A Christmas Recipe for Romance

No spark between the leads, a reasonable tale to be told but let down by virtually every character. Afer about 10 minutes, I was ready to turn it off.

Abby's parents are deceased, she runs her grandmother's inn, she is always cheery and smiling, but she soon learns the truth. The inn is on the verge of failure, they are out of money, the grandmother hasn't paid the property taxes for several years, it would take almost $50,000 (Canadian, I presume) to get back in the clear.

As luck would have it a famous producer is planning a cooking contest with a prize of $50,000 and they want a local included. Of course Abby is the natural selection, but her nickname locally is "Five Alarm Abby" because she more often burns food she tries to cook.

As more luck would have it a young chef has just arrived, he is taking some time off, he agrees to teach her how to be a professional quality chef in a week. Of course all of us who are avid cooks know this cannot be done, but we go with it because the movie is light entertainment.

My wife and I frequently watch Hallmark movies and this one seems to want to follow that formula, but in all areas, script, cinematography, acting, this movie falls short. While the two lead actors are pretty good most of the others are amateurish.

Was it an appropriate expenditure of 90 minutes? Yes, I suppose so, as it was a free DVD rental from our public library. But in total it isn't really a very good movie.

This movie had all the right ingredients for a terrific Christmas movie recipe. I loved that it wasn't "routine" in its story. With these s one you really didn't know what was coming next and it was interesting and not dull.

I couldn't watch this movie through. The acting was horrible like a bunch of first time actors trying to find their way while they act AT one another. I couldn't stand the blatant naivete of Abby towards managing the inn and it's finances and especially cooking. Grandma was even worse. Much of it was supposed to be funny, but it struck me as just stupid.

It's another we-have-to-save-the-family-inn premise combined with total-amateur-wants-to-win-a-contest to save it.

The plot moves quickly from one conundrum to the next as the characters develop and as they come to grips with life lessons, but the movie keeps a light, humorous touch in between the more serious moments. Overall a pleasure to watch, with a clever plot resolution, and a good feeling at the end.