The Beach House is a rare, welcome departure from typical Hallmark movies in that it depicts a troubled family, characters that are multi-dimensional (for the most part), and emotions that are not all positive and cheery. It also provides the viewer with two eye-catching visual experiences. One is the lovely, mature Andie MacDowell..and the other is Tybee Island, a beach and community South of Savannah, GA. Having spent many summers at Tybee Island, this viewer can confirm that it is still one of the most unspoiled, peaceful and beautiful communities. The filmographer who takes us there in this movie certainly confirms that description of the island. The beauty of the scenery, the ocean waves, the foliage, the stately, yet simple homes..are all photographed with respect and reverence for this undiscovered island. The other treat for ones eyes is Andie MacDowell, who portrays a woman beset by both family and personal problems that need to be resolved. This fine , serious actress is a pleasure to watch as she goes through seemingly insurmountable roadblocks to resolving her many issues. her performance is nuanced and not diminished by any needs to appear glamorous. The other lead roles in the story are handled in more typical Hallmark fashion. The prodigal daughter, who has left her troubled family to succeed in the big city, comes home after a disappointing work experience. Her island boyfriend, again in typical Hallmark fashion, has not moved on with his life after losing her. Minka Kelly, as the daughter, brings almost no drama to her role. She is beautiful and she smiles lot. Chad Michael Murray, as the boyfriend, is an undefined character, who simply seems to be someone to lean on and fall back on in difficult moments. Both actors belong in a more typical Hallmark movie, rather than in this one, which explores so many deeper issues in a complex life. There is also one other cast member, a young pregnant woman, who seems to have no definition in the story except, perhaps, to serve as a Greek chorus in reflecting the family's unresolved and secret issues. The subplot of the film revolves around the protection of sea turtles, and reflects a symbolic reference to birth, life, death and renewal. However, all that notwithstanding, this film belongs to Donny Boaz, who plays the family son. This young actor, relatively unknown (at least to this viewer) portrays the rich Southern son with such authenticity and swagger, it is impossible to take ones eyes off him..He embodies the Southern attributes of confidence that comes with wealth. He is arrogant, he knows his place in the bright light of Tybee. The actor looks the part..with his body gestures, his perfect not-quite-too-long hair, perfectly coiffed, and his snarling mouth. This viewer has known many of these young men who are born into privilege and who never become more than this cliche persona. Boaz depicts this son with pitch perfect accuracy. The Beach House is a serious family drama, not a typical Hallmark film, and very well worth watching..but bring your Kleenex!

I have always forgiven Andie MacDowell because she's lovely and has some charm, but she really is not a good actor. Minka Kelly is on about the same level. Not crazy about Chad Murray, either.

However, the story is somewhat interesting--particularly the evil Southern father and son elements--along with the wonderful turtles, of course. I liked Flo and Toy a lot. But honestly, had I not started this, I wouldn't have missed anything by skipping it.

I'm glad to see Hallmark finally getting back on track with a good Hallmark Hall of Fame movie rather than their usual Hallmark romantic junk.

The Beach House is a very much-publicized Hallmark drama, perhaps because it stars Andie MacDowell. The other star of this film is the beautifully-filmed setting of Tybee Island ..the beach community South of Savannah , Ga. Having spent many summers at Tybee Island, this viewer can attest to its stunning, almost untouched beauty. the photographs showed this beach and community in a truly authentic manner, and it is almost the larger star of this film. Beyond that, there is very little new or original or worthy of positive praise in this film. The story is, indeed, a bit more dramatic and emotionally gripping than most Hallmark movies. It does not aim for the typical path towards a predictable happy ending, even though all Hallmark endings are, in some form or other, resolved as happy. This film explores a family very much torn apart by strong emotions and conflicting needs. Without revevealing the plot details, there is much here that will touch more viewers than the average Hallmark cliche film. There is the prodigal daughter, the ailing lonely mother, a lost love, and a defiant, selfish son. All these relationships conflict and ultimately do resolve..but the road to that resolution is paved with many stormy confrontations and conflicts..(There is also a very graphic hurricane to deal with, so the family drama is enhanced and symbolically play out in a weather event), The characters in the film are sadly, one-dimensional..The beautiful daughter, who left to seek her success in the big city, the boyfriend she left behind who never moved on from this rejection, the ailing mother, and one character that does not seem to have any place in the film..except to add a sympathetic voice to the story..That is the young pregnant woman living with the ailing mother..a sort of Greek chorus to the action swirling in this family. There is also the additional plot theme of sea turtles ..birth, death,and rebirth..a metaphor for the film's theme. Minka Kelly does her best as the daughter..She is beautiful and has a perpetual smile. Andie MacDowell is always lovely to watch. Chad Michael Murray as the abandoned boyfriend lacks any definable attraction strength that would explain the daughter's love for him..but this is Hallmark, after all.

Acting kudos belong to Donny Boaz, who plays the son. The film almost 'belongs'' to him, he is that captivating. ..He is unfamiliar to this viewer but he is a truly a fine actor. He absolutely embodied the role of the arrogant, entitled, wealthy son, with his mannerisms, his stance, his perfect hair and clothes. Many a Southern son looks like this. His acting was pitch-perfect, and kept this viewer interested in his character's development more than in any of the other cast members.

This is a Hallmark movie of some deeper quality than most..but it misses the mark because of some perfunctory, shallow acting on the part of the two young sweethearts..There is absolutely no chemistry between them..and there could have been, had the script attended to developing that .

Still, this is a very warm, touching family movie ..with more depth and drama than most Hallmark films.

Caretta "Cara" Rudland (Minka Kelly) returns home to South Carolina to visit her mother Lovie (Andie MacDowell) as her life in Chicago falls apart. Lovie had taken in young pregnant stranger Mama Toy (Makenzie Vega) and trying to hide her illness. She spends her time caring for sea turtles and her finances are being controlled by her son Palmer. Cara reconnects with her ex Brett Beauchamps (Chad Michael Murray) whom she left behind to go to Chicago.

This is a breezy romance from the Hallmark Channel. It's all nice but without any real tension. It's like a summer on the beach reading a romance novel. One drinks ice tea while the kids build sand castles. It's easy, lovely, and hopefully no drama. This has no weight but that what one expects.

With a better than usual cast, a slightly more serious story and pretty scenery this is above the usual Hallmark standard. Minka Kelly is prettier than TV movie standard. Andie Macdowell is lovely here. Chad Michael Murray uses a rather exaggerated accent.

A city girl comes home and of course you know where she will end up. Her mom is not well. The turtle births are cute to see.

Worth one watch.

The plot is a bit more unusual for a Hallmark movie, though not completely original. Some scenes were frustratingly uncomfortable. Chad Michael Murray's attempt at a southern accent made me laugh at times. The beautiful scenery of the South Carolina island is the best highlight! I saw lots of advertisements for this movie leading up to the premiere, but I was not expecting the story to be so emotionally heavy. Have tissues ready!

What a great movie ! I love And McDowell, so decided to settle in. The movie drew me in, and held my attention 100% the entire time. Touched on so many real life issues in such a tender and intelligent way. I wanted to be a turtle person. I cried no less than five times. Watch this movie, with your Mom, your sister, your brother or your best friend, it will bring you closer. One line jumped out at me, and I must say it was brilliant, when Mom says to her daughter, I hope the beach house becomes more than a place but becomes a state of mind. I live at the beach, and this line couldn't be more true, it does become a state of mind. Can't say enough good about this film. Great going Hallmark, keep on bringing this quality back to the screen.

This movie is not about how someone is acting. It's more about what it is important in life, what is the happiness for you. Where do you see yourself in 5 years. And when those 5 years pass, what will you say, how many moments you will remember.

So different to all hallmark movies. It draws you in straight from the start. Would love more movies like this from hallmark.

There are deeper levels of family issues than your average Hallmark Saturday night premiere. Everyone has some history they need to address.

Some of the acting was better than others. Minka Kelly was OK and held her own. Andie McDowell had her moments also. Others, not quite as good, certainly not Donny Boaz.

The tone was a little more somber than I was looking for on Hallmark for Saturday night.

I only watched this movie because Minka Kelly is beautiful to look at, of course. I will never forget the first movie I saw her in the lame yet funny"horror" movie, The Pumpkin Carver, where she had that real little girly girl voice which only added to her sex appeal. Unfortunately, or fortunately(depending on your preference), much of that little girl voice is gone in this movie. As adorable as Minka is, she is not a good and believable actress in the least.

Not to digress, the overall cast is fairly well-known. Despite her being an actress for a long time and her prominence in the movie industry, I have never found Andie MacDowell interesting, funny or a decent actress -she always seems so disingenuous in anything I have seen her in and this movie is no exception. I thought the overall acting among all the characters in this film not terrible but definitely below par-even for a Hallmark movie.

Surprisingly, I probably found Chad Michael Murray to be the most believable, genuine, likable and down to earth for his character role. And the young pregnant girl who lived with Andie MacDowell was a decent actress and her character was likable as well; unfortunately, she was not in much of the movie.

The movie itself just starts off kind of strange with Minka going to visit her mom, played by Andie, whom she has not seen in about 15 years. In the initial meeting scene, those 2 characters meet and seem to have no real genuine reaction/chemistry for a mother-daughter relationship in the least-it is like watching 2 strangers, meeting for the first time, react with one another on set who have never seen each other or read the script. (They might as well had a staring contest during their first meeting scene instead-would have been more entertaining.) There was no genuine loving chemistry of a mother-daughter dyad. Both characters were pretty wooden which was like watching two cardboard cutouts "acting" and at points where real emotion was required when finding out about Andie MacDowell's condition, for example, her children's reaction was quite abysmal and felt forced with little to no tears. The young pregnant girl was much more believable with emotion concerning Andie MacDowell than her own biological children. And the guy who plays Andie MacDowell's son was a pretty lame and arrogant actor as well- a Bradley Cooper wannabee if you will.

The worst part of this movie was the ending which was totally anticlimactic-in fact they passed right over it(the tear-jerker scenes, probably because the son and daughter could not muster up the tears) where we see Andie MacDowell drop a photo which we can only reckon is indicative of her death. There is no funeral, memorial for her, a tribute to her life, reaction/tears of her children or anything regarding her death; hence, absolutely no tears. They just skip to the one year later bit with everything being back to normal as if nothing ever happened with everyone playing with turtles on the beach. Apparently, there is some kind of analogy with rebirth/life/life after death message with the turtles on the beach and the newborn/new life of the pregnant girl's baby and Andie MacDowell's death and/or life after death. However, the analogy and parallels between these two stories are weak and makes the story no more touching or interesting in the least.

This movie could have been much better if the characters had chemistry and they could actually look like they were really crying or upset when necessary. Or, as much as I dig Minka, if they recast the mother and daughter roles since they were the 2 main characters.

I did not care for this movie and the highlights are basically the beautiful scenery of Tybee Island and if you are into turtles, the turtle scenes.

This is a very sad and depressing movie with very little to enjoy.

Not only is this a very good and emotional movie, my patient is having a bad day. When this movie came on she perked up and started narrating the movie for me. Love it

I really did like this movie a lot, so much so that I read the book after watching the movie about three times. Andie McDowell is very well cast as Lovie who, I think, the book is truly about. I am not a Minka Kellly fan and in all honesty, I did not find her right for the part of Cara. I hadn't even read the book yet, and I just found something offputting about her--I believe she was miscast. She was very superficial--I didn't believe she was able to channel any depth for this important character. I thought Chad Michael Murray was outstanding as Brett as was Mackenzie Vega as Toy. But I think the actor who really portrayed his character well was Donny Boaz as Palmer. Well cast in my opinion with the exception of Minka Kelly. There were a couple of scenes that I did not think play out very well but all in all a very good Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation. Plus, it's a little close to my heart as I was in Savannah in April when this movie premiered and what a beautiful area of the United States it is.

I don't understand some of the comments about the acting. The dialog was a bit formulaic but it is a Hallmark Movie. The scenery by itself would make this movie worth watching. The characters are well developed and well acted. Andie MacDowell and Minka Kelly are wonderful as a mother/daughter relationship. It is a bit weird seeing Chad Michael Murray in the Carolina's again but it was also fun. Makenzie Vega as an adult was interesting after being use to seeing her as the young daughter on The Good Wife and does a nice job. I think if you are a fan of Hallmark Productions you will enjoy this movie.