If you had to jot down the names of some of the greatest Hallmark movies of the last 5-10 years, who would be on it? Would there be heavy hitters like Lacey Chabert, former Hallmark star Candace Cameron Bure and Alison Sweeney? Would Tyler Hynes Make the list? He would for me, but a recent poll revealed which movie was the "greatest" of his on the channel, and I was shook. #Hearties might be happy, however. Let’s break it down.
In a poll Just Jared recently conducted for Hallmark fans, when asked about their favorite movie Tyler Hynes has done for the channel, fans had one resounding answer: 2021’s It Was Always You. The flick stars Hallmark staples Erin Krakow and Tyler Hynes in an unlikely romance between two opposites with good rapport: she a list maker, he living each day as it comes.
Krakow herself saw the results and commented about the win on her Instagram Stories, seemingly revealing to fans though that it wasn’t When Calls The Heart fan support that led to the win. It was apparently the #Hynies fanbase rallying around the flick. She wrote:
Well, this is very sweet. Thank you to all the #Hynies out there for continuing to show Lizzie and (ew) David the love.
Whatever the truth, I'm not here to argue that It Was Always You is a bad Hallmark movie. It's certainly a very memorable title from the last several years. Tyler Hynes has, to me, been the most exciting and relatable Hallmark lead in this timeframe, and I'm glad his movies are getting due notice. It's when you look at #2 and #3 where I get a little salty.
The movie with the second most votes was Sweet Caroline, a fill-your-cup flick about a woman whose sister dies, leaving custody to her too-busy sibling, and which also just so happens to star Lacey Chabert. The third movie in terms of votes was Three Wise Men and a Baby, the bro comedy about roommates taking care of a mysterious baby in the vein of -- you guessed it -- Three Men and a Baby.
Both were attractive, outside-the-box concepts for Hallmark. Both to me blow It Was Always You out of the water in concept. Plus, the scripts are better and the funny moments are funnier (although shoutout to the oyster-eating scene in the Krakow flick; she really pulls it off). All three of these movies have great casts though, with Three Wise Men and a Baby also employing the efforts of Hallmark regulars Paul Campbell and Andrew Walker.
Krakow may have called out the Hynies, but I honestly wonder if this was a case where a slew of Hearties did weigh in, as Just Jared's poll mentioned fans could vote as many times as they wanted. The actress has built a huge fanbase across 10 seasons (with 11 already on the way) of When Calls The Heart on the channel, and as is the case with fan vote things, sometimes the biggest fanbase wins. (Though one must assume Chabert has a slew of fans as well.)
I guess at the end of the day, if you haven't caught any recent movies from the brand, Hallmark is really upping its diversity game, with a wide variety of content looking at wide faction of families and romances. You can check out some of its latest and best with a Peacock Plus subscription.
Of course, there are a lot of other amazing movies out there from the cabler that don't include Tyler Hynes or even other mainstay cast members. There are some great Hallmark Christmas movies, of course, but also some other holiday-themed or at least seasons-themed films that really stand out. Late in 2023, CinemaBlend’s own Danielle Bruncati declared Round and Round, a Hannakuh-themed holiday movie to –maybe– be the greatest of all time.
Would It Was Always You compete on a list of greatest Hallmark films of all time? You'd have some really great stuff to compete with, but if any of you Hynies disagree, I'm open-minded.
