Travelogue

The Perfect Setting

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If It’s Saturday Night on the Hallmark Channel, It Must Be Belgium

In the last of Hallmark’s Winter Escape movies, we follow aspiring jewelry designer Abby and Hallmark to Beautiful Antwerp, Belgium, on a mission to save her grandfather’s jewelry store. I rather enjoyed this one for several reasons. Of course the glimpses we got of beautiful Belgium didn’t hurt.  The city sites and snippets of history and culture were folded organically into the movie rather than Hallmark putting the couple of destiny on some awkward sightseeing trip to take in the beauty and tourist traps of country and city. The scenery in these jaunts is always nice but plot and character-wise, it’s often just filler. I liked the glimpses into the jewelry designing and making profession as well. It was something a little off the beaten path for Hallmark. The interior set decoration was better than usual. Grandpa’s shop was cute and quaint like something out of a Disney movie. At one point I was afraid that a baking montage was going to be shoehorned in, but they wisely managed to fit in Belgian waffles without resorting to the bone-tired “Flirting with Flour” scene. Huge sigh of relief on my part.

The movie hit most of the usual beats that Hallmark is seemingly addicted to: Spousal death resulting in business struggles, big city heroine dissatisfied in love and career coming home to save the family legacy, a nemesis of some sort to amp up the tension, big gala/dance/ball, a competition for prize money that is the answer to all prayers: all were included and then some. There were even some “What the Heck!” moments to ponder. Abby helping Alexander, the love interest but also a chief competitor for the prize money, with his entry? Very nice but really? She has to win or lose the family business! Come on! Grandfather’s 30 carat uncut top quality diamond just sitting around his back room and not in a safe? And I could be wrong, but think her ex-fiance was referred to by two different names. There were others, but I won’t pile on.

Despite all of this, the show was saved by the romance and the talented cast. Both of the leads have previously appeared in one Hallmark movie each. Unfortunately the character Laci J. Maily played in her first effort was super annoying. The main character in this one was not annoying and her portrayal was very likable. I hope she is cast in more movies. Dutch actor David Elsendoorn was the best thing about his previous foray as a Hallmark hero. He was adorable and he was even more adorable and charming in this one. And I liked his character as well: He was a very good guy. And when faced with an ethical dilemma he took a strong stance and did the right thing. The two together had a supportive, friendly relationship which led to a believable romance with no eye-rolling silliness. Abby’s grandfather was a sweetheart and very lovable. Despite being lacking as a business owner, he was not annoying about it. He owned his weaknesses, and let his granddaughter save the day with no stubborn resistance or other stupid behavior whatsoever. Very unusual. Alexander’s father was a nasty piece of work and the actor who played him really nailed both his nastiness and his eventual reclamation. I wasn’t a fan of Suzanne McKenney’s eccentric portrayal of Nadia, Abby’s Chicago boss, who won’t give her a chance and who turns up for the Antwerp competition.  But it worked OK in context. She played it for laughs, two menacing characters perhaps being one too many. Plot-wise, I liked the happy resolution, and Abby’s wise career decision at the end. Her happy future in life and love seems set. Abby and Alexander’s movie ending kiss was way above average despite the height difference (1 foot, 2 inches), and little graphic hearts flew across the final scene. A fitting harbinger of Hallmark’s Loveuary movies coming right up.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

My Argentine Heart

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Back at the Estancia

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I got so caught up in the financial complications of this one that I didn’t pay full attention to the more important parts, namely the romance, the scenery, and our heroine Abril’s Boston/career v. Argentina/man dilemma.

Abril, Julie Gonzalo, is a business consultant whose reputation in the industry was ruined by almost driving a multi-billion dollar company into bankruptcy. She’s actually famous as a cautionary tale and is unemployable in her field. When her cousin calls her from Argentina, she tells her she has gotten an offer to buy their ranch they inherited from their grandparents. Belinda is tired of trying to run it on her own and wants to pursue her dream of owning a restaurant.  Abril prefers to have the ranch in her hip pocket as a possible vacation or retirement home, even though she hasn’t visited in years and years since she was 18.  She hotfoots it to Argentina to see if there is a way to keep the ranch and still allow Belinda to achieve her restaurant dream. If she can work some financial wizardry, maybe she can punch up her resume and get a job again. When she arrives, she finds out it is her former boyfriend who has made the below-market but fair offer for the ranch. She is having none of that. Diego has given up his finance career in Mexico City to return to the soil and find his soul by owning the ranch that his ancestors have been caretakers of for generations. While going over the financials, Abril discovers an old loan which has never been repaid. Belinda explains that the loan had been sold and then resold and she doesn’t even know who owns the loan now and that whoever owns it has never asked for payment. She was advised to just forget about it. Rest assured that this will eventually come back to bite them. Abril looks for investors so she and Belinda can retain ownership and keep from selling it to Diego.  She discloses the loan to an interested party, as she is legally and ethically bound to do, and he ends up finding the loan, buying it, and asking for immediate payment or else he will take over the ranch and they will get nothing. Now faced with a common enemy, Diego and Abril end their hostilities and start working together, etc., etc. She wishes she had just sold the ranch to Diego especially since Belinda really and truly wants nothing to do with it anymore.

So many questions. First off could a bank do that? The answer is yes, depending on the original terms of the loan. But they cannot demand late payment penalties like they are doing. Belinda and Abril’s lawyer, a very handsome guy and really nice and Belinda’s love interest, threatens to tie the whole thing up in court. To avoid that, the bank offers to forgive the loan if they sell them the ranch for a fraction of its worth, much below Diego’s offer. At no time are we told the amounts of Diego’s offer, the size of the loan, the income from the ranch, its fair market value, or what the bank offered for the ranch. So it was all very murky. Abril contacts a former colleague in America who owes her a solid about investing in the ranch. He doesn’t want to do that, but offers Abril a position in his company with a high salary because he feels partially responsible for Abril’s reputation being ruined and being a pariah in the industry. Abril is ecstatic because that “solves everything.”  Diego and Belinda are confused, as was I, but Abril explains that now that she has a steady income, she does not have to rely on her savings to keep body and soul together while she is unemployed. Along with her savings, if she sells her condo, she can personally pay off the loan, and then she and Belinda can accept Diego’s offer to buy the ranch.  Belinda and Diego point out to this double MBA in Finance that the loan is twice as much as Abril would get back from the sale. But Abril assures them that it is “not about the money”. I thought Belinda should have at least offered her a share in her restaurant-to-be but she doesn’t. On the other hand, has poor Belinda ever been compensated by Abril for doing all the work running the ranch? Just a random thought. Later Abril suggests to Diego that maybe they could be partners and run the ranch together (she, remotely, from Boston) and she gets a big “No”. He does not want to share.

 So if I figure correctly, Abril loses her share of the ranch plus half of all her savings and the sale price of her condo. “You’re investing $10 to get back $5!” She has to find a new and cheaper place while working for a company which offered her a job out of guilt. But that’s OK because she has the satisfaction of helping her cousin achieve her dream and knowing that her family ranch will be in the hands of someone who will preserve its legacy and not in the hands of a greedy bank. Methinks Abril got the short end of the stick, and I really wouldn’t encourage her to put this on her resume. On her way back to Boston, in a considerably worse financial situation than when she left, Diego enters stage left at the Iguazú Falls, to save the day. He has had a think, and decides that he has been too proud and will now let Abril be his partner in the ranch instead of paying her the cash as long as she stays there with him in Argentina. He loves her, she loves him, and Abril decides that is a fine idea and they kiss.

Juan Pablo Di Pace, who played Diego, was very handsome and charismatic and Julie Gonzalo has never looked lovelier. They were both born in Argentina and were pretty good together. The rest of the cast were all local actors, and they were all great. The Argentinian setting was interesting and beautiful. It all looked pretty authentic to me, except their gaucho clothes looked a little costume-y. But I felt like Abril thoughtlessly discounted Belinda’s desire to sell the Ranch and Diego rubbed me the wrong way as well. He was inflexible and stubborn off and on through most of the movie added to a chip of class warfare of his shoulder. At the end of the day, the things that bugged me outweighed what I liked.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Polar Opposites

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Away with the Penguins

**Spoilers**

I guess it’s not that I’m not particularly a fan of the actress, Rhiannon Fish, I think it’s more the roles she seems to gravitate to. Or is put in. She does “hapless” really well. I did like her in one movie, but generally I find her acting a little too self conscious and stagey. “Look at me, I’m so quirky and cute.” I’m in the minority, however, in seeing the appeal. I actually just saw her in one of her early roles for Hallmark where she played “the sister”, and she was just fine.

Sometimes in order to get past the first 15 minutes of Hallmark movies, you have to ignore the absurd setups which serve to throw the hero and the heroine together. I have to say the one in this movie was one of the most preposterous ever. One day, Emma (Rhiannon Fish) gets a phone call from her father who is in the Antarctic researching penguins with which he is obsessed. The satellite phone keeps going in and out but Emma hears “Real Problem” “Ice sheet breaking up” “Real Danger” “all alone”, and “Killer Whale”. Combined with the chest pains he has lately been experiencing, concerned Emma concludes her father must be in grave danger and is calling for help. She decides she must hot foot it to the South Pole to rescue him from the killer whale, or avalanche or heart attack. A task she is uniquely qualified for as she is a courtroom artist. It doesn’t occur to her to question why he would call his daughter 1000s of miles away in America instead of the team at the substation a short snowmobile drive away from his outpost. The situation only gets muddier as Emma tells her friend that there was no luck getting through to anyone at the nearby research base, but then informs her that his satellite phone isn’t working and no one’s seen him for weeks. Kind of contradictory. It was noticed, screenwriter. Because I didn’t believe for a second that she did not talk to someone at the base, why didn’t Emma just ask the team at the substation to go check on her Dad and rescue him from whatever kerfuffle he has gotten himself into? As we find out later, it wouldn’t have been that big a deal. Because she is kind of a wackadoodle and it turns out the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

She finds out that another research team is catching a cruise ship from Buenos Aires to the base that her Dad drops in on from time to time. To her dismay, she is turned away from boarding the ship since she doesn’t have a ticket or any of the required permits and permissions. Since the Chief Officer turns down both cash and her credit card (because, you know, international law and safety) she decides to sneak on board pretending to be part of the research team. The handsome head of the team, smitten by Rhiannon Fish’s prettiness, puts his whole career on the line, not to mention risking possible arrest, to hide her away and help her.

After all kinds of shipboard high jinks, romantic and otherwise, she finally gets to the substation. She is loaned a snowmobile by head honcho Peggy and goes to her Dad’s Cabin where she finds out her Dad is perfectly fine and that it was all just a big misunderstanding. Turns out it was Lola the penguin’s life which was in danger, not his own. Boy, is his face red! What a crazy guy!

By this time, I was pretty much done. But I had to stick around to the bitter end if only to see if Rhiannon ever puts on a warm hat while tramping around or riding a snowmobile in the minus 50 degree weather. She doesn’t. But she does manage to put on a bathing suit. Rest assured, Lola is saved and reunited with her mate, Hugo, Dad and Peggy become a thing, and Emma moves to the South Pole to continue her romance with Andy the engineer. No one is arrested, and we leave Emma sitting outside in the snow illustrating a Children’s book about Penguins. Still hatless, bless her heart. This movie was filmed in Patagonia and has some nice scenery.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10.

Love of the Irish

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A Three-Leaf Clover

I approached this premier of  Hallmark’s post-Christmas theme , Winter Escape, with not a lot of enthusiasm. I have had very bad luck with Irish-themed movies, and unlike the girl in this one, the luck of the Irish did not see fit to bestow itself upon me.

Fiona is a ballerina who just cannot get a break. She is always just one more audition away from her big starring role, and let’s face it, she is getting up there, especially for a ballet dancer. In her latest failure, she quit her job to try out for her dream role of Giselle, which of course she didn’t get. Bad news delivered by a red-haired and barely recognizable Ali Liebert, who also directed. While commiserating with her mother Helen, she finds a letter from Helen’s Birth Mother whom Helen not only has never met, but whose attempt to reach out has gone unanswered lo these many years (like around 15!). Helen is played by the elegant and beautiful Moira Kelly, beloved of Rom-Com connoisseurs everywhere for her role as Kate Mosely in The Cutting Edge. Since Helen’s antique shop has to be closed for a couple of weeks due to a plumbing problem, and they are both at temporary loose ends, Fiona plans a trip to the Emerald Isle to look up Helen’s long neglected birth mother. Also, Helen’s spouse is out of town on a business trip instead of being dead, or as good as dead, as they usually are in Hallmark’s parent/child Journeys of the Heart. No, he is a supportive husband and their marriage appears to be a happy one from all we ever hear about him. Which isn’t much.

On their first night in the picturesque Irish seaside town where they are staying, Fiona finds her destiny in the form of a pub owner and widowed father of a little girl whose ballet teacher moved to Vienna to breed ferrets (true story). Oh these quirky little details. For some reason, Fiona is very rude and ornery to him. Very Ugly American. But he seems to like it, as well as her dart throwing acumen, because he agrees to take her on a search for The Luck of the Irish tour of the countryside. While doing that, and following the clues to her mother’s birth mother’s whereabouts, need I say that Fiona and he fall for each other and Fiona also gets close to his ballet dancing daughter? Rhetorical question. Throw in community involvement and a vacant building which was formerly the local dance studio, while you’re at it.

Through all of this, Helen just kind of passively goes where ever Fiona leads. A measure of anticipation is achieved when her Bio-Mom is tracked down and Helen gets to know her through their mutual love of antiques before she finally properly introduces herself as her long lost daughter. “Call me Gigi” is nice enough but their emotional reunion left me largely unaffected because we never really hear any of her (or Helen’s) back story. So she’s kind of boring. Also, Helen is never held accountable for her lame and heartless non-response to nice Gigi’s letter.

The romance is strictly by the book, including the call from New York, luring Fiona back for another shot at Giselle. I won’t divulge the resolution of her dilemma, but she made the correct decision in my opinion. All in all I found this a pretty lackluster story which would have been very lackluster indeed without Moira Kelly, Shenae Grimes-Beech, and the very attractive Irish actor Stephen Hagan.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

Christmas in Rome

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Roman Holiday

Lacey Chabert and Sam Page make a good pair. I really liked the rapport they had together. They really matched. This 2019 production is set in Rome and although it had a lot of the usual travelogue elements, there was a lot more plot to this one and it definitely had its moments.

Lacey plays Angela who is an expatriate American living and working in Rome as a tour guide. She loves Rome, knows every little nook and cranny, and delights in taking her tourists off the beaten path to show them the real heart and soul of her favorite city. Unfortunately, her forays away from the safe well traveled tourist sites have sometimes gotten her and her little ducklings into trouble. Her latest out of the way adventure to a 400-year-old bakery results in one of her clients getting attacked by gluten. It is the last straw for Angela’s boss and he fires her. On her way home she meets a visiting business executive, Oliver, played by Sam Page, who is lost. She gets him to his business meeting successfully despite taking the scenic route, to his impatience. Oliver wants the retiring Luigi, played by Franco Nero, as handsome and charismatic as ever, to sell his high end family ceramics company to his firm. Oliver is all business, all the time. He is all about the bottom line, ignoring the niceties, and cutting right to the chase, which might be okay in some countries, but not in Italy, as Angela tries to tell him. As it happens, Luigi is very rich and doesn’t care how much money he gets for his Christmas ornament and other ceramics manufacturing company as long as its heart, soul, and artistic culture is preserved and nourished. There is lot of talk about “heart” and “soul” in this one. When Angela steps in and saves his bacon with Luigi who was very put off by Oliver’s initial approach, she adds life coach to her tour guide duties. She escorts the culture-shocked American around “the real” Rome showing him its heart and soul while lecturing him to death. There is nothing that Angela does not know about anything Roman. This was a very educational Hallmark. Oliver is won over and encourages her to start her own kind of tour guide company, specializing in tours that are much more than just the top ten tourist must-sees and selfie sites in the Eternal City. Meanwhile, Oliver is fending off his boss’s constant nagging about-When he is going to close the deal? What’s taking so long? Why do you look so relaxed and happy? And what does kneading bread with Lacey Chabert have to do with Luigi’s manufacturing plant? God, she was annoying. And the more she talked, the more I was afraid that Oliver actually would convince Luigi to sell his wonderful company to them as they were the exact opposite of everything that Luigi wanted from its future owner.

There were some really good moments in this one besides the scenery.

Angela refusing her former boss’s pleas to come back to work for him was one high point. Despite the inconvenience, seems Angela was very popular with his clients and frequently mentioned by name in his Trip Advisor reviews. His alarm when she tells him she is starting her own company and is on her way to line up some investors (arranged by Oliver) was very satisfying. A real “Hee-Hee-Hee” moment. I really liked that Oliver really bought into and supported Angela’s business aspirations.

Her pitch to her future investors was well done and the outcome was well managed, with just enough suspense to contribute to the overall effect.

I even liked that big conflict at the end which was well-founded and not silly or cooked up. At a celebratory dinner, Angela and Oliver agree to give their relationship a go despite living in different countries. Oliver tells her he will stay in Rome through New Year’s which signals that he has found balance between work and his personal life. Also, he has refused to take his boss’s calls! Angela is so encouraged that when she rings again, Angela encourages him to talk to her. He does, but he comes back to the table with news that he has been promoted to vice president (good news) but he must leave for New York immediately after all (bad).  In an instant, Angela sees the sad reality of their future in front of her versus the dream of making a go of it with the back-sliding Oliver. She calls the whole thing off and is direct, strong, and articulate. It was a great scene, and I was cheering her on all the way. Sam Page perfectly conveyed Oliver’s confusion and heartbreak.

There was a lot to resolve to achieve a satisfactory ending: The romance, Angela’s business venture, Oliver’s work/life balance, and, importantly for me, the future of Luigi’s beautiful little company in the hands of Oliver’s cutthroat employer. All were hanging by a thread. At one point Angela is even contemplating moving back to Seattle, of all places! Sure enough, Hallmark checked them all off and did so right in front of St. Peter’s Basilica during a Christmas concert. Well played.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

The Finnish Line

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Finishes Ahead of the Pack

Yes, the title is a bit of a groaner, but the movie is not. Other than the wonderful A ‘90s Christmas and  a couple of others, the Hallmark slate has been disappointing the last couple of weeks. Two were overly hyped and promoted which set me up for even more disappointment (though I should have known better.) Hallmark’s most popular stars are fine and dandy, but not if the story and script aren’t there. One was just another “Hallmark pretends to be the HGTV channel” reality show which I couldn’t even finish, and another I can’t comment on, because though I did finish it, I don’t remember a damn thing about it even after reading the summary. This one didn’t hold much promise. It was another Scandinavian one, the second of the season so far. It featured an Iditerod type race between our heroine and a cartoonishly evil villain who cheated her father out of the same race many years ago. (There was a cute reference to The Princess Bride about that-I won’t explain.) It’s the type of Hallmark that too often uses an exotic setting or an out-of-box plot-line as a crutch so they can skimp on good writing and character development and still put out an acceptable effort. Boy was I surprised!

Fresh and funny banter and dialogue were there from the get go. Kim Matula as the main character, Anya, put on a great performance of a likable character. Right there with her was Nichole Sakura who played her best friend Elyse, who was more than a human prop but also a fully realized character. She was given plenty of screen time, and a secondary romance of her own which was sweet and engaging. As usual lately with many Hallmarks, the primary romance was not the main focus, but thanks to the performances, dialogue, and the rapport, I was invested. The races were exciting mostly because of her rivalry with the evil dirty trickster and some dog crises. Anya even almost dies after almost falling off a cliff saving the bad guy’s dogs and sled. “I can’t beat you if you’re dead!” she shouts at him. When taunted and insulted by the bad guy, she gets off some sizzling comebacks and doesn’t turn the other cheek like a more demure heroine would do. Thank-you!

The movie would have been excellent set in Canada with fake snow (as usual), but there was plenty of Finnish (and Icelandic) landscape and scenery along with little nuggets about Finnish way of life. Ginger cookies and blue cheese are a thing. And the Finnish are comfortable sitting silently with a party of friends: No needless chatter is required to fill silence because in Finland, silence isn’t awkward. I think I’d like it in Finland. Going by the credits, other than 3 of the main actors, the rest of the cast is Scandinavian, which of course lent some authenticity, on top of all the other good things.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Savoring Paris

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Cheese is Life. Apparently.

This is about a lady who flees America, the land of bad cheese,  to Paris, the land of good cheese. And through her love of cheese, she finds her true self and what she wants out of life. So if you love cheese and enjoy movies set in Paris, you will love this one. I like both, but then, I don’t think American cheese is so bad either. Bethany Joy Lenz stars in this and that is always a big plus. But boy, her character, Ella, really really likes cheese!

After a disappointment at work involving cheese, believe it or not, Ella decides she needs a vacation. She had created a dish for the chain restaurant she works for using a good quality specialty cheese, and they used a cheap substitute. Also, she didn’t get her well-deserved promotion, the higher-ups stole her ideas, and her mother is pressuring her to buy a condo and freeze her eggs. It is all too much. She remembers Paris with fondness where she visited with her father after college, picnicked on the Seine, and where her life was changed by eating Comté cheese. Off she goes. Her first stop is a Fromagerie (what else?) where she meets the owner, the very handsome but grumpy Serge. She also makes friends with her landlady, the wealthy and charming Clotilde, with whom she shares her gorgeous apartment. And she meets Gaston, a handsome food critic with a reputation for being a player, who is slender, elegant, flirty, and dresses very french, all in black with tight rolled up pants and no socks.  She immerses herself in Paris life and makes lots of friends because she is BJL and everyone likes her despite her atrocious French. She also gets to know Serge who sells her cheese on a daily basis. One thing leads to another and Ella decides to quit her job and extend her stay in Paris for 3 months. Her mother is very dismayed by this, because she misses her daughter and thinks she is living in a fantasy world. Also, $ $ $ $ $ ? She is not wrong. Serge is expanding his cheese store and needs help. Ella offers her assistance as an intern, unpaid, except for 5 pieces of cheese a day and Serge’s personal tutelage about the beloved dairy product.

Meanwhile, things are heating up romance-wise with both the slippery handsome Gaston and grumpy masculine Serge. We kind of know who she is going to end up with because Serge is challenging, rugged, and attractive and Gaston is a little too French. And when Ella finds out that he isn’t a big cheese fan, it kind of seals the deal. He even buys her a bottle of Chanel No. 5 because he thinks she smells too much like cheese! Rudest Present Ever! In the end, Ella gets the type of visa that allows her to work for money, Serge gives her a real job, she stays in Paris with all of her friends and the life she loves, and her mom will visit her from America. A lot. Ella and the cheesemonger have a promising future together because their love will age and mature like a fine Cheddar. I paraphrase a real line from the movie.

This one was just “pretty good” for me. It did not meet my expectations because I always hold Bethany Joy to a high bar, she is just so good. She didn’t quite hit it with this one. All of the cheese and cheese metaphors got a little much at times. But a big plus was Stanley Weber, who played Serge. For such a romantic-looking guy, he has a very unromantic name. But anyway, the two made a great couple. Sometimes BJL’s co-leads just can’t quite measure up to her charisma and talent. The set decoration, ambiance, and Paris photography (lots of montages) were marvelous, and Bethany’s wardrobe was fabulous as usual. She must have a special rider on her contracts with Hallmark so that she can pick out her own clothes and accessories because they always have lots of pizzazz. It has become kind of her signature, in my opinion.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

A Very Venice Romance

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Bella Venezia

There was very little wrong with this one other than some gaps in storytelling that could have been fixed with an extra scene or two that were apparently left on the cutting room floor. And, set in Venice, Italy, it was beautifully photographed and a pleasure to gaze upon. Thankfully we were spared a depressing scientific lecture about rising seas and how the city is doomed. This was one of Hallmark’s foodie shows (yes romantic dough kneading and a tiny pinch of flour throwing were included) and the interiors and the food were also shown off to perfection. Great lighting throughout. The Italian leading man, was, of course, incredibly handsome, as they are, but he was also a good actor and very charming. As the leading lady, Stephanie Leonidas, was also very attractive and classy without the beauty pageant look of some of the other Hallmark regulars.

Amy is in charge of launching her company’s new venture which is home meal prep kits which, true to her health and wellness company’s brand, are packed with the supplements that they sell which supposedly boost metabolism, energy, immunity, and stuff like that. Her boss and head of the company, Naomi, at first comes across as an airy-fairy new-age guru type who exists on another plane entirely. But not for long. The Asian actress, whose name I could not find anywhere as of this writing, steals every scene she is in. While never letting her peaceful smile or her calm demeanor slip, it is not long before we see that she is pretty tough and no-nonsense. The word “steely” came to mind.

Unfortunately, for Blossom, the company, The meal kits do not taste good and take too long to make. After Amy tries to get the chef to work with their food scientist, known as Dr. Frankenfood, he quits in a temper tantrum. (typical Hallmark chef). Amy needs to fix the mess which leads her to recruit our hero, Marcello, a handsome (good for marketing), renowned, and respected chef to curate the kits and make them delicious while still loaded with supplements. He turns the job down in no uncertain terms without even hearing her offer. The meal kits go against his core beliefs about the art of cooking and food. He is all about fresh quality ingredients, no preservatives, and cooking with love and imagination. If the food was healthy, it wouldn’t need supplements! Amy decides to go to Venice (Without permission from Naomi! But doesn’t get in trouble!) to join his advanced cooking class so she can give him her “pitch.” The two fall in love over food and touring around Venice. It is not long before Chef Marcello wins Amy over to his way of thinking about food. There is a lot going on behind the scenes that we don’t see because we learn that surprisingly Naomi has led Amy to believe that the company will make enough concessions to Marcello’s way of thinking and let him work from Venice, to get him on board. Also one minute she is telling Amy to close the deal with the chef and get her butt back to New York pronto and the next, Amy is staying another 2 weeks to complete the course. I didn’t blame her for being tired of funding Amy’s 3 weeks in Venice with no progress on changing Marcello’s mind. I’d be suspicious and fed up as well. But we never see how or why Naomi changed her mind and let her stay. The side characters of Amy’s fellow students, one of which is famous British actress, Frances Barber, add interest as well as Marcello’s nice mother and father. Unfortunately, Amy herself is rather boring and personality-free.

Amy is finally ordered home and during the phone call, she finds out that her boss will not go “off-brand” to compromise on supplements nor accommodate Marcello’s insistence on curating the meals without moving to New York. Will Amy choose her life and career in New York, or love in beautiful Venice? The answer is to be found under The Bridge of Sighs.

I guess there is a lot I could pick apart in this movie, but I won’t because it was so nice to look at, and just nice in general. All of the actors were good, and none of the characters got on my nerves at all with silly or questionable behavior. So despite its contradictions and missing expositions, it was a pleasant watch.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

A Pinch of Portugal

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Hallmark Pulls a Fast One

I was not looking forward to this one despite its setting in Portugal which, unlike France and Italy has never been used as a backdrop for a Hallmark movie. I think I saw Heather Hemmens in something or other and she was fine. The previews seemed to set up the usual scenario of the beautiful, competent but underestimated heroine meeting the native hunk who shows her the sights while they commence falling for each other.

Heather plays Anna, a prep cook for a world-famous and difficult celebrity chef. They travel the world along with their little crew: the producer, the editor, and the cameraman. But this time, Dean, the Chef, is in contract negotiations so the support staff is sent on ahead to start shooting what they can without him. The second I saw the cameraman who was a dead ringer for Chris Hemsworth (Thor) I thought, “Too bad he’s not the hero. I like him!” Further cementing my approval, he opened his mouth, and out popped an Australian accent! I was kind of smitten despite his blondness. But it is made pretty clear early on that they are just best buddies. And we still had the designated dark-haired handsome hero on the horizon. They have a meet-cute at his farmer’s market and while they sniff and rhapsodize over all of the vegetables, they have lengthy conversations and flirt like mad. Our hero was very smiley. We learn his dream is to own his own restaurant. A girl who dreams of settling down and doing things her own way as a Chef and a guy that wants to open his own restaurant? Yep.  A perfect match. But things started to take a turn at the 41-minute mark. Did I just imagine that smoldering look from Thor? It seemed to come out of nowhere. I could scarcely believe it. While the volatile star chef continues to not show up, things started to get interesting. I was actually in doubt as to who was supposed to be the love interest until the 1 hour and 17-minute mark. Hallmark really pulled a fast one, and I heartily approve!

Besides the scenery and the yummy-looking food, there were some other really nice touches in this one.

  • Anna’s supportive mother.
  • Anna’s journey from an awkward fill-in to finally finding her niche and making the job her own was well done and believable. Heather Hemmens was really good, especially in the cooking while seasick scene.
  • Brooklyn, the cute editor, started out as a nothing character but turned out to be a real dark horse. She has one of the funniest lines in the movie. When Anna is taking out her anger on the vegetables she is chopping, She stops her, “You should really use your words. Violence is not the answer.”
  • Some surprises and twists: the sudden reappearance of the evil Chef who behaves like a real jerk. And the hidden agenda of another character that I for one did not see coming.
  • The happy rehabilitation of the bad guy was a surprise but was well-founded and understandable. I liked the way it was done.
  • There is a crisis at the end, but it was not a big misunderstanding between the couple. The romance was nuanced and drama free, but totally involving. My breath was bated.

Hallmark showed some sophistication with the script and casting, and the actors did not disappoint. Of course, Portugal did not hurt either.  There was not a silly minute in it (except possibly the weird moment when Anna grabbed Thor’s delicious-looking ice cream cone and threw it in the garbage.) And last but not least, Anna wore sensible shoes throughout and not only in the traipsing about Lisbon montage.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

A Paris Proposal

/ Rebekahrox / Leave a comment

**spoilers**

Diamonds are Forever and Paris is Always a Good Idea

Going by the previews this had the feel of a placeholder-type Hallmark artificially bolstered by an exotic location.  They hope their loyal viewers won’t notice a mediocre plot, an unengaging romance, and the usual Hallmark set pieces (sight-seeing, festival attending, gala going, etc.) our attention being diverted by the on-location shooting, the foreign accents, and the scenery. And to be sure, we are not spared from a few of the above-mentioned activities. But it was better than that. Of course, the authentic scenery of Paris was a big plus. But the romance was good too and there was plenty of suspense and drama. And no frolicking in the kitchen! And child-free!

Anna and Sebastian are tasked by their boss to work together in Paris to reel in a huge client for their advertising agency.  The two colleagues are poles apart as far as their personalities and approach to their profession. But their boss feels that together, they will balance each other out. Sebastian will help Anna regain her creativity and think outside the box, and Anna will balance Sebastian’s swing for the fences approach to advertising campaigns that ignore such pedestrian things as budgets and other practical considerations. To wit: he once burned down the coat department of his family’s famous and elite department store by staging an indoor promotion that featured flame throwers. So Yeah. He was fired from the business and his family both. Anna is just a stick in the mud. To be fair, the one time she did something unplanned and impulsive was in Paris and it led to a disastrous 1-year marriage and a divorce.  In their initial meeting with their clients, Anna, in a slip of the tongue, inadvertently kinda sorta tells them that she and Sebastian are married. Their clients, the blissfully married owners of Durand Diamonds are charmed. It is A & S’s job to lose.

What follows is the usual keeping up the pretense of being married alternating with crises of conscience for lying to their very nice clients. The two walk around Paris, and despite their totally opposite personalities, they grow closer and start falling in love for reals. They also struggle to come up with a stellar advertising campaign with the added pressure of a rival agency head, who is a nasty piece of work, breathing down their necks. Adding to their guilt and pressure is Sebastian’s estranged family who welcomes Anna into the fold. Oh boy. Even the mean father,  who just can’t let the flame thrower incident go for some reason,  starts to soften toward his son.

Alexa PenaVega is not a Hallmark actress I go out of my way to watch, but I liked her in this. Nicholas Bishop as Sebastian was a charmer and very cute. They were well cast and worked well together. Other pluses were some amusing banter between the two leads and Anna’s fashions, which were quite bold and fashionable. I liked the diamond angle as well. Really tired of chocolate, wine, and baked goods. It all comes to a head during The Big Gala when the nasty rival publicly outs our couple as unmarried liars. They are not only humiliated and lose the account but get fired by their boss right then and there in front of all of the glittering gala guests and Sebastian’s family! They turn on him and basically kick him out of the family. Again.  Hallmark did not spare our couple one bit. Which I also liked. Poor Sebastian. Even Anna yelled at him and blamed him before having a change of heart.

In the last 10 minutes, they start to scratch their way back to a happy ending by each taking the blame, Anna to his family and Sebastian to the Durands. In the “one year later” epilogue, they have opened their own Ad Agency in Paris, have two big accounts (guess who?), and are engaged. The ending montage was cute and clever.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.