Reviews

Lifelong Portland resident Cleo (Natalie Hall) runs a food truck that focuses on making great sandwiches. Then Gabe (Michael Rady) comes to town with his own truck that does great bacon, and it's game on, and maybe some romance to go with it. The big challenge here is a food truck contest with $100,000 on the line. If only she could win and open up her own restaurant to honor dear old Grandpa Morelli. You'll have to tune in to see if her dream comes true.

This was the second of Hallmark's Spring Fling 2020. Sadly, this one didn't do it for me. Hall has been quite a mixed bag in my world but in this movie her delivery and timing was just odd and very unnatural. Rady is usually very solid but it's almost as if he felt his lack of chemistry with Hall here. They just didn't work well together.

There was a lot of unintentional humor. For instance, Gabe has a very popular truck and is always slammed, yet he works alone. You never see anyone else helping him. Somehow he manages to work the stand taking orders, take orders over the phone, collect payment, and all the while cook amazing dishes for the masses fast.

Then there is Cleo who, while transplanting a tree to one of her raised beds, explains to Gabe that she grows a lot of her own vegetables to use for her sandwiches and of course, to donate to the local food pantry. However, all you can see in her beds is flowers everywhere.

There is also one really strange and cringy scene early where all her usual customers are flocking to Gabe's truck. She proceeds to call him in a poorly disguised voice and order about 30 meals just to overwhelm him. I know, really mature. Then to add to the stupidity of the scene Gabe brings all of it over (probably about $250 worth) and says it's "on the house."

There are several other scenes with bad dialogue, bad timing, and lots of unintentional laughs, even for Hallmark. The only member of the supporting cast that does a decent job is Casey Manderson, who is well cast as Gabe's brother Nate. He is basically the voice of reason here, always trying to offer up some good advice for Nate, who for some unexplained reason, is always on the move and already ran away from one seemingly great opportunity.

This one might be worth watching while playing a drinking game and counting all the bad lines, strange looks from Hall, and cringeworthy scenes. Otherwise, it's probably best to stay away.

Love on the Slopes kicked off Hallmark's 2018 Winterfest series. It doesn't seem that much time was spent thinking about this one. It's a very familiar story of a city girl copywriter of a travel magazine (that's original) who gets her big chance to become the feature writer. She has a week to produce an article about extreme sports from a novice perspective. On Day 1 she manages to not only meet a highly renowned extreme sports photographer, but convinces him to be her week-long guide. He is of course great-looking, talented, adventurous, and modest (oh, and attempting to raise money for under-privileged children to attend his camp).

During this week, she writes her amazing article, falls in love with the hot guy, and finds her true self. I don't actually mind these types of movies if they are well done. However, both actors (he in particular) were very stiff around each other and their conversations felt almost formal, even after they supposedly got to know each other well. They didn't have any chemistry together. He certainly looked the part of the sports enthusiast, but just showed no spark at any time. (I was surprised to realize that he was the lead in The Spirit of Christmas, which is an exceptional Christmas movie). Here he was just plain dull. She (from the terrific horror/comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil) is definitely better than him but together just don't generate any energy. They deliver their lines but are not at all convincing of two people falling for each other.

There was also the obligatory early scene with her boyfriend at a big gala with his parents. There is the buildup where it appears he is about to pop the question to her only to announce instead that he is becoming a partner in his father's firm. However, to be fair he does nothing wrong throughout the movie. He wishes her the best when she takes off for her assignment and he contacts her (or at least tries) several times during the week. Then on Day 6 he shows up out of the blue "to surprise his girl, " and she takes an almost accusatory tone with him asking him in a rather annoyed way, "What are you doing here?". He comes up with a surprise on the last day that most women would die for, a horse drawn sleigh ride in the backcountry. By this time though, she has completed her journey to all-out extreme sports adventurer. When he does ask for her hand, she tells him that they are on different paths now. His reaction is both confusing and laughable. He basically just nods and agrees with her....no hard feelings.

Sorry Hallmark....your big Winterfest kick off landed with a thud.