Right in Front of Me

I've been watching Hallmark movies for a long time. They really are feel-good films. Sometimes the romance works, and sometimes I just have to give into it. But in this case there was quite a lot of heat coming from the two lead characters! Right from the start. It was like watching a real romance unfold. Nothing was in your face or forced, just very natural and simmering. If they aren't a real couple, then big props to these two marvelous actors!

The main characters go very well together; from the start, their relationship is based on a bond of friendship and complicity. The story, even if it is not original, shows everyone's questions about past friendships, unfinished stories, what could have been. However, I really don't like this mania in the majority of romantic comedies where, towards the end of the movie, there is suddenly a problem, an irrelevant problem which seems unrealistic, that is magically and quickly resolved towards the end, which is what usually ruins the story.

Anything positive for me in this movie is Janel Parrish. I loved Holly and Ivy and the character of Melody. Parrish has hints of that same character here although not quite as selfless.

The plot revolves around the triangle with Carly and her college crush and Nick. That means a lot of screen time with the crush and Carly, but that felt like a waste to me. With Nick, I was distracted by what seemed like his determination to get fired. He rebels against Chef Edward from the beginning. In short, the story didn't appeal to me.

Carly decides to take some well deserved break from work, so she goes to this lodge up north where her best friend from college works. There she reunites with a group of girls from the same dorm she was in and her crush from that time. She also meets and befriends the sous chef from the lodge, Nick.

I'm disappointed to say that this wasn't for me. I was really was looking forward to the movie and I was let down. I liked both actors in their parts and the chemistry was great. I do enjoy Janel Parrish as a lead and I wouldn't mind more movies with her. But...

What even was the plot? I finished the whole movie and I still don't know. The first part was awfully boring, nothing happened the first 35 minutes, it was just Carly wandering around the place. So, plotwise? Nothing exciting, it was quite a let down.

I did liked, as I mention before, the dynamic between Carly and Nick. They hit it off at the beginning, and they set a nice path for their relationship: from strangers, to confindants, to friends. They really encourage the other to be the best version of themselves, and that was the highlight of the movie for me.

Marco and Janel did the best with that snoozefest they had.

...the majority of Hallmark TV-movies, thanks in large part to the natural acting style of the leading man, Marco Grazzini. Yes, others in the cast are good, including Janelle Parrish and Hillary Jardine, but Grazzini plays it all so low-key, and with such self-effacing, easy-going charm, that he makes it believable that Nick and Carly are actually falling in love.