A Pinch of Portugal

The usual Hallmark stuff. Boring characters in an uninspired story. At least this one has nice scenery.

Middle-aged woman who works as a "prep cook" on the TV cooking show whines and whimpers when she gets a chance to take the spotlight when the show's star "quits."

I've never seen a prep cook or food stylist actually get air time on a cooking show other than IRON CHEF.

Anyway, she's "pursued" by two overly-groomed young men (enough with the 2-day beards already) while she dithers. We also get to see some shots of cheeses and breads in a fake market place.

Supporting cast is uniformly bad and all attempts at humor flop. That doesn't leave much. The dead fish wins the acting honors.

For the first time, to my knowledge, Hallmark takes the viewers to Portugal, purportedly Lisboa, for one of their romantic adventures. Anna, an aspiring chef has the opportunity to replace a celebrity in a cooking show, with a friendly crew, including a charming cameraman from Down Under, Russ. What follows is a fairly generic series of events at a local groceries market, in Cascais, and food stores, among tastings of local offerings, and common meals, that highlight Anna's warm people's skills and enthusiasm for good cuisine. Through these activities and minor dramas, she avails of Russ's constant, kind support. There are a few cute or original moments and a little sightseeing, while the story evolves to its predictable ending. Most is done with reasonable subtlety and in credible tones . Arguably, the personalities of Chef Dean and Lucas could have been played with more finesse. Yet, the overall result is less disjointed or offensive than many other recent Hallmark productions.

My personal peeve is that the production has lost the unique chance to provide a meaningful glimpse of the location's rich heritage and remarcable attractions. Most of the sequences could have, or have, been filmed in Mexico, Latin America, California, or else and no one would know the difference. There is absolutely nothing of Lisboa, one of the most attractive cities in Europe, very limited views of beautiful Cascais and a couple of shots of Sintra's Pena Palace. Neither it is explained how Anna And Ross could visit places so far away in their only free day. And the music? Shouldn't the soundtrack have included a little "fado", the very soul of Portugal, instead of the rather generic stuff that was selected?

Despite my personal regrets, the movie is fairly entertaining and family friendly, hence worth a look.

40-something Heather Hemmens plays Anna, a prep cook for a noted chef, they have a TV show, the chef believes strongly that only what actually goes on in the kitchen is important and interesting. He seems a bit difficult to work with.

It is contract renewal time and they are all scheduled to take the crew to Portugal for the next shoot. But the chef has not agreed yet and to stay on schedule they go anyway, without him, presuming he will join them in a few days.

What all this does is give Anna and the crew an opportunity to try something different, to take the show to different places, the origins of the food. The market, the fishing boat, etc. When the chef does return this causes friction.

Heather Hemmens has such a good, natural, authentic acting style that it never seems like "acting" and that is what makes this movie rise above the ordinary. My wife and I enjoyed it, streaming on Peacock.

And of course it includes lots of nice scenery of Portugal. Plus I learned of a new drink, Ginja, which is a sweet liqueur made from sour cherries soaked in a distilled spirit called aguardente. The mixture is flavored with sugar and spices like cinnamon.

This movie is all about Heather Hemmens and her character Anna. I was impressed that Hemmens had incredible chemistry with both the rivals opposite her, Luke Mitchell and Duarte Gomes. And I think that most of what chemistry there was came from Hemmens. Eventually it is cut short with one of them, but the movie was made more interesting by the fact that it wasn't obvious which it would be until shortly before the one was eliminated. And then, the conflict wasn't about the romance. How that developed surprised me. It's true that it was obvious that the shoe was going to drop on Anna somehow, but I didn't see it coming from that direction. The climax and ending are interesting and I found it to be nice.

I love underdog stories and that's what this is with Anna at the center. I loved that she wasn't arrogant and that her personality was all about enjoying life and welcoming other people in. Something along the lines of a crowded table is the best.

We see some good scenery from Portugal which is a common Hallmark fixture. The acting is good and so is the dialogue. I will definitely watch this again.

Anna (Heather Hemmens) is the prep cook working in the background on a TV cooking show. While the arrogant host is away, she leads a team including hot Australian cameraman Russ (Luke Mitchell) to Portugal to prepare for an upcoming episode. She is guided by local grocer Lucas (Duarte Gomes).

Normally, Hallmark doesn't do love triangles. They usually go much more simplistic and undramatic. With Portugal as the exotic backdrop, I expected Anna to go off with the exotic man in the European locations. I can honestly say that I wasn't sure about the resolution during the first half of the movie. It does become obvious soon enough. It's not really that much of a triangle after all. Hallmark is still not actually doing dramas.