With the fairly high IMDb rating of 7.0, I thought this movie might be something special. But it was really just a standard Hallmark movie, without a lot of surprises. The plot is certainly well-worn. Workaholic woman escapes the big city and her high-stress job to enjoy a slower-paced life among friendly, caring people in a small town. And she ends up spearheading a festival that will save something (a struggling restaurant and the older section of a resort town, in this case). Oh, and there's also romance in the wings with a handsome, charming local from that town, who she initially gets off on the wrong foot with, but whom she ends up clicking with in the end. There's literally nothing we haven't seen before in countless other Hallmark romances.
The leads, who are Hallmark veterans, give good performances, as usual. Lacey Chabert is, cute, warm and engaging, as always. Tyler Hynes, gives a decent performance, but nothing special. I didn't like how the writers make him overly jerky when he and Lacey first met, chiding her over illegal parking. They always seem to want the eventual couple to be combatants in the beginning, but the initial combativeness usually seems contrived, and this was no exception.
There wasn't anything majorly wrong with this movie. It was the sweet, feel-good movie that we all expect from Hallmark. But it was also pretty innocuous. Dull might actually be a better description. We know that Karl's restaurant is in jeopardy, but we somehow don't sense the urgency. We know that the Strudelfest will magically solve all their problems, so there's no dramatic tension. Also, the romance between Chelsea and Owen felt kind of flat to me. I wasn't feeling the chemistry very much. I think the writers were trying to make Chelsea an independent woman whose decision to move to Vail wasn't influenced by a man. But that made it feel like the romance was just shoehorned into the plot, and I didn't feel the passion.
So, if you're expecting the typical Hallmark romance, set in a beautiful location, you will be happy with this movie. But don't expect it to be anything out of the ordinary.
The leads, who are Hallmark veterans, give good performances, as usual. Lacey Chabert is, cute, warm and engaging, as always. Tyler Hynes, gives a decent performance, but nothing special. I didn't like how the writers make him overly jerky when he and Lacey first met, chiding her over illegal parking. They always seem to want the eventual couple to be combatants in the beginning, but the initial combativeness usually seems contrived, and this was no exception.
There wasn't anything majorly wrong with this movie. It was the sweet, feel-good movie that we all expect from Hallmark. But it was also pretty innocuous. Dull might actually be a better description. We know that Karl's restaurant is in jeopardy, but we somehow don't sense the urgency. We know that the Strudelfest will magically solve all their problems, so there's no dramatic tension. Also, the romance between Chelsea and Owen felt kind of flat to me. I wasn't feeling the chemistry very much. I think the writers were trying to make Chelsea an independent woman whose decision to move to Vail wasn't influenced by a man. But that made it feel like the romance was just shoehorned into the plot, and I didn't feel the passion.
So, if you're expecting the typical Hallmark romance, set in a beautiful location, you will be happy with this movie. But don't expect it to be anything out of the ordinary.