L'hôtel des coups de foudre

Jack Turner and the plot convinced me to watch this movie: two exes reuniting and getting a second chance? That's a yes from me. However... It was kind of disappointing: I don't feel there was any chemistry between the actors. It was kind of slow, and there were no fun moments, nor any major scene/problem between the leads. I don't think it got my full attention at any point during the hour and half. You know what to expect from a Hallmark movie, but this wasn't it.

I appreciate the original plot. The location was beautiful. I didn't hate it, I liked it but I think a few things were missing that could have made this movie special. I'm actually sad that i'm giving this 5 stars. This had so much potential but it just didn't work for me.

Yes, it is another simple Hallmark made for TV romance themed film but Mrs. Shullivan and I are hunkering down during the Corona Virus 19 pandemic and we are a bit choosy about what we want to watch on TV. It was no surprise that we both enjoyed this simple little film as our own first trip together was to the beautiful country side of Ireland where the pubs are many and the food hearty and bountiful such as it was in this romantic themed made for TV film.

The two lead actors Merritt Patterson and Jack Turner certainly had feelings for each other but as in all realistic scenarios they had their own careers to follow and so they fell out of touch with one another through the subsequent years. We as all humans have a memory bank of both the good times and bad times we have experienced with some of our memories harder to forget than others. Such is the case with these two star crossed lovers Jenna Slade and Charlie O'Hanlon.

As life and time goes by, (and time stands still for no man nor woman), Jenna and Charlie have moved on, or so they thought until five years later they find themselves in the boutique hotel that Charlie's father owns and runs. Economics have not been good to the hotel or to the O'Hanlon's who have fallen on some recent hard times and Jenna takes it upon herself to help Charlie's father bring new life back into the hotel and maybe, just maybe rekindle some of the old feelings that Jenna and Charlie once shared in good times past.

As I am from Irish heritage I have a soft spot for any film surrounding the countryside of Ireland, and although actor Jack Turner's Irish accent left a lot to be desired the story is a favorable one, the romance rekindled and a happy ending in these troubled times (COVID 19) are always a blessing we all need.

I give this particular Hallmark made for TV romance a strong Irish blessing score of 8 out of 10.

Yes the scenery was the star and not just the breathtaking kind like the cliffs, but every day Irish scenery too. My wife's biggest memory of Ireland is those skinny roads and yes we saw some of them in thia movie.

The story lacked something even beyond not tying up lose ends. It seemed disjointed. There were no big highs nor any big lows. Of the two or maybe three major conflicts, one didn't get resolved, one ended very quietly and the third was the lead up to the obvious ending. In broad strokes, this movie was predictable which is almost automatic with a Hallmark romance. However, getting there didn't rely completely on overused tropes and cliches. The save-the-family-business trope gets old, but this had a slightly different approach to it. Also, the story seemed to ramble a bit. I think I can see how the inn's problems were supposed to have been solved, but the movie jumbled it up some and didn't explicitly explain it.

When the biggest problem seemed to be too little staff and not enough time, they sure had time to hike and bike and do other things. Charlie's big plan at the end doubles down on this and really didn't make a lot of sense either.

Merritt Patterson is one of what the Hallmark networks need - new and especially younger stars. I love a bunch of the veterans, but so many of them are over 40 and that's not really a good start-a-family age which is the kind of story you want to see at least a good percentage of the time. Patterson and Turner are decent actors for this brand, but not really knock-your-socks-off people. Patterson has beautiful eyes and her closeups are striking. In this movie, I didn't see the chemistry between the leads. And the guys' singing sounded off. Accents? They sounded off too, but at least for Turner it wasn't heavy.

I like that this movie starts in Ireland, rather than being a fish-out-of-water movie and has two generations. Whilst I'm really bored of flour fights etc, and the time of year is confusing, this film would merit and facilitate sequels.

I found Jack Turner's (Charlie's) accent forced and hard to understand. I liked watching Roisin O'Donovan (Katherine) though. It seems they could have done a little better job making the actors look like they actually aged 5 years. Of course, the scenery in Ireland was beautiful and a nice change from the typical generic Canadian settings.