Guiding Emily - Hallmark

Guiding Emily premiered on Hallmark Channel on March 2nd. When this was first announced I was a little confused because, according to the Hallmark app, this movie was released in 2023 and already had over 200 reviews. It turns out it was aired on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries network last year. So the “premiere” showing on March 2nd was when they were airing it on the main Hallmark Channel.

Okay but once I figured that out I almost didn’t watch it. Since it wasn’t technically a new movie, I thought maybe I should take this opportunity to do a review of a movie of my own choice. You know, pick one of my favorites. But then my husband pointed out that I had already mentioned I’d be live-posting on Twitter, so I decided I’d better stick to my word. And am I SO glad that I did! I have so much to say about this one, so let’s dive in and talk about it!

Guiding Emily stars Sarah Drew as Emily and Antonio Cupo as Matthew. But I also recognized several of the supporting cast members. Although you won’t see his face, Eric McCormack does the voice of Garth, the adorable puppy who’s training to be a guide dog. He is, of course, most famous for playing Will on Will and Grace. Eric McCormack, not the dog! Peter Benson, whom I recognized from the Aurora Teagarden mysteries, plays Mark who runs the Visionary Guide Dog Foundation for placing guide dogs with those in need. And then I spotted Lillian Doucet-Roche who was recently in Paging Mr. Darcy as Eloise’s younger sister! I, personally, didn’t recognize Matty Finochio, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention him because he played quite a role as Emily’s good friend and coworker, Drew.

So where do I start with this one? It’s a little tough because we already know from the synopsis that Emily is going to lose her sight. So when we first saw her living her very happy life training for rock-climbing along with her loving, supportive fiancé, I got a knot in my stomach knowing what was going to happen but not knowing exactly when or how. Fortunately, Hallmark handled this extremely well.

The movie actually opened with a scene of the most adorable little puppies who were 8 weeks old and Mark was selecting one of them from the litter to start a two-year training program to be a guide dog for the blind. This is where we meet Garth. He doesn’t talk out loud, but we hear his thoughts with the help of Eric McCormack. At first I was worried this was going to be too campy for me but no, I thought this was done very well. Cute, but not the least bit annoying! While the main storyline was about Emily, simultaneously, throughout this whole movie we were also following the story of Garth growing up with his trainer, Katie, learning how to be a guide dog. Scenes with him were interspersed all throughout the movie at the most appropriate times when the mood needed to be lifted.

In the next scene we meet Emily and her fiancé, Connor, at a rock-climbing gym.

One little detail I didn’t notice the first time through, but I caught it the second time I watched it, was Emily invited her friend, Matthew, to join her and Connor to get some donuts and he didn’t just decline. The camera showed us a glimpse of his reaction to watching them leave together and we saw how he lingered for just a moment.

What happens next is also telling. Emily meets Garth for the very first time at the donut shop. As it turns out, they’re going to cross paths several more times over the next couple of years, only the humans don’t really notice it. But Garth sure does!

Apparently this all happened early in the morning on a Friday because next Emily walks into a conference room with a box of donuts to share with all her coworkers before they start their meeting. And I noticed another little detail in this scene the second time through. Sometimes I still get a little distracted when I’m live-posting during the movie.  But Emily is sharing her plans to get away for the weekend with her fiance and no electronics, and apparently everyone in her office is making bets on how long her fiance will be able to make it before he pulls out his phone to check his messages.

It turns out the very next day while she and Connor are enjoying their away together discussing their wedding plans is the day the accident happens. Don’t worry, I’m not going to show it here. Just know that it’s literally just a fluke accident.

She wakes up in the hospital with Connor and her mother in the room by her side and her eyes are all covered up with bandages. Here the doctor explains that she’s had surgery and needs to keep the bandages on for 2 to 3 weeks and only time will tell if she’ll be able to see again.

She goes home but it soon becomes apparent that, as much as Connor does seem to want to help as much as he can, he’s also frequently distracted by work. During the next couple of weeks she leans more on her mother for support and ultimately stays at her mother’s house while she recovers. Keep in mind so far she’s still holding out hope that once the bandages come off she’ll be able to see again. 

It was fascinating to watch her struggle to do everyday little things that we take for granted, like using a cell phone, putting on shoes, even finding something to eat or drink out of the refrigerator. What I particularly loved was learning myself that all these things were still possible to do without eyesight. For example, she learns to text with speech-to-text technology. That is really hard to say!

Over the next few weeks she stays pretty isolated at her mother’s house. She doesn’t answer the phone or respond to any text messages and her friends begin to worry. Even her coworker friend Drew shows up looking for her and oh, the stern look he gives Connor when he tells him that Emily will be fine! After all, she’s been missing for three weeks now!

I was a little surprised when I looked at the clock 30 minutes into it and I realized Emily and Connor were still together. I mean yes, there were plenty of moments where Connor was distracted by something going on at work when he should have been focused on helping Emily, but I was glad to see that he wasn’t portrayed as a miserable boyfriend right from the beginning like we’ve seen in so many other Hallmark movies. But in true Hallmark fashion, yes they do ultimately break up and yes, it’s another hard, life-changing blow for Emily.

The defining moment is where she’s back at the hospital, after some delays and complications, to finally have her bandages taken off. But her hope is dashed completely when she realizes her eyesight is not coming back. This was such an emotional scene just watching her go through this. Incidentally, Garth happens to be there at the hospital with his trainer, too, and he’s still drawn to Emily. It was really cute how he kept popping up at all the key moments.

I just have to say the casting in this movie, the talent, the chemistry among all of them, was absolutely incredible. Everyone was so believable I felt every high, every low right along with them. And Sarah Drew! Oh my goodness, I cannot imagine anyone better in this role. She really amazed me through the whole thing.

And you know what, as a side note, she was live-posting on Twitter right along with me on Saturday night when this aired, and she responded directly to a couple of my posts. She described how she was shooting all of this blindfolded and that it was so disorienting and isolating, too.

So back to the movie. Once again, after this crushing blow to Emily about her eyesight not coming back, we were shown a scene with Garth feeling rather amused for having just destroyed his trainer’s living room. Looking as cute as ever, of course!

The rest of the movie is all about her learning to adjust to a very different life. And while there were some challenging moments to be sure, such as the moment she asked Drew to turn in her resignation letter because she didn’t believe she could possibly ever return to work, at the same time it wasn’t dark and gloomy. Just when a scene was becoming particularly serious, they would throw in a comical moment or even a cute puppy scene with Garth to lighten the mood back up and remind us it’s still okay to smile. 

As it turns out, Drew refuses to turn in her resignation letter and, in fact, encourages her to call a nearby school for the blind to learn how to be more self-sufficient. I learned so much just watching what they showed her she could do! For example, I never would have thought that she could return to her old management job without her eyesight! And her friend, Matthew, was right by her side, encouraging her the entire time.

She learns to read Braille, walk with a white cane, and eventually she even makes it back to the office. The reception she received literally gave me goosebumps. 

What an amazing story this was! I even got teary-eyed when Garth graduated training and had to say, “goodbye” to his trainer, Katie. She was also really wonderful throughout this whole movie.  And the way Garth was depressed for a while after that. Seriously, everything about his movie was so well done. I even learned that this story was based off of a series of books, which I very much want to read now, written by Barbara Hinske, the same author who incidentally, wrote The Christmas Club.  Hallmark also made that into a movie and it’s delightful!

And even though I haven’t said it, yet, for those who might still be wondering, yes, all works out in the end for everyone, including Emilly, Matthew and Garth, and they all get their happy ending! It just wouldn’t be a Hallmark movie any other way.

Last week I mentioned I try to be selective about giving a movie a perfect 5 out of 5. But I can’t think of any reason NOT to give this one a 5 out of 5. It was enlightening. It was inspiring. It was serious but fun. The casting couldn’t have been better, including the dog!  Okay, perhaps there is one little thing I can critique, but it doesn’t change my rating any. I wish we got to know more about Matthew’s character. Maybe the book goes into more detail about him?

So what did you think? Was I a little over the top with this one? Or did you love this one, too? Please share your own thoughts about Guiding Emily in the comments below. I’m always interested in a good conversation and not just with those who agree with me.

Well, I think that wraps up my thoughts on Hallmark's Guiding Emily. As always, thank you so much for joining me for this week's Magical Movie Club review. We'll be back next week to chat more about our favorite Magical Movies!  

Hallmark Channel's Original Preview:  Guiding Emily Preview

Hallmark Channel Movie Site: Hallmark Channel - Guiding Emily