Hallmark’s springtime lineup continues with Shifting Gears, a revved up romance starring Tyler Hynes and Katherine Barrell. He’s gone corporate and her family auto shop is on the verge of closing down. Toss in a reality-competition show and a bit of grease and you have Shifting Gears. But does this Hallmark romance ever hit the highway, or does Shifting Gears stay in neutral?
The Gist: Katherine Barrell (Everything Christmas) plays Jess, an auto repair whiz with a real flair for restoring old cars. Her passion for cars runs so deep that she spends all her spare time on her phone swiping right… on images of classic cars. Come on, Jess, you can’t stay single forever! Part of the problem might be her nerves; Jess is camera shy, afraid of public speaking, and just generally would like to be left under the hood of a ’77 Camaro.
Making matters worse is the fact that she keeps bumping into her ex Luke (Never Been Chris’d’s Tyler Hynes). She does get a few jokes in at his expense, though. Y’see, once upon a time Luke was as much of a gear-head as her, but now that his family business — *ahem* Tune Up Whiz, which does not sound like “Tuna Whiz” at all — has really taken off, he spends way more time behind a desk than under the hood of a ’65 Mustang.
All that changes when Tune Up Whiz sets their sights on buying out Jess’ family business. In order to win the $50,000 they need to stay afloat, Jess reluctantly agrees to compete in a reaity show called American High Gear. And guess who else is competing? Luke! Will these two settle their differences and compete like good sports? Or will their instability cause the whole show to veer off the road?
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Shifting Gears is classic Hallmark with all of the touchstones that make these movies so cozily familiar. We’ve got estranged high school exes, small businesses, the need for some quick cash, and the grief left behind after a mother’s passing. I don’t know why that one is a Hallmark staple, but it really is.
Performance Worth Watching: I gotta give it to Ray Galletti (Workin’ Moms, Reacher) for his pitch-perfect portrayal of a basic cable reality-competition show host. He had the cadence and charisma of a John Henson or Duff Goldman down, and he was by far the most accurate part of American High Gear (aside from the name, which is also a spot-on parody of History Channel programming).
Memorable Dialogue: “You look good” “You look like you sell bonds.”
Our Take: You can’t go wrong with a Tyler Hynes Hallmark movie, full stop. No matter what verdict I ultimately reach, you’re still gonna watch this because Hynes has cemented himself as one of the networks premier hunks — kind of a James Dean for wine moms. He’s great, and he’s great enough to carry pretty much any movie he’s in.
Fortunately for Shifting Gears, he doesn’t have to do a lot of heavy lifting. Katherine Barrell is a vibrant presence onscreen, the kind of leading lady you love to root for. She doesn’t look like the kind of person you’d normally see in a grease-covered jumpsuit, and I appreciate that that’s the point. A lot of attention is paid to representation and what it means to see a woman in this field — and, honestly, that’s the kind of storyline that a show like American High Gear would absolutely zero in on. Barrell works in the role, and she works well with Hynes; a rollerskating scene is one of the romantic highlights of the whole movie, in part because of how charming he is and how charmed she is.
The problem I had with Shifting Gears, though, is that there was too much being done to too little effect. Jess keeps ribbing Luke about how he’s been out of the auto restoration game for a minute, but he is able to reacclimate rather quickly and rather well. There’s a mentorship storyline with Jess’s best friend’s daughter, but that storyline exists on the periphery. There’s the entire concept of American High Gear — which, quite frankly, I could have watched an entire movie that was presented as episodes of that show! Instead, American High Gear feels like an original idea that’s underdeveloped in favor of the tried-and-true Hallmark formula.
Shifting Gears isn’t helped by the fact that the network’s holiday lineup has become so adventurous. Now I can’t help but watch every movie with an eye towards what could have been. Shifting Gears could have hit the highway, but it instead feels like a nice drive down Main Street. It’s a nice enough way to pass the time, but it’s not going anywhere adventurous.
Our Call: SKIP IT — but like I said, you can’t go wrong with a Tyler Hynes movie. So this is a SKIP IT that’s more like a “put it on the background, check it out when it re-airs” kinda grade.
