Coup de foudre à la Saint-Valentin

Diva Universal (the successor of Hallmark Channel in Romania) broadcasted Matching Hearts in the evening of St. Valentine's Day and I really enjoyed it. Traditional H.C. recipe, which supported them in having a loyal and increasing audience and fan base (which probably do not regularly watch blockbusters such as Die Hard, Triple X or Poltergeist) and usually making very profitable moves.

Yes, this is the typical Hallmark winter romance movie, with the plot closely following the two lead characters, which "accidentally" meet every 5 minutes, slowly come together, then around min. 70 there is a twist and the two decide to go separate ways, and the long awaited final kiss around min. 85, end credits. Solid performance by both Taylor Cole and Ryan Paevey and pretty decent chemistry between the two of them. Yes, would recommend it even for those which are not fans of this kind of movies.

Special note for Taylor Cole, since she has all the due ingredients (i.e. outstanding beauty, talent, charm, versatility and incredible beautiful eyes) to play in the same league as, say, Amber Heard or Scarlett Johansson. But, who knows, maybe she decided she had enough during her modelling career and thereafter and now only wants to enjoy the beauty of life with her new husband, producer Cameron Larson? BTW, I read that this movie might be inspired by Taylor's real life, as she was repeatedly trying to match old friend Cameron with several of her friends, until the man finally understood that Taylor is the Chosen One. The couple married last June. Nice!

Good to see that, despite ongoing pandemic and worldwide lockdown, Hallmark still managed to come out with a number of decent titles in 2020, and "Matching Hearts" is probably one of the best.

Julia works as a matchmaker (is that really a thing?) and she meets Daniel, an entrepreneur who claims that if you want to succeed, you should stay single. So, Julia's company plans to set him with a date in order to get more clients and advertise.

I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed it. I may be biased, Taylor Cole is one of my favourite leading ladies. The plot was kind of stupid and at times it didn't made sense (changing things without a boss' approval? Nope). I couldn't care less about Ryan's character, Daniel. I don't dislike him, but he always plays his characters in the same way.

The reason I give this 7 stars? (Other than Taylor Cole) A diverse cast and even the hint of a same-sex couple at the end. Which i'm all in for (this is actually funny, because I saw today a trailer for Hallmark movies that does include a same sex couple and people are mad, but I couldn't be happier.)

I'm not gonna watch again, but I'm glad I did.

A matchmaker agency, a pets center, a bachelor saying something not real correct, a lady looking for demonstrate than he makes a mistake. And, sure, dogs and cats, dates and the so predictable end.

Two things are real useful - the sparkles of classic romances and the main actors - sure, with some reserves about Russ Paevey , not very comfortable in role -.

But comfortable is the recipe, working little more than decent.

Good chemistry. The story somewhat expected. But all the actors worked welltogether.

The two lead actors are so enchanting with each other that I lose site that they are following a script, and that this is a movie. It's so refreshing to be in a story that makes you feel so good about what you're listening to.