Gorgeous scenery, whiskey, drama, humor, and a sexy Scottish brogue are just some of the reasons to love A Scottish Love Scheme.
What Is A Scottish Love Scheme About?
Lily (Erica Durance) travels to Scotland with her mother and reconnects with Logan (Jordan Young), a childhood family friend. While there, their meddling mothers hatch plans to set them up.
Logan and his two brothers run the family business. Just as they prepare to launch a new ice wine, a rival company beats them to it. Cait, Lily's mother, enlists her daughter's expertise in marketing to design a label for the Campbell family brand that will give them an edge over their competition. As Lily and Logan work closely together on the project, romance blooms unexpectedly.
Multiple conflicting situations are built into the story which give it relevancy, depth, and realism. Logan is a widower who is fiercely protective of us his son, Finn, so he doesn't initially welcome the instant liking Finn takes to Lily. As a recently divorced woman, Lily is ready for the next chapter of her life, which includes traveling to Spain for a 6-month course in photography--her true passion. How will she and Logan make the long-distance relationship work? The biggest conflict of all is the revelation of Cait's shocking secret--she has liver cancer. Although Cait insists that her greatest happiness will be watching LIly pursue her dream, Lily wrestles with fulfilling her mom's wishes, since it means she won't be by her mom's side when she needs her the most.
Where Was A Scottish Love Scheme Filmed?
The breathtaking shots of the Scottish countryside were filmed mostly in East Lothian County. This includes the towns of Haddington (where we see St. Mary's Parish Church, Sidegate and Hailes Castle), Humbie (Humble Parish Church scenes), and North Berwick (location of the beach and seaside scenes).
Erica Durance had this to say about filming on location, "That's the thing about working with films, you end up going to these places, that you never really find [as a tourist]."
Best Scenes from A Scottish Love Scheme
The best and most soulful scene from the movie is when the Campbell family arranges a sort of scavenger hunt that leads Lily and Cait to all of Cait's favorite childhood spots. It's nostalgic and bittersweet. Both women know it will be the last time Cait will see these cherished spaces.
Finn's rugby team tryouts are comic. Like a true American, Lily cheers, waves her arms, and shouts encouragement while the Campbell clan watches her uncomfortably. The men explain that no one cheers like that in Scotland and then tease Lily that her loud cheering could be heard in Wales!
The big reveal of the new wine label adds a nice touch. Lily incorporates the meaning of the family name into her design, and it adds another layer onto an already well-planned script.
The most touching quote from the movie comes from Cait. The best thing Lily can do for her mother is to go to Spain as planned and send her all the beautiful photographs she'll be taking. Cait says, "Life isn't hopeless when such beauty can exist."
The music playing in the background adds to the overall Scottish vibe. The soundtrack is more extensive than you might realize! If you'd like to hear the songs again, you can find the entire playlist here.
Is A Scottish Love Scheme Worth Watching?
Gorgeous, antiquated sites and ruins aside, A Scottish Love Scheme is also a well-written story by Gina Azzi, ripe with believable dialogue, humor, and poignant drama. The movie is fittingly cast, the acting is first-rate, and the chemistry is alive.
While some viewers find the Scottish brogues to be difficult to understand, it didn't sound garbled to me. I especially love how Scots habitually insert "aye" and "cheers" into their conversations.
/4
I'm rating A Scottish Love Scheme with three out of four whisky glasses. Cheers!
I loved Erica Durance in this role, but it must have been written with a younger leading lady in mind. She talked about wanting to have kids someday, but she's already 45!