In 2021's dreadful "There's Always Hope" obnoxious student Hannah Chin follows author dad Colm Meaney to his Portuguese villa after mum Kate Ashfield leaves him for smarmy John Light. While the hypocritical Chin bosses everyone about (talking way more than listening), bland tv-standard melodrama unfolds at a painfully slow pace. It's performances are abysmal (especially the dire Chin - tho Meaney's actual daughter Brenda Meaney isn't TOO bad) but the main blame sits with writer / director Tim Lewiston who absolutely goofed it - should he have quit after his only other movie (2012's far superior "The Hot Potato")? It's a stinking turd. Flush it.

I enjoyed this film. It was pretty light and the characters were well rounded. I'm not sure what I was expecting. But with an actor like Colm Meany, I guess I was expecting a bit more. Not that the acting was bad. It was thoroughly adequate. I think the biggest problem I had with this film was the writing.

It just wasn't all that engaging. You never really felt for the characters. They were all fairly nice people, even though they were definitely from money. But it was hard to really care if their marriage was going to work out or not.

One of the best part of the film was the scenery. It sure made you want to take a vacation in Portugal.

So I guess, if you want to watch something a bit light and entertaining, you'll probably enjoy this one.

--MovieJunkieMark.