Lease on Love

I am a big fan of the lead actress in this movie. It took me awhile to figure out who she was but then I remembered her from the Frankie Drake Mysteries tv show. It is on the strength of her performance, and that of the other lead characters that I was able to enjoy this movie despite the unrealistic plot.

Being a fan of romcoms, I could suspend my disbelief despite the plot holes. Boy meets girl and they fall in love. In that regard, I sat back and enjoyed the performances of the two main characters. I also enjoyed the supporting cast. Give the movie a try and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. It is better than the group rating indicates.

This is sadly another typical bad Reel One Entertainment TV movie. You get a lot of stock footage, bad cuts, bad makeup, overplaying, no chemistry between main leads, barely any romance, bad comedy, not a single likeable character, very weak screenplay and so on. Another bad thing is the fake location which ROE actually doesn't do regularly like their main competitor Hallmark. It's pretty obvious it's again filmed in Canada and not Chicago.

The positive things - Rebecca played well in Acts I and II but she overplayed in Act III. There was no obnoxiously loud background music which is trademark for the most ROE TV movies.

And that's it. The main trope is fake relationship but this time spinned (fiance/e). I really like that trope but this one is done so poorly unless you are into polyamory. I don't want to spoil anything because there as so many wrong moral messages send by this movie.

The only good thing is that you can watch the whole movie compressed in 2:12 min long trailer because somebody in charge at ROE thinks that trailer should show whole movie.

The premise is a slight twist on the fake fiancé. In this case, Poppy is already engaged, for real. Her real fiancé is pretty easy going and accepts her going through with the deception.

Milo is arrogant, yet not overbearing. You almost appreciate his arrogance. Meanwhile Ingrid is a total narcissist and a caricature of an influencer. Normally I would dislike the way Ingrid is overplayed, but I found it at least a little funny. The same goes for Wanda. Tony is also overplayed, but again it works for comedic effect.

I loved Poppy. She has the right mix of humility and competence. She's able to juggle Milo, Ingrid and Joel, at least for a while. She keeps a calm demeanor while panic is building inside. Rebecca Liddiard does a great job.

The chemistry between Rebecca Liddiard and Dan Jeannotte is excellent. There is some great sparring well into the movie. Soon the viewer sees the secret looks by one for the other. The panic mode overtakes the romance and ramps up the humor. The tension builds, but it's benign tension. It's well done. The acting is good. Timing is good. Dialogue is good.

There is a very good scene between Joel and Milo. It is another thing that is well done. And it perfectly sets up the ending. The scene between Milo and Poppy which follows is equally good and well written. And it's not obviously predictable.

What's with Liddliard's overly rosy cheeks that appear frequently. Is that good makeup?

I have watched and reviewed so many Hallmark style rom/coms that I have no idea how many. Easily hundreds if you count Christmas ones. They get stale after a while. They run together. Overused plot lines become quick turn offs. That means it's significant that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and will definitely watch it again.

I actually liked this movie. GAC's writing got better with this one. Ingrid was over the top, but the other characters fit well. I especially liked the landlord's relationship with Poppy. He seemed to genuinely care for Poppy. Her fiance was good, but when he still wanted to have 'the boys over to play over spending time with her, that was a no brainer. The fact that he didn't seem to want to move forward with the wedding plans said alot about his commitment. The two leads didn't have alot of chemistry, but they made it work. You could tell he cared for her early on. He never took advantage and considered her feelings from the beginning. All in all, I really liked it.

The first temptation is to critic it very hard. Many motives, not the best story, acceptable acting. But it is a film of details, from the beautiful house to the relation with landlord to the game of appearences and the eccentric boss.

And , sure, the bizarre option for the dark stranger , the fiancee being a better choice , including for his Peter Pan syndrome aura.

It is difficult to say than I like it but the small solutions, more crumbs putting together different scenes, working not exactly bad , save the film , maybe again the vain effort of the main actors.

Something like atmosphere of Christmas in the birth house, after a long time return defines this film and propose not the worst impressions about it.