Stupid Eros

I was looking forward to this one because I like the lead actress, Amy Groening. And though I have not really liked most of the characters that young whippersnapper (30 years old) Evan Roderick has played (much like Tyler Hynes) he was very good in A Make or Break Christmas. This one didn’t work for me mostly because I just didn’t believe Groening and Roderick as a romantic couple. Who knows why or how one person sees a certain chemistry and another does not? It’s a mystery. The story was pretty cute, I thought, and the dialogue was good too. There was a little mystery there (Is Hal really THE Cupid in human form?) And it certainly was appropriate for Valentine’s day. It seemed a pretty fresh take on the old Hallmark standby of magical love-related consumables.

Naomi and Marcus are workmates at a wine bar. They are good friends except, as Marcus confesses to Hal (Cupid) whom he meets when he is working as a bartender at a party, he has been head over heels with “Nomes” from their first meeting. Naomi had a boyfriend at the time and Marcus, as we learn, lacks confidence that he is good enough for her. She has a degree in biochemistry and is very responsible and mature and he has never been one to buckle down or be serious about much of anything. Whenever Hallmark writes a male character with that kind of personality, Evan Roderick is always their number 1 choice. Naomi and Marcus are trying to win a contest for best Mocktail which comes with a 30,000 dollar prize which they need to hopefully buy the wine bar they work at. Lisa, the owner, is planning to sell it to a parking lot company. Wow, Lisa. You are not a villain, but that’s a classic villain move. Hal invites the pair to his tea shop to sample some rare teas they can incorporate into the mocktails. On day one of the contest, Marcus samples the drink along with 3 other couples that the pair know. The relationships of the 3 couples immediately change to being head over heels in love with each other and Marcus, although he has always been in love with “Nomes”, immediately has the courage to declare himself to her publicly. On their way back from the party Marcus tells Naomi that the syrup she used to make their winning mocktail was a love potion. Naomi does not believe in magic and attributes the elixir’s effect on the couples (and Marcus) to a scientifically based chemical reaction to the mix of ingredients in the drink. Together, they go on a mission to find an antidote to the mixture and have the three couples drink it. They believe, especially Naomi, that the pairs are making major life decisions based on love that is only temporary and not real. That’s all I’ll say about the plot, except that when the couples finally all take the antidote, they all react differently to it.

In addition to Marcus and Naomi’s story, there were theoretically plenty of other things to keep interest up. Will Marcus be able to prove himself as a mature human being? Trying to decode and put together an antidote. Wondering if it would work and what the effect would be. The 3 couples stories, at least two of whom we are really rooting for. Do we even want the antidote to work? The mocktail contest. The fate of the wine bar. Also there were a lot of literary and mythological references added to the mix. So a lot of good ingredients, but somehow for me, it kind of dragged in places. Maybe there was too much going on? And it didn’t help that Naomi never seemed that interested in Marcus as a romantic partner. Just didn’t feel the attraction there. And that’s pretty fatal to a romance.