Amore alle Hawaii

Watching romantic comedy is for me an escape, a way to forget the ugliness of our world today. Contrary to popular belief, this is one of the most difficult genres of movies to make. Unfortunately, lately, few movies succeed in meeting the challenge of creating the magic of feeling in love and making people laugh. The majority of Hallmark movies increasingly look like superficial products where the main thing is to please the majority of viewers; even the cast of the main actors is terrible: they often have no chemistry. However, I was pleasantly surprised first by the secondary actors who are usually simple extras who add nothing to the story. Then the main actors are really good together, the story is told well and some moments are funny and some are really romantic. I really enjoyed the movie.

First things first: This production deserves credit for navigating the COVID crisis, especially under the very restrictive mandates in Honolulu. Attentive viewers will notice the preponderance of outdoor shots--which is perfect for a film that wants to capitalize on the beauty of Hawaii---and the emphasis on spacing and small groups.

Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith are a staple on Hallmark. Here they play Paige and Ben, co-hosts of a destination travel show, who come to Oahu to create an episode. Like oil and vinegar at first, they grapple with the incompatibility of their styles. Paige likes things scripted and under control; Ben prefers the ad lib and impromptu adventures.

As a travelogue for Oahu, the film does a satisfactory job. As a romance, it successfully leans on the comedic chops of its stars, who have a practiced and warm congeniality. They were heavily involved in the design and production of this film.

As other viewers have commented, some haircuts are noticeably patchy, but that minor detail is more than compensated for by the aforementioned extra effort required to make this film during civil restrictions and travel limitations.

Awful, not worth my reviewing.... Poor match of a couple...

Could not finish watching,, so boring!

I was so excited for this movie because I love the main actors but this movie ended up being so boring. I only watched till the end because of two of my favorite actors. The "goat" embarrassment was stupid to ruin the main actors dreams for so many years. I listened to the "Deck the Halls" podcast and the screen writer said they "Up'd" the comedy. What?!?! My favorite HMM make me laugh or giggle at the characters but this one? No laughing, just boring... Oh, and the side characters drinking in the chairs? Ackward and unhappy.

I felt they didn't take advantage of Hawaii either. They could've entered a sand castle competition together or against each other! They could've went boogie boarding, kayaking, hiking, mixed drink competition, limbo contest!!! Grass shirt lessons, pineapple picking..... So much opportunity for a fun, romantic movie!

Paige is a producer, and ex host, of a travel show. The show is looking for a brand new host so they turn to Ben, also an ex host of said show, to come back and do a season. Little do our leads know that after being filmed accidentally, the network wants both of them to do it after watching them bicker.

Let's be honest, shall we? This movie was made so that Pascale and Kavan could work together and travel at the same time. The fact that the main plot is based on the back and forth between the characters (based on the real one by the actors) is hilarious. It definitely looked like they were having fun. (how dare you that they are a "poor match of a couple"?)

We have have watched Pascale and Kavan have fun and bicker, we have also watched them as Lee and Rosemary and as Molly and Nick on "The Perfect Bride" and honestly, I do not get tired. As much as I love this duo, I don't think this was as funny as other projects of theirs, but I still enjoyed it.

Onto the movie. I liked it. It's definitely not Hallmark's greatest and it's far from it. The true stars were the leads and definitely Hawaii. I just wished we could have seen more but in these COVID times I don't know how restricted it is, so I will appreaciate what was given to us.

I liked that the characters got to spend time together and that the relationship developed naturally. I was surprised by the "pre-ending" trouble, as I liked to call it. While I didn't see it coming, I thought it could have been resolved better.

I literally didn't care about any of the other characters. In fact, there is no secondary couple nor plot.

NOW LET'S GET TECHNICAL.

Maybe some other reviewer can answer this, but isn't Kavan looking straight at the camera around the 59 minute mark?

Now, the worst part of the movie. We see Paige buying a ticket and when she gets to the gate the flight already took off. That's just UNREALISTIC. Why would airlines sell tickets if the flight is boarding or about to board? It is literally looking for trouble and lawsuits. Airlines close check-in before boarding because there are many things going behind the scenes that passengers don't see. ANYWAY, that had me screaming at the screen, I know it's supposed to add drama to the movie but it didn't work for me. I didn't buy it.

In conclusion, you either hate this or love it. I'm just glad I could see these two together again.