Innamorarsi a Whitbrooke

There is a lot of the usual formula stuff in this movie. Woman goes home to help family with dad's injury, sister's imminent childbirth and broke family cafe. Meanwhile she considers a job promotion in far away London. Of course she meets a guy and has to work closely with him for a Founder's Day event. The misunderstanding that creates friction at the climax is slightly unusual but only in the details. Put it all together and the story has no great highs or lows or surprises.

I like Brittany Bristow. She is good with the role of winsome young woman. Amber has limited talents especially in traditional female roles, but her personality is appealing. I thought Bristow and Corey Sevier connected with quiet chemistry supported by a good amount of screen time. So I was content to enjoy their relationship despite a lackluster story.

Several reviewers (dis)credit Hallmark but Reel One Entertainment supports Lifetime and Hallmark. I saw this on UpTV and I think I would have noticed if it was aired on Hallmark.

The script and acting were not good. Everything from the word choice to the fake delivery to the lack of conversation flow felt completely unnatural. Even something as silly as every character referring to their own sister as "Sis" just felt off.

And the nephew -- I just can't with the nephew! "My aunt Amber's pretty, ISN'T SHE??????" Please, all future Hallmark movie writers, just stop it with the awkward kid moments. No one is watching these movies for them.

And for good measure, Hallmark included their usual whimsical music to drive every viewer crazy within the first 20 minutes. If you can watch this entire movie then you're a true diehard!

Again Hallmark dropped the ball on this movie. The daughter is a clutz for a person who is supposed to be a highly respected project manager. The story lines are always predictable. Hallmark has made excellent murder mystery series, perhaps they should continue along that genre.

Maybe the movie could have been good but when Amber is first mocked for being "from the city" when she has no cash and then abandons the life that she was so happy about, it went down the drain for me.

Corey Sevier often comes across as a either insensitive or just plain stupid. He seldom shows any charisma. It's true in this movie too. It's hard to understand how Amber can abandon her dreams for Jason.

I realize that I'm probably not the target audience for this film even though I really love romantic movies. But what's really stopping these movies to move with the times? It's released in 2021 for heavens sake.

I confess. I love hallmark movies. But this one missed the mark. To me, it was more comparable to the line up of romantic movies produced by super channel which are, by far, inferior. The writing was awkward and the acting stilted, although how the actors could have done better with such a terrible script is beyond me. Sad to say I couldn't even watch the whole thing.