Hallmark movies, even the mysteries, generally manage to project a sunny disposition thanks to their typically upbeat casts and low-stakes drama. Generally speaking, most of the content on the Hallmark Mystery channel fall into the “cozy murder” genre. But Family Practice Mysteries: Coming Home is not really cozy or comforting, instead it’s just a solid murder procedural that doesn’t ever veer into fluffy, lighthearted territory. While there’s some light romance, this one is all about piecing together the clues to solve a small-town murder.
FAMILY PRACTICE MYSTERIES: COMING HOME: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Masked thieves break into a medical supply warehouse. Despite the building being fairly secure, these people have security codes and keys to let themselves in and they make off with some unidentified drugs.
The Gist: Rachel Hunt (Amanda Schull) is a former Army surgeon who has relocated with her twin teenagers Chloe and Matthew to her dad’s home in a small town after living in Germany. Her husband died while serving in Syria, and she’s got PTSD from serving in Afghanistan, and her kids are struggling to adjust to their move. Despite all of that trauma, they’re as positive and optimistic as they can be, and trying to keep moving forward with their lives.
Rachel now works at a local medical practice, and one of her patients, a man named Ross Alexander, is a 61-year-old man with no health issues. When Rachel tries to reach out to him to give him the results of an MRI one day, she grows concerned when he repeatedly doesn’t answer his phone. After multiple attempts to reach him, Rachel goes to his house where she finds him slumped over his desk, lifeless.
The medical examiner tells Rachel that without any signs of foul play, Ross likely died from a heart attack or stroke, but Rachel doesn’t believe it – this was a man who was the picture of health, and she sets out to investigate what could have happened to him.
Her dad puts her in touch with a local police detective, Jack Quinn (Brendan Penny) to look into the death, and they start compiling evidence that makes them suspicious that Ross’s death wasn’t natural after all. Rachel pushes the coroner for an autopsy despite pushback from the police and the victim’s family, and when they perform one, they find traces of a poison that induces paralysis and can cause death. With that proof, she and Jack realize they have a real murder on their hands. The question is, who had the motive?
They compile a list of possible suspects and chase leads, but as they dig deeper into the investigation (and eventually piece together how the burglary from that very first scene fits into the crime), not only do things become more dangerous, with one suspect getting murdered and Rachel herself becoming the target of the killer, but Rachel and Jack’s own relationship deepens. Because this is Hallmark, baby! What good is a murder mystery if there’s not some innocent flirtation thrown in?
What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Family Practice Mysteries is a straightforward procedural that’s like a cross between Law & Order and Crossing Jordan.
Our Take: Unlike most Hallmark fare, Family Practice Mysteries: Coming Home is straightforward and serious, and that’s mostly thanks to Amanda Schull’s performance as Rachel. She’s playing a woman with PTSD and grief, not to mention the stress she has from parenting two teens who are struggling socially in school. But Schull doesn’t play Rachel as if everything is going to be okay all the time, which is a welcome change from this kind of fare; her character has conviction and a desire to help people, without being saccharine and overly optimistic.
The central mystery in the movie is just fine, the film keeps throwing in red herrings and clues that liven it up, but none of the characters are real wildcards, essentially we’re just here to watch Rachel (a doctor who should definitely not be given as much access to police files as she does) and Jack put the pieced of this puzzle together. They’re a winning combo, with good chemistry and rapport, and while they go on a couple of dates in the film, it will be interesting to see if this becomes a franchise and their relationship develops further. The film benefits from some helpful B-stories too, one that features Chloe and Matt struggling with the “popular” kids at school, and another about Rachel helping a military vet get back on his feet after a health crisis. They’re certainly not integral to the plot but they’re the elements of the movie that round out the edges of the murder mystery.
Parting Shot: Rachel surprises her two kids with a puppy, something they’ve been asking for ever since they moved back to the States. She thanks Jack, who is at her home for a celebratory “We solved a murder!” dinner, for helping her find a dog to adopt, and watches as her kids nuzzle the dog. “So cute!” she says. “I’m flattered,” Jack smiles, a callback to an earlier joke they shared. “I was talking about the puppy, but I think you knew that,” she responds flirtatiously.
Performance Worth Watching: Schull’s performance as Rachel is the heart of the movie. While everyone around her is believable, hers is the only character that’s got some real backstory and she makes Rachel’s specifics come to life.
Memorable Dialogue: “Mom, you should go to his work and ask about enemies, that’s what they do on SVU,” Rachel’s daughter Chloe suggests when she learns her mother is investigating Ross’s death. Considering how much this movie gives off Law & Order vibes, this advice feels especially funny and rewarding because, Chloe, we were all thinking it.
Our Call: STREAM IT! Family Practice Mysteries: Coming Home is a capable procedural drama that’s got likeable actors and solid chemistry. It’s got a formula that could easily translate to a series.
The post Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Family Practice Mysteries: Coming Home’ on Hallmark Mystery, A Solid Murder Procedural That’s Darker Than Most Hallmark Fare appeared first on Decider.
