is a bitter failed writer—there’s not much tying him to the city except his initial obstinacy and overall attitude. Back on familiar grounds, he discovers that he has inherited his uncle’s town newspaper, and that the local lawyer showing him around is curiously interested in him. His resistance to the village’s insistence on claiming him as a native son predictably fades away in time for the climax, with a little bit of an evil-developer subplot and lightning-fast romance to spice it up. This is comforting filmmaking—there aren’t that many difficult conflicts, everything is neatly wrapped up in the end, and the British Columbia mountain scenery is used to good effect. As with other made-for-TV romantic comedies, this genre offering aims to deliver exactly what is expected of it. The protagonist is perhaps a bit too dour for his own good at first, but we all know where it’s headed. There is (as is often the case with made-for-TV movies) a thorough and rather funny romanticization of what fiction writers do, but Far from Home does have its charm and isn’t a waste of time, despite slow pacing and obvious plotting: director Michael M. Scott hit his targets and leave a good impression.