Love's Sweet Recipe

I'm not sure why they didn't go for the title to be the Rulebook of Love which was the running device throughout the movie.

The premise has echoes of some common themes. Courtney is spending time helping her family restaurant before she goes back to her life in New York. Jake is a washed up professional baseball player come home. They agree to work together to win a contest. Courtney struggles throughout to make something that will stand out.

The hook for me was the chemistry between Megan Hutchings and Damon Runyan. The chemistry came through in both banter and body language. At times it was subtle but it came through strong. And they had plenty of screentime to work that.

There weren't a lot of highs or lows or surprises in the story and the only tension besides the contest was Courtney's determination to return to New York. There's some smoke and mirrors in how she expected to have her family restaurant go from solely her and her mom as staff to having her leave. She mentioned hiring staff if she could make it successful, but if Courtney was the one who made it successful, then how would a different staff keep it going?

The next to last scene was a little underwhelming as the ending. The very last scene with the Rulebook of Love was more of a quick epilogue.

Sometimes the background piano music was distracting.

I tried to sit through all of this without starting to read Daily Telegraph article comments but it was impossible.

It was as slow as molasses with absolutely no chemistry between the two lead actors and a really boring script. Neither actor was very good but worse together.

The story of Courtney running the family business was absurd since she was never there cooking or serving or anything to do with it other than trying out some fiddley new fusion dishes. She just kept reading old recipes to remind her why she fell in love with the cooking we never see her do other than in her own little kitchen. I suppose she has a staff to deal with the restaurant since we see nothing of the hectic brutal schedule of running a restaurant i'd havd expected. In addition she's trying to impress the judges of an upcoming competition.

She's also reading her father's old book "of love".

Jake, an old beau athlete, comes back to town after an injury and surprises her that he can bake. They start to work together as he saves to own his own bakery one day.

There is absolutely no energy in this production. It feels completely flat and if there is supposed to be any romance brewing I think they forgot to put the kettle on.

I watched the movie a couple of times and I really enjoyed it. I think the 2 negative review weren't fair and representative.

I really enjoyed this movie. Sure, the story has been done before in various ways but this is a Hallmark type movie and we all know what to expect. If that's not your cup of tea, all good but don't write negative reviews and put other folk off a pleasant and enjoyable movie.

Lovely storyline with gorgeous outdoor surroundings. Talented acting. Nicely done feel-good entertainment. Not sure why the other person who reviewed this was so critical. They sound bitter. We watch a lot of rom-coms, and this was beautifully done. Great rapport between the actors, too.