While a lot of the 2021 Hallmark films really surprised me, especially in the early half of the year and the best of the Christmas output, the quality did decrease in a lot of the second half of the year. Was not crazy about most of the Summer Nights films and the same goes for most of the Fall Harvest output ('Love Strikes Twice' being by quite some considerable distance the best of the block). Am not the biggest of fans of Taylor Cole, have seen performances of hers where she comes over as cold, so expectations were not high.
The good news is that 'South Beach Love' was a good deal better than expected, and while it is not 'Love Strikes Twice' level it is one of the more watchable 2021 Fall Harvest films. The not so good news is that 'South Beach Love' is also not particularly good, though the aspect that left me most apprehensive was actually surprisingly a redeeming quality. It is not one of the worst 2021 Hallmark films, nowhere near close, though it is a long way from being one of the best. Middle of the road.
'South Beach Love' has good things. It is a very attractive looking film, especially the suitably exotic looking scenery that the slick photography was clearly in love with (without being too much so). The setting is not a novel one, but Hallmark have done it quite well in other films of theirs and there are parts that were fun. Was very pleasantly surprised by the cultural aspect of the film, it was nice to see some and it was done tastefully and makes one want to know more without resorting to stereotyping.
Another aspect that pleasantly surprised me was the performance of Cole, who is not the cold ice queen that she can be in her films but there is a warm charming presence here and she always look at ease. The supporting cast are above average.
However, William Levy struck me as very wooden in a role where the extreme flaws of the character made it difficult to warm to him initially. He and Cole don't gel together and the chemistry between them is minimal at best and non existent at worst. The banter between them lacks wit and flow and comes over instead as overdone in the amount of talk and bland in the delivery. Which is true of the dialogue in general actually.
Moreover, the story is very predictable and thin, which made for some very draggy pacing. Charm and emotion are minimal. Found it very difficult to connect with any of the characters, especially Levy's, due to them not being very well fleshed out and having motivations and behaviours that don't ring true. Do agree regarding the very echoey sound and repetitive music score as well.
Concluding, very average but worth a one time watch for Hallmark completest sake. 5/10.
