Love Upstream

Start with the unoriginal failed-relationship-author premise. Add a totally unlikeable, make that hateable, woman. She's an arrogant,, self-absorbed, know-it-all who can't see the plain reality around her. Then she throws a tantrum stuck in an elevator and tops that off insulting the guy who keeps his cool to get them out. What a great start, but stick with it. It gets slightly better.

He's a little self-absorbed and arrogant himself, but much more quiet about it although he throws an insult or two at her. And a lot of secondary characters are pretty unlikeable.

Of course the two leads' ugly personalities don't last and they change completely. Trouble is, it's hard to believe a person like Charlotte can really change that much.

The middle is mostly about Charlotte being coached in the Wilderness. Sounds like a great opportunity of some breathtaking scenery. Nope. Most of the Wilderness stuff is shot either in the same spot on a lake, or the same clearing in the woods. You don't even get much look at what she can see off the deck of her cabin.

The conflict was predictable, although it has some twists too. Trouble is the twists are ridiculous and the way the conflict blows up is ridiculous too. No one is as stupid as what Charlotte does to make everything go bad.

Kimberly-Sue Murray and Steve Lund have chemistry. The acting is spotty. At times it seems half hearted, or like the actors are uncertain. The story is clumsy especially when it goes off the rails with the silly plot lines. That's not referring to a couple of funny moments which depend a little on the ridiculous like when Rob meets Charlotte's ex, or when he's teaching her to start a fire.

Technical point - a J-stroke does not mean constantly switching sides.

The actors were appropriate for the characters. Very down to earth, no squeaky voices. There is another with a similar theme with Christopher Russell and Cindy Busby. City girl, wilderness. Cindy not relatable and voice is grating. The actors in this film relateable and you actually feel for them and the two friends. Great movie and I watch alot of Hallmark movies which only Christmas Waltz rated a 10 for me.

Quite an average love story. Nothing more, nothing less. Fortunately the lead actress wasn't too dolled up and after a rough start she was quite likeable. The lead actor didn't look like an outdoorsy type to me at all though (it takes a little more than a beard). Not very believable. Support cast was okay, nice scenery.

The benefit of the doubt, just because I like love stories in general: a very meager 6 out of 10.

A supposed smart woman has hissy fit in elevator. But didn't have one when boyfriend breaks up. Poor dialog. Bad story line. All around bad movie.

This movie is actually worth watching, probably because it wasn't actually produced by Hallmark. Good acting. Nice witty dialog. Yeah the plot is not original like most of these movies, but the good acting / directing / writing make it very watchable as a romcom.

Of particular note is the male lead actor (Canadian) who can actually act, unlike many of the male actors in this type of movie. In fact the chemistry between the male and female lead is also very good. They do a great job playing off each other.

As what I call a "Hallmarkish" movie this is a cut above most of them.