Tra le onde delle Hawaii

The movie has a typical Hallmark plot about a woman whose boyfriend takes her for granted with the added complication that he also takes credit for her work. They've used this plot device on an almost yearly basis. But I was interested in watching it because of the setting in Hawaii. I really wanted to love this movie but it was somewhat of a miss. I always enjoy Lacey Chabert but, as attractive as they are individually, the two leads had no chemistry. Her ex boyfriend looked old enough to be her father. The dishes she prepared with the other chef didn't look or sound appetizing at all and they didn't have a plausible explanation for the ex-boyfriends presence at a contest that he's not judging. He just stood around with mostly nothing to do. I kept wishing it was another episode of Hawaii Five-0 because that cast had real chemistry. The settings were gorgeous and I really enjoyed the aunts character but it's just not enough to watch a second time.

Chef breaks up with her boyfriend/boss who has basically been using her and gives her no respect. Very familiar. She retreats to visit family, in Hawaii. Even more familiar. One slight difference is that her ex shows up as formal advisor at the cooking contest she enters.

Meanwhile she is trying to learn to surf. A fair amount of time is spent on this thread and it allows her to interact with her romantic interest. Lacey Chabert and Ektor Rivera have some chemistry but not a lot. The acting is decent enough. It is a very common theme in these movies that each lead inspires the other to get out of their individual rut in life. Nothing surprising here and it leads to a predictable conclusion.

Overall this movie is pretty much the same old thing which puts the pressure on the relationships and actors. As I mentioned, I didn't find anything exceptional here.

When the most suspenseful aspect of the movie is when Lacey is going to put on a swimsuit, you know you're in trouble. I mean there's Hawaii, and a beach, and an ocean. There is a very fit guy as a love interest with many abs and everything. So of course he's in a swimsuit. He's giving her surfing lessons. They are in the ocean together throughout the movie. But I guess if Lacey Chabert doesn't want to wear a swimsuit (not expecting a bikini here) she doesn't wear a swimsuit! You can tell it was an issue because it looks so odd that they have to make a joke about it at the beginning.

Other than Lacey's strange swimwear, and the nice scenery there is not much to see here. She dumps her "boyfriend" because he is a user and disrespects her and flees to Hawaii to be with her Aunt June. And I don't blame her! Aunt June has a house right on the beach and must have cost a billion dollars. By the end, she gets the hot guy, learns to surf, wins a contest, and gets her own restaurant. But (spoiler alert) she never puts on a swimsuit.

Lacey Chabert is Emma, an assistant chef in Atlanta. She is the creative one but her boss, who also is her boyfriend, doesn't like to share the credit. So she needs some fresh perspective, she is no longer sure he is the one for her, she flies to Hawaii to visit her old aunt there.

In the process she wanders into a surfing store and meets Ektor Rivera as Ben, he transplanted himself from Puerto Rico for the surfing circuit but no longer surfs. He blames it for a loss in his life.

In a stroke of good fortune Ben's brother is also a chef, but gay with a husband, so he and Emma strike up a good friendly relationship, and cook together in the featured competition with guest judges.

The story develops nicely, the title comes from a comment during a surfing lesson, the "groundswell" is a reference to ocean water welling up to form nice waves.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library. Being a Hallmark movie it follows their usual formula, with the first "Hallmark kiss" coming at one minute before the movie ends. A nice, clean and entertaining movie. I love to cook so I especially enjoyed the scenes involving food preparation.

People are being very pernickety about this film. I think you just have to accept certain things when you watch a Hallmark film, rather than pointing out all of the little issues along the way.

I thought this was a good film, with Lacey Chabert as always being safe pair of hands where this sort of material is concerned.

There were some nice twists on the usual Hallmark format I thought, and the two things that make or break a Hallmark film for me (good chemistry between the leads, and a good story) were both in place.

I think films like this are trying to bring people joy and escapism and it did that for me.