One Perfect Match

I love Merritt Patterson and I have since I saw her in her first Hallmark Christmas movie. At this point, she is also one of the few really good actresses for either Hallmark or Great American Family that is still young enough to do a "first love" romance. She has a presence on screen. So it is painful to me to give this move less than a glowing review, but for reasons I will explain, it wasn't because of her.

The movie is dominated by a theme and a tone. The theme is ethics. The tone is awkwardness. The former leads to the latter.

Ethics really dominates the movie. It is mentioned often and when not explicitly mentioned it shows up in the relationships through body language and fitful speech. A lot of stuttering or fitful speech. I think that Patterson and Joshua Sasse could have had chemistry, but they had to play so much of the movie with the awkward tension between them that it was hard to see chemistry.

As to ethics, normally the idea of the matchmaker dating a client wouldn't bother me. But the specific situation here made it a problem. It led to deception between Lucy and Molly, Finn and Molly, and to a certain extent between Finn and Lucy. Trust is important in a general sense for each of those relationships. Certainly, Molly needs to be able to trust Lucy due to the dynamic of client and matchmaker. Trust is also important for any dating relationship.

The acting was mostly good. The dialogue had some good moments but was mostly average. Like so many movies on this network, the background music is not background enough. It is noticeable at times.

The story was a big problem. I've already explained a few reasons. Also, this movie reminds me of another on a rival network not long ago but I don't remember the name or the stars. The development is very similar. The story lacks any great highs or lows or surprises. It is very predictable from the mini-surprise at the vineyard to the end. One slightly unusual aspect is that the only conflict or tension is obvious almost from the beginning. There isn't really a conflict moment just before the climax.

I think there are a couple of positive stars added to bring my rating up to mediocre just because of Merritt Patterson.

I realised a long time ago that text messaging was just a part of daily life now and was not surprised when it started appearing in movies. But FINALLY a movie maker that while using text messaging as part of the story doesn't forget that not everyone has 20/20 vision and by not being able to read the texts loses a large part of what is happening. By having the texts spoken as well as on screen, they allowed the story to unfold for everyone.

I was really surprised and pleased. They only missed one right at the end but by then we knew what it would say.

I really enjoyed this movie, thought the chemistry between the leads was awesome and the supporting actors were great too. Scenery lovely and all in all an enjoyable movie made better for knowing what the texts said. Thank you.

This is an EXCELLENT Movie! It should be shown in all university and college campuses because of the outstanding ethical decisions made by the characters! Hollywood NEEDS MORE WRITERS THAT CAN WRITE IN THIS STYLE!! I LOVED this MOVIE! So REFRESHING AND WELL- DONE in every aspect! The cast was excellent. The background sets were great. Make-up and wardrobe top-notch! Where has the writer(s) been hiding?? I would LOVE to see more movies made with this class of writing! Such a relief not to have to watch perversion and disrespect weaved into a rom-com when trying to relax. This movie deserves awards! I hope it get some and I hope some people in Hollywood take a lesson from the content of this movie!! DOUBLE KUDDOS TO THE WRITER(S)

Great American Family (GAF) struck it out of the ballpark with this movie!!! The actors/actresses were absolutely amazing! This is not a movie that you can just listen to, it has to be watched, and watched closely. The reason is due to all of the subtle expressions that cross the main characters faces. Wonderful - Enrapturing!! My wife and I were captivated by what was said in these expressions! The supporting cast were fantastic too!! I agree with another poster who said there should be some awards for this movie! And to the person who commented on GAF "holy rollers". Let me just say that these "holy rollers" created an exceptional and heart warming movie that transcends political correctness!!! Kudos GAF and please continue creating such wonderful movies with exceptional actors and actresses!!! I also agree with another poster who pointed out the benefit of the characters reading their own texts! Loved it! You really can't go wrong by watching this movie, just watch it closely!

Joshua Sasse seems to have set up shop in Queensland in 2023, filming two movies there - One Perfect Match and the Netflix production with Delta Goodrem, Love is in the Air.

The latter was better than the former, by a long way.

Sasse is a good actor and Merritt Patterson, as gorgeous as ever, is one of my favourites - I will watch anything she is in, without hesitation - but this movie was far too slow, proceeding at something around a glacial pace at the best of times, with an uninteresting plot (to me, anyway) and it was more cliched than these movies usually are. A bad triumvirate.

The majority of these GAC Family movies definitely don't have the production values that Hallmark and Lifetime do. That's a shame, give the acting talent - Patterson, Jen Lilley etc. - that network has on it's books. A lack of budget was, to me, much more noticeable in 'One Perfect Match' than in most of the other GAC titles I've watched.

I also think the producers missed an opportunity to set this in Australia, rather than having Queensland masquerade for somewhere in America.

I like this kind of movie as much or more than the next person, but sometimes they fall flat and this one did. I really wanted to like it, but I really couldn't get into it.