Easter Under Wraps
Grade C-
Fiona Gubelmann – Erin Cavendish
Brendan Penny - Bryan
We start out watching chocolates getting made at the Cavendish Chocolate Company… and I have absolutely no problem watching this.
Now we see a woman looking into the window of a Chocolate Shop. This is Erin Cavendish, Director of Marketing and daughter of the owner of the company.
I’d be super smiley too if my Dad owned a chocolate company.
My Dad is a physics teacher – so not the same thing at all.
Look out Erin, ChocoMate just opened up across the street! How rude!
Oh dear, the competition looks like they make delicious chocolates with a modern flair. Maybe Erin should pack up her traditional chocolates and go.
Now Erin is back at the corporate office. She takes two steps off the elevator and her assistant, Parker, immediately hands her a cup of coffee and some notes for the board meeting. Does Parker camp out in front of the elevator every day to do this? Because that would be awesome.
At the board meeting, we find out that it is 6 weeks until Easter and that the Cavendish Company has begun to automate its chocolate making. The Chief of Operations, Carter, wants all the factories to become automated.
Foster Cavendish, the owner of the company and Erin’s Dad, chimes in to give a bleak chocolate report. “As we know from last year, for the first time in Cavendish history, Easter sales were down. Also, our VP Bryce Cameron was just poached away by that modern new company Choco-Mate. Also, we’ve had a recent lag in sales.”
For the love of God, can someone get Mr. Cavendish some Visine?
No wonder he’s so grumpy.
Erin pipes up to remind everyone that, from a marketing point of view, the fact that their chocolates are handmade is a part of their brand and if they automate, they will lose that.
What a pickle! (or a yawnfest…you choose)
Dad says, “Maybe I should go to our flagship factory in Sweetwater, roll up my sleeves and talk to the guys on the front lines and find out what is going on,” and Erin jokingly replies, “You could always go undercover and disguise yourself as one of the factory workers.”
“That’s f***ing brilliant!” says Dad
Tag your It.
Me? But who will bring me my coffee everyday?
Erin argues (a lot), “But I haven’t even been with the company a year! Who will run the marketing department here? I don’t know the first thing about factory work! I HAVE AN MBA!!! Waaaah!!
Her Dad basically tells her to grow a pair, gives her a chocolate bunny and leaves. Sorry sister, but it looks like nepotism has its limits.
In the next scene we meet Bryan, Head Chocolatier for the Cavendish Sweetwater factory, presenting a "Chocolate Buttercream Treasure Chest" to COO Carter as a potential new product. “I made it…personally,” he assures Carter.
Ahhh, and here is his new chocolate "creation"
Side Note: Sorry Bryan, I used to be a pastry chef, and this is just sloppy.
Also, chocolate buttercream is either a filling or an icing, and your weird chocolate buttercream coffin has neither, so get your s*** straight.
Bryan continues his presentation, “The box itself is completely edible and the best part is that it opens and there are candies inside!”
Carter could care less, but dude sure likes purple.
Carter rejects the sloppy chocolate buttercream box that has no buttercream because he is good at his job. Get back in the car Bryan.
Meanwhile, Erin gets to her B&B in Sweetwater and meets Lila and Grant who used to work at the Cavendish factory with her father. Now they’re retired and run the Cavendish Chocolate Museum. Erin’s reaction to this information is to laugh goofily for some reason.
Although she introduces herself as Veronica Erinson, Lila and Grant know who she really is and set her straight right away.
Next, we are inside the Sweetwater chocolate factory and we see Bryan grab a handful of cocoa beans off a conveyor belt, check them over, and throw them back onto the belt with a look of disgust. Is barehanded and touched all over what they mean by “handmade” in this factory?
Yeesh, use some gloves dude.
Meanwhile Erin is starting her first day at the Sweetwater factory as Veronica Erinson. Here she is meeting Susan, the factory manager. On Susan’s bookcase stands a small photo of Erin and her father with her real name on it. Uh oh, this photo may come into play later when it is convenient for the scriptwriters.
Manager Susan complains about her broken office chair in front of Erin. She has asked for a new one repeatedly from corporate, but no one listens. This is the kind of hard-hitting, behind-the-scenes, information Erin is looking for!
Susan tells Erin (aka Veronica) that the Cavendish company has a great marketing team. And Erin replies, “Thank you!” like a dumba**.
#worstundercoverbossever
Susan tells Erin/Veronica that she’ll be working one of the assembly lines making the Buttery Bunny and Erin replies, “The Buttery Bunny overtook the Rainbow Rabbit in sales for the last two years.”
Oh okay, Erin is not the #worstundercoverbossever…she’s just an idiot. Got it.
And here she is failing at everything.
By the way these are the shoes she wore to stand on her feet all day and work with splattering chocolate.
The factory bell rings and she says, “It’s been such a long day! I'm exhausted!”
Then we find out that it was only the lunch bell. What, is she a millennial? Because that would also explain the shoes.
Bryan comes over as she is at lunch and introduces himself as Head Chocolatier and Quality Control Supervisor. Then he promptly starts to insult the company in front of Erin, a new employee on her first day.
He says management:
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has no clue as to what actually goes on around here.
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sits in an ivory tower and makes decisions about people
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They rarely visit
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They don’t listen to new ideas
D*mn, I certainly hope Bryan is role playing the part of a toxic employee as part of Erin's orientation, because otherwise he is a terrible supervisor.
After politely listening to him vent Erin says, “I’m sure management means well..” but Bryan rudely interrupts her, “I’m sorry, but whose side are you on?”
Side Note: Geez Bryan, calm down. Stop badgering the new girl who has been here for literally 4 hours – can't you see she’s completely exhausted and her shoes are ruined?
Side Note B: Also, seeing as this is a romance movie, I am not going to call this a “meet cute,” it’s actually more of a … “Here meet this a**hole.”
Erin goes back to the B&B and finds out from Lila that Bryan is a widower with a young daughter named Madison. Lila also tells her that the Sweetwater Easter Festival will be happening soon and that it is one of the most popular events of the year.
Of course it is.
The next day Manager Susan tells Erin that she will be working with Bryan. Erin responds by saying that she and Bryan don’t get along.
Side Note: After exactly one day on the job it might not be the best idea to argue about your assignment and tell your boss's boss that you can’t get along with your boss.
Red Flag #1
Then Erin’s cell phone rings and she interrupts Manager Susan to take a personal phone call during their meeting. Susan is not amused.
Red Flag #2
She goes to work with Bryan and he says they got off on the wrong foot which sort of intimates that she had something to do with their super uncomfortable first meeting when she did not. So FYI, I still think Bryan is a douchbag at this point. Let’s move on.
Because she failed at chocolates, now Erin is going to be working with Easter baskets which have recently been automated. Bryan is unhappy with the baskets made by machines and shows her the difference between the "machine-made" Easter baskets and "handmade" ones to prove his point.
If “handmade” means you put three times as much stuff in the basket as the machine does, then yeah…handmade is better.
Bryan tells her he fell in love with the artistry of chocolate at culinary school. “To be able to create something of pure beauty. That’s chocolate to me.”
Then he breaks an ear off a chocolate bunny and gives it to her and they look at each other intensely over the ear.
Side Note: I don’t get it…he’s been kind of a jerk until now…so why is she all of the sudden interested?
That night, she eats dinner with the couple running the B&B. They tell her about the “Legendary Cavendish Eggs” that the company used to make, which are basically gynormous chocolate decorated eggs with a toy inside. Apparently, the company doesn’t make them anymore because “things have changed" and "the market has changed”.
Yes, and those changes are called; Childhood Obesity and Rampant Tooth Decay.
Good Lord, this egg is ridiculous.
Later at work Erin gets called into the Manager’s office and the first thing out of her mouth is… “If this is about me sampling the chocolates then…”
Huh? So, she’s eating/stealing company product? Hey Manager Susan, how many more red flags do you need to fire this employee?
Anyway – the real reason she got called into Susan’s office was because the company needs two employees to work the Cavendish Chocolate Table at the Annual Sweetwater Chocolate Exchange, (whatever this is), so Erin/Veronica will be working it with Flo, another employee who has a “flair for this sort of thing.”
Here is Erin not working when she is supposed to be working.
Shocker.
The owners of ChocoPuffs or ChocoMate or whatever are at the event passing out pecan prosciutto chocolate (blech).
They have bluetooth phones in their ears because they are so modern!
(And apparently they make phone calls during presentations)
Flo convinces a group of women to sample some free chocolates and Erin says, “You should be in sales.” (Why? Because she talked women into eating free chocolate? Newsflash…not hard.)
Flo tells her, “I applied for a sales position, but I never heard back from corporate.”
Oops.
Bryan comes over and asks Erin to walk around with him and sample the chocolate because she is pretty. Flo says, “Go on, I can handle this myself,” (which she was pretty much doing anyway).
Bryan teaches Erin to taste the different flavors in the chocolate. He tells her to close her eyes and trust her senses and what she is feeling as she takes another bite.
Side Note: Now, I am a huge fan of chocolate tastings. But watching other people eat chocolate slowly makes for terrible TV. I had enough of that in Love, Romance and Chocolate.
For the love of God can someone please get me some See's?
Erin meets Bryan's 8ish year old daughter Madison, and then she and Bryan find a private place to chat.
Bryan asks her, “What about you? What’s your story?” and Erin/Veronica replies, “Well, when I was born in Seattle, they had the most rain in one day ever. My Mom said it was a good sign because it meant I would just need to shine a little brighter to be seen through the clouds.
Geez Erin, if you don't want to answer his question just say so.
Then Erin/Veronica tells him she went to college on the east coast and she had a few different jobs, but she never got attached to anything or anyone. She tells him that her dad has been nudging her to join the family business, but she doesn’t know her “path” yet.
Hey, did Bryan fall asleep on her? Because I did.
Later, when Bryan is alone, Chas and Trent from Choco-Milk come over. They offer Bryan the job of Head Chocolatier with almost complete creative control (as in, he has no control). They tell him to think about it.
He thinks about it.
Next scene: Back at the Chocolate Shop:
Erin is talking to Flo and, oh no! COO Carter has come by the factory on a surprise visit!
She manages to get him away from everyone else without blowing her cover and explains that she is in disguise and what she has found so far:
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Flo might be good salesperson, but no one from HR called her back!
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Susan needs a new office chair!
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I can make Easter baskets better than the Easter basket machine!
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The cocoa bean sorter doesn’t sort so good!
Now we are back at the B&B where Erin is telling Lila her woes. On one hand she feels she needs to come clean about her identity with Bryan. On the other hand, because Bryan's wife died and he has already been thru so much, she doesn’t want to hurt him anymore...so maybe she shouldn’t tell him, she should just finish her report and leave.
“Sounds like you have a choice to make,” says Lila, the elderly, wise character who is apparently not going to share the wisdom of her years.
Side Note: BTW since Erin is seriously considering continuing her deception and then skipping town, I am going to assume that she is NOT romantically interested in Bryan. As a matter of fact, I doubt she even considers him a friend - since your friends usually know your real name. If I had to guess, I would say Bryan is falling somewhere between a co-worker and an acquaintance at this point.
Next, Erin goes to Bryan’s house to help his daughter Madison sew her costume for the upcoming Easter Pageant or Parade or Festival...I dunno, whatever.
Below are some special chocolates that Bryan whipped up for her – he calls them “wh-ite cho-co-late but-ter-creams.” He says this like he actually created this idea even though white chocolate buttercreams are like the sliced white bread of chocolates. Literally, you can get these anywhere.
Maybe Bryan should walk thru the CVS candy aisle before he "invents" things that already exist.
Bryan leaves since he has work to do and says, “Have fun!” (translation: babysit my child).
Here’s the work he has to do. Want some crayons Bryan?
Later, they are alone and Bryan makes Erin a juice drink called a Hippity Hop Fizz - apparently, adult drinks are a no go. They toast to spring and new beginnings with their juice.
I hate my life right now.
Erin sees the drawing he did of the large egg and tells him, “Your very talented and modest.” However, Bryan is too modest to accept that he is “modest,” so he tells her he will accept that he is “talented” but leave out the “very,” and then they shake on it.
D*** you’ve got to sign a contract to give this dude a compliment, I guess.
Because they touch each other’s hands for more than 3 seconds Erin freaks out, pulls her hand away and says, “It’s late,” even though the sun is streaming through the window. Then Bryan says (unnecessarily), “I agree.”
Side Note: Was this script written during someone’s break from writing another script?
Hey Bryan, next time throw a little vodka in your kid drinks and maybe girls might stick around.
Erin gets the idea to bring back the Legendary Cavendish Egg and tells Bryan. At first, he doesn’t want to try but she talks him into it because she’s pretty, (I’m assuming).
Then Bryan asks Erin, “Okay where do we start?” even though she is the new girl who has been there less than a month and he is the Head Chocolatier and Director of Quality for the entire factory.
They pitch the idea to Manager Susan and she loves it. She makes a call to corporate and Voila! Bryan has a presentation at 10am in Seattle at Cavendish Headquarters! How exciting!
Now we watch them make the egg.
Apparently, Erin has become quite the chocolatier in the few weeks she’s been there. Huh, I thought she was inept around chocolate, which is why they put her on Easter baskets, but whatever. Now she can pipe chocolate better than I can write my name.
A new wrinkle! Bryan wants her to do the presentation with him! Yikes!
Luckily her Dad runs the company, so he tells the whole board to play along with “undercover boss” Erin as Veronica. They give the presentation and it goes great, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone since the daughter of the owner is giving it.
Below you can see what the egg looks like and how you are supposed to eat it.
Hmmm…they wear gloves when they pack up my box of delicious, bacteria-free See’s chocolate. Here…not so much.
Uh oh, the Choo-Choo Chocolate guys call Bryan and ask if he wants the job. Will he say yes? Could we care less?
Erin calls her dad and tells him that she is going to tell Bryan who she really is tomorrow. Oh Erin, have you never seen a Hallmark movie before? This never works.
Oh happy day! The factory will begin making the big fancy eggs again! Hello diabetes!
Oh sad day! Bryan accidently knocks over the photo of Erin and her Dad that sits in Susan's office and now he knows who she truly is! (yawn.)
Told ya.
Bryan is super upset….I think.
I mean, he has two wrinkles between his eyebrows so that’s upset right?
Bryan confronts Erin with the truth about her identity. He’s pretty angry that the entire board was in on the deception and honestly, I think he has a point. I wouldn't want to work for a company where the entire leadership lies to my face. That's one step away from Enron people.
Erin tries to explain to him that this was just a business idea to see things from the inside, and she never wanted to hurt him, and blah, blah blah. But he says he feels like a fool and that he’s thinking about taking the job offer from Choco-Choco-Chip.
Imposter Erin and her dumb side ponytail are sad.
What a lying sack of s***.
I bet she wasn’t even born on a rainy day.
Erin goes home and gets back to work with the marketing team, but she is struggling to come up with a marketing campaign for the big egg. Then she goes back to all her photos of her time in Sweetwater and inspiration strikes!
First, she uploads a photo of the Cavendish Egg and types #roots under it, then she tweets photos of the factory staff and types #family and #tradition under these.
Nailed it.
Apparently marketing a new product takes three hashtags. All is well.
Because of her amazing marketing work, the Cavendish Egg is a big hit. Erin is appointed to Senior VP, (this stands for Senior manager Via Parent).
She thanks the Board and then says she wants to recommend a few changes.
Oh s***, what now.
Here are her changes for Sweetwater:
Pecan sorter gets sorted out!
A random factory worker gets
promoted!
Susan got a desk chair!
Additionally, Erin comes in person to the Easter Festival to offer Flo the job of Associate Sales manager out of the Seattle office. Way to go Flo!
Then Erin finds Bryan and apologizes. She tells him it was wrong of her to pretend to be someone else, and that he brings out the best in her, and they make a good team.
Bryan responds, “You are not the only one who's been pretending. You bring out the best in me and I think I’m falling in love with you.”
Well...that was easy.
(Kiss-y sounds)
Oddly, immediately after both have made a declaration of love to the other, Erin inexplicably begins talking about work.
“But I should warn you one of my first decisions as Senior Manager Via Parent is to launch an entirely new line of handcrafted chocolate for all the upcoming holidays.”
“Also, I am sending you to Switzerland for three weeks in the summer to study chocolate making with a famous chocolate guy!”
“Also, I’m coming with you!”
SIde Note: Whoa Girl slow down! Much as I appreciate anything that will end this movie faster, you may want to spend more than three lines wrapping this story up.
Also, will Bryan be making ANY decisions in this relationship?
Then Madison invites herself to Switzerland as well, so I guess Erin will be babysitting while Bryan is in class.
Wait the movie isn't over! It’s time for the Easter Pageant or Parade or Festival or whatever!
Want to hear a rousing rendition of Here Comes Peter Cottontail Hoppin’ Down The Bunny Trail sung by a bunch of 8 year olds?
Yeah, me neither.
Tough s***, here it is.
However, I would like to point out the hilarious fact that Bryan is completely ignoring his child’s performance to make out with Erin in the front row.
Why aren’t you videotaping Madison on your phone Bryan? What kind of Dad are you?
Nose crush.
Summary:
Pros:
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It’s over.
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I can free up more space on my DVR.
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Even though the movie is about chocolate, nothing looked that appetizing, so my diet will remain intact.
Cons:
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The Male Lead is kind of a jerk (sorry Bryan!)
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Zero chemistry between the Leads
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There needed to be more comedic moments. Even her messing up making chocolates on a factory line wasn’t funny and this should be a no brainer.
THE END
Credits: All photos, unless otherwise indicated, have come from the Hallmark Movie “Easter Under Wraps” which can be viewed on the Hallmark Channel