Près des yeux, près du cœur

...the majority of Hallmark TV-movies, thanks in large part to the natural acting style of the leading man, Marco Grazzini. Yes, others in the cast are good, including Janelle Parrish and Hillary Jardine, but Grazzini plays it all so low-key, and with such self-effacing, easy-going charm, that he makes it believable that Nick and Carly are actually falling in love.

This film has a long, slow, awkward first half. The initial meeting of the two main characters was especially awkward. Perhaps the fact that they are stuck in one location for the majority of the film increased this aspect for me, because I know many Hallmark movies feature a "meet cute" moment that is sometimes pretty awkward. The movie improved in the last half, but overall this is a forgettable one from the Hallmark movie machine.

I have been a hard time watching Hallmark this last year because of all the craziness of the pandemic. The movies with lots of families, restaurants and parties did not seem normal during this time- but I really enjoyed this movie. Both lead characters were very charismatic and they had a lot of chemistry together. The rest of the movie was the usual Hallmark fluff, but the two actors and they're on screen rolls really made it all worthwhile.

The main characters go very well together; from the start, their relationship is based on a bond of friendship and complicity. The story, even if it is not original, shows everyone's questions about past friendships, unfinished stories, what could have been. However, I really don't like this mania in the majority of romantic comedies where, towards the end of the movie, there is suddenly a problem, an irrelevant problem which seems unrealistic, that is magically and quickly resolved towards the end, which is what usually ruins the story.

This was a sleepy little surprise that I absolutely loved! The story is about Carly who had to work her way through college and ended up playing it a little bit safe with her career. Carly has a successful bridal styling business, but with a degree in design should really be designing for her own label. She is quite successful at what she does and is booked for every weekend for the next year, until her latest celebrity wedding ups the date by three days...freeing her up for the weekend to take up her friend on her offer to treat her to a spa weekend at the lodge she manages outside of San Francisco. There Carly meets the events chef Nick, who really wants to have his own restaurant and make some experimental Asian fusion foods. Carly is so natural with Nick that not only do the two really hit it off, but they get to know each other's passions and foibles...including Carly's quirky eat desserts at home thing. She becomes his official taste tester and he becomes her wingman as it turns out there is a wedding of some old college acquaintances and her college crush is there to attend.

Nick and Carly have wonderful chemistry and are the exact kind of sweet lovely people that you want to know and root for in a delightful romance.

I thought this would be one of the standard Hallmark Rom-Com's, but I ended up being delightfully surprised. It was so much more. I loved the showcasing of some different careers. I loved people being nice to one another...for no other reason than to just be nice and help one another. And I truly loved the tiny fork story, with both the follow through on a thoughtful thank you gift and the naming of the restaurant (although I am really surprised the restaurant wasn't named Lola).

This may be the best Hallmark Romantic Comedy that I have seen this year.