If You Find a Ring on Valentine’s Day, You Know What to Do

**Spoilers**

With Robert Buckley as the lead guy, how can you go wrong? It would be very difficult, although certainly doable in the hands of our friends at Hallmark. (No offence! Love you!) Luckily, his rapport with with the ever reliable Lacey Chabert was almost a given. She always makes the most of her established romantic comedy credentials when she really clicks with her costar. This one lived up to the funny and charming previews we were favored with last week. Although a bit marred by some improbable departures from what the realities of traffic and parking availability are in New York City and some other things, the fast-paced quest-type romance really hit the target.

After catching a ride share from work and after everyone but she is dropped off, Lacey finds a diamond ring which must be an engagement ring. Since Finn (Robert Buckley) tells her he cleans his cab every night, it must belong to one of his fares from today. Despite a less than satisfactory dating history, Lacey is a romantic at heart with empathy to spare and prevails on the more cynical Finn to go back and help her find the owner, who, since it is Valentine’s Day, was surely planning to propose with the ring tonight. In addition to that urgent circumstance, Lacey has an important presentation for her designer chocolate campaign at 9 PM that night, and Finn has a gallery showing of his photographic art that he must attend as well. What follows is a slow-burn development of their relationship as they look for the owner of the ring in between completing Finn’s Valentine deliveries.

Their adventures with the people they meet along the way were just mildly entertaining, but the romantic chemistry and banter between the two leads overrode the more boring parts. While supposedly on more than one urgent deadline they spend an inordinate amount of time with coffee breaks, dancing at a club and on the street, making pizza, and volunteering to temporarily man a food truck. And who immediately pulls their car over the second the check engine light goes on? As the day and night wore on, I began to get anxious over Lacey and Finn’s disregard for their professional commitments and it was distracting. Important people (Lacey’s corporate clients and Finn’s “art-snob”, as he so rudely calls them, potential customers) were waiting for them to show up. Not to mention their put-upon colleagues who have to deal with the awkward absences of the stars of their shows. It became quite uncomfortable for me. I must say, Finn, in particular, was very blasé about the people who can make or break his career as a photographic artist. Especially for a guy who has to supplement his income driving a ride-share/delivery van. Anyway, near the end, they finally find the nervous groom-to-be, who somehow had not noticed that the ring-box was not in his jacket pocket, and deliver the engagement ring he didn’t even know was missing just in time. It was one of several funny scenes. Lacey manages to make a credible appearance at her affair and Finn favors the art gallery with his presence. Briefly and not very graciously. For such a nice guy, he was a bit of a diva. What was up with that?

This was a Hallmark set entirely in New York City (though filmed in Canada, of course) and was a fairly fresh approach for Hallmark. We did have the interrupted kiss near the end which was particularly frustrating since Lacey backed off for no. Reason. Whatsoever. Girl! I really looked forward to this one and despite the weaknesses in the plot, it did not disappoint. Great chemistry between appealing and good actors count for a lot. It was fun and romantic.