User reviews

I enjoyed this Hallmark film more than I expected to. It may be the place I am in my life, where I am questioning my career choice and the hamster wheel I have been on since I was 16 years old...but this film really struck a chord with me. I agree with the advice to slow down, walk with no destination and enjoy the life that is right before us. Of course it didn't hurt that it was set with a gorgeous backdrop (I am not a Francofile, so take that at face value), and had an interesting back story of the two main characters being former pen pals who shared their most intimate secrets. But the kicker had to be the breathtaking estate!

This was a surprisingly mature film that tackled a very topical concept involving examining what we are working so hard for and what we are missing out on during that road to "success". It's heart however is a romance between two former pen pals who have fallen out of touch. Our main character is a very successful wedding planner who has come to Paris to put on one of her best friend's wedding. Only while there she discovers that the wedding she planned, as magical as it is, lacked all of the personal touches that would have made it the right wedding for her friend...so mid-celebration, with a little help from her former pen pal, she changes the wedding into the perfect wedding for her friend and in the process discovers some things about herself.

I recommend giving this film a watch, hallmark fan or not.

P. S. I have never seen the show Gallavant which stars the two main characters...maybe I will have to check that out as well.

I love these destination hallmark movies! I did Google where this was filmed as some scenes looked like a green screen backdrop but it says it was mostly filmed in Paris! Like Jacque says in the movie, the movie feels like you are wandering through Paris at a relaxing pace. I enjoyed the music, lots of food, and beautiful scenery. I wasn't sure what Jacques' job was as it seems he just has a bunch of money and all the time in the world to be wandering around with the LA lifestyle paced Victoria. I like that Victoria acted like a professional adult and not one of those ridiculous big bright eyed characters we often see in hallmark movies with no substance. All the characters had moments where they were falling apart but resolved their issues as grown ups. It's a lovely weekend afternoon movie to take your mind off of your daily life and transport you to beautiful Paris!

The plot had some "Huh?" moments, but it was noticeably better than most plots in this genre. I really appreciated that there were some genuine obstacles and hard feelings rather than the usual silly misunderstandings. I also appreciated that they invested some money and care into the settings rather than scraping the bottom of the barrel with their budget.

All in all, worth watching.

'Her Pen Pal' is the third of Hallmark's 2021 Summer Nights films, after the average 'You Had Me at Aloha' and the fairly lacklustre 'The Baker's Son'. The main reasons for seeing it was for Hallmark completest sake and also because of Paris, which is a wonderful city in locations and culture and memories of staying there are very fond (the humidity aside). Have not seen enough of the work of either Mallory Jansen and Joshua Sasse, but their performances were agreeable enough to convince me to see more.

As far as the 2021 Hallmark films go, 'Her Pen Pal' is not one of the best (one of the stronger winners being 'A New Year's Resolution'). It is also not one of the worst, like 'Beverly Hills Wedding'. It's one of the middle of the pack ones. It is to me one of the stronger faring Summer Nights entries, while it is miles away from being flawless it has its charm and is agreeable in quite a number of areas. So worth a watch, if not enough for repeat viewings.

There are many good things about 'Her Pen Pal'. A big star here is Paris itself, which is nothing short of stunning and like a character of its own. 'Her Pen Pal' also fares better than 'You Had Me at Aloha' at making the most of the cultural aspects of the locations, something that this did quite well without stereotyping. The music is not too intrusive or over-emphasised, it's not my definition of unforgettable but it is not at odds with anything.

Jansen and Sasse are both charming leads and their chemistry has genuine warmth and is not too rushed or aimless, though it could have been utilised more. The script is light-hearted on the most part and at least flows, complete with some amusing moments. Really liked Jansen's character, who is not too perfect or over the top negative, and appreciated her development and back-story, which is one of the more interesting and believable back-stories of the 2021 Hallmark films. The story has charm and doesn't take itself too seriously or too much of a joke.

Not everything works though. Jayne Weisener badly overacts her role, have never seen ditziness this exaggerated, and it comes over as really obnoxious. Both the performance and the character. Would have liked a lot more development to Sasse's character, the film did so well with Jansen's but Sasse's is incredibly one-dimensional and at best sketchy.

Moreover, there is some awkwardness and excessive cheese and the story has very little new, feels rushed at times and has a forced and too neat conclusion.

Overall, worth a look but not something that had me jumping out of my chair. 6/10.

Love the chemistry between the two leads (Joshua Sasse and Mallory Jensen). They are so natural and it helps that they worked together for two seasons on Galavant and of course they're accomplished actors in their own right. Between the great food and location posted on social media, it was a memorable and fun reunion for these two and Galavant fans shared the news with others. Hallmark should take a note in pairing up other couples from cancelled shows to star in future productions. If the cancelled shows were popular and the actors have chemistry, they will bring their following to Hallmark--a Win-Win for all!

It follows the Hallmark movie format to the tee. So why give it an 8? Paris, France and the leads are good.

I do have one gripe and that is the movie set up Victoria's backstory beautifully but failed miserably with the male lead. I mean come on, the dude is a square jawed handsome wealthy dude with perfect manners - Hallmark gave us...well he was traveling so he put off relationships for 15 years. I don't think so - come on writers give us something even 1% believable and we are good to go.

After I saw Mallory Jansen in On the 12th Date of Christmas, I was so anticipating another movie starring her. So I was excited to hear about this new movie. I still love her but this storyline couldn't be saved. The actor was too handsome to believe he was unattached for over a decade, just waiting for her. The rest of the movie was predictable and not engaging at all.

I didn't even finish the movie.

In the meantime, I'll watch On the 12th Date of Christmas, every chance I get, while waiting for another Jansen movie. Just give her a decent script!

Tres bien! Paris is beautiful and the plot was a nice change of pace. Hallmark is letting their scripts include more comedy and I for one really appreciate it. Let's do a sequel!

Premise and some of the developments are typical. The ex was pathetic.

There were some laughs and good dialogue early on, but the ending, though pretty much the usual, disappointed me for lack of anything special.

Views of Paris were nice including some places I wasn't familiar with, but were the actors shot live in all those spots or was it green screen? If it was real, it didn't look right a couple times.

The leads mostly had chemistry.

Fake accent was a distraction. I didn't like the plot and found the engaged couple to be a complete mismatch not because of color but because of their personalities.

Hallmark was trying to be diverse but it was a sad attempt. Casting should be fired- the groom had zero personality. The leads had no chemistry. They all came across as phoney and disconnected.

The lead actress was trying to channel Audrey Hepburn which wasn't bad. I think she could play her in a movie and I'd watch that.

But this one was just a dull movie. I could barely sit through it.

I really like the last song in this moving. It was playing after the I dos. Does anyone know the name and artist?

Professional event planner Victoria is excited to go to Paris for her friend's wedding. She is surprised when her longtime ex-love Cameron Reisch shows up with his hot new girlfriend. She needs a competing wedding date and her friends look up her childhood pen pal Jacques.

The story is fine for Hallmark. The actors are also fine. I mostly check this out for the Paris street views although I'm not sure if this is all shot in France. The outdoor locations look mostly legit and that's very nice. Quite frankly, I couldn't care less about the story or the characters. I would be perfectly happy to have an hour long stroll through the Parisian streets even if the filmmaking is less than compelling. The locations more than make up for any deficiencies.

Full disclosure: I love Hallmark movies and I've had the good fortune to visit Paris several times over the course of my life. As a child I visited with my European parents, then as a honeymooner with my ex, and last time as a father with my daughter the year I got divorced. Every trip was magical, perhaps none more so than my last visit with my beloved daughter.

Her Pen Pal felt like a return visit to Paris for me and features some great writing, dialogue and tour guide type stories within the story. It was written by Joie Botkin (story by Amy Helmes and Kim Askew), with a few shout outs to Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina. I actually saved some of the best lines in a collection of Hallmark quotes that I've compiled. Here's a few:

Tracy- "If I had known that wedding planning was just an endless decision making tree, I probably would have eloped" Victoria: "Tracy, honey, life is an endless decision making tree."

Jacques: "Be a flaneur... It's a French thing. It means somebody who strolls just to experience, who wanders with no purpose." told to Victoria as they visit the romantic and wonderful Le mur des je t'aime (the I Love You wall) in Montmartre.

Victoria: "Is the sky falling? No, the heavens are just readjusting."

Victoria: "Tu me manques, Paris! That means I'll miss you Paris right?" Jacques: "Sort of. Tu me manques in French doesn't mean I miss you. Tu me manques means you are missing from me."

There's also a beautiful foreshadowing discussion of the Pont des Arts, once known as the "Love Locks Bridge" (and prominently featured in Love Locks, another lovely Hallmark movie set in Paris). Mallory Jansen was beautiful and real as Victoria (loved her in On the 12th Day of Christmas with Tyler Hynes) and, at one point, she was refreshingly self aware about her handling of the bride's needs. Joshua Sasse could play James Bond and was about as smooth as a lead could be. They had great chemistry and some wonderful moments throughout the film.

Didn't really buy the couple getting married as a couple and, other than Cameron's pretty new girlfriend, who was more friend adjacent, the groom didn't seem to have any Black friends at his wedding, at least none that showed up as a character. Kinda weird. I also could have done without the ex-boyfriend Cameron (he dated a WEDDING planner for 12 years and they never got married??). Cameron acted like a complete idiot even though he was "honest" with his new girlfriend (who was beautiful, also a lawyer, sweet to his ex, and probably more suitable for him, even though he probably didn't deserve her). On the one hand, she got to fly to a destination wedding in Paris with her boyfriend of 6 months. On the other hand, she got to watch him pine over his ex while they were there. "As you say in French: 'ooof' " (a line spoken by Victoria)

Clare Niederpruem directed a chick flick the best possible way, using the story of Kim Askew and a screenplay done by Joie Botkin! Do not expect too much if you are a guy - maybe you will even be annoyed... but that still makes this Hallmark film a successful one.

Starring Mallory Jansen, Joshua Sasse and Lachlan Nieboer didn't bring anything but generic faces, so anyone else would do a good job, I guess.

Nice to enjoy with the loved one...

Fun story, well photographed, reasonably well acted. Mallory Jansen is captivating throughout. My wife and I, who both remember Audrey Hepburn well, compared her onscreen persona to Miss Jansen. Beautiful!

I thought this was a nice Hallmark film, with some good twists on the standard format these films tend to take.

Good chemistry between the two leads, a story that holds up - both are much needed for a Hallmark film to work, and that happened here.

We even got some little subplots too, which were nice.

I enjoyed this.

Couldn't get past the lead's accent. If Hallmark wants someone to pass for French, at least work with a dialect coach, check the overall effect with French speakers...something. There has to be French-speaking actors available.

Not believable in the least.

This movie was so enjoyable! I think that this should be a series of movies. I can think of so many storylines!

Found this to be a decent movie. Wished the clothing designer would be fired. The female lead is extremely thin and none of the dresses flattered her, especially the one-shoulder dress - it highlights her bony shoulders -and most of the choices just made her look even thinner... Then the pretty black woman who played the new girlfriend of the ex-boyfriend had the WORST clothing of all. She is a good-looking young woman going to a summer wedding - why is she dressed like someone's grandmother going to a winter wedding? Every other female character is wearing a sleeveless summer dress, she is wearing a bathrobe with a belt. She is wearing a floppy, oversize, belted, long-sleeve dress, that comes down to her ankles.... Did she attend a different wedding than the rest of the cast? What did the costumer have against her?

The story was decent, though watching the main characters felt more like they were reliving their adolescent relationship at times, then trying to start an adult one.... The awful clothing choices were very distracting and made it difficult to stay focused on the story...

A story about a self described strong independent woman with no cooking skills who still has feelings for her ex, and her old pen pal who's been patiently waiting for her while being aware of the ex situation but respecting her times and her space like a good boy.

If you're a fan of forced inclusion then you're going to love this one cause the plot revolves around a wedding between a middle aged white woman that looks like a terminal cancer patient and a gay black man. Also, right at the start of the movie we see that her ex is now engaged to a black woman (who is also strong and independent, obviously) so we start wondering "Is the white guy going to leave the poor black woman for his better looking white ex?". I like to keep my reviews spoiler-free so you'll have to watch it to find the shockingly unpredictable answer.

The fact that it was filmed in Paris makes this movie a huge missed opportunity, it's not the first Hallmark movie set in Europe but it has the best scenery and aesthetics so far. There's Paris, a glamorous palace, a wedding.. with those ingredients you'd think it would be hard to screw up the final result, but whenever you need to screw something up, woke culture will be there to help.

As a 39-year-old male viewer from remote Finland I probably wasn't quite in the intended target audience of the film but I still watched it when it was shown on a local commercial TV channel.

A bit into the film I developed 2 ideas which got me through the entire work...

1. Sometimes I imagined the protagonist Vic actually was Michael Jackson, giving the film a potential LGBT angle

2. Vic's pen pal Jacques actually was a trickster who had made up the story that he owned the château, and got to move around freely there because he actually worked there as a gardener or janitor. It's quite improbable that a random pen pal from France should turn out to be the owner of a château.

Overall I thought the film was funnier and less pretentious than, for instance, Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. 7/10.

"Her Pen Pal" (2021)

I am always surprised by reviews that barely touch on the actual film, but go off on tangents having very little to do with the movie at hand. Perhaps others find that helpful? When I'm considering a film to watch I want to read about the movie, not peripheral, unhelpful (to me) things. As this is a romance movie, I go in suspending disbelief, meaning I am not judging a character's accent unless it's actual egregious. I don't really notice fashions or hairstyles, which is something I think is more common with female reviewers--and maybe important to female readers--but since I don't notice these things unless, again, they are truly egregious, they don't appear in my reviews. And frankly, I don't think they are truly important. I also don't question locations that may not jibe with my understanding of a real-life location. I don't find this relevant to my viewing enjoyment, either.

Instead I first consider the quality of the film. In this case, "Her Pen Pal" was well done in that regard. I personally am no fan of Paris, but I know many viewers are. The locations here seemed varied, and likely interesting to those who enjoy films set in that city. (If you like rom-coms set in Paris, I think "Love Locks" did a better job in that regard than this film. My opinion.)

The story here was pretty standard fare for a Hallmark movie. I won't spoil it for you--anymore, at least--if you've read other reviews you've already read a lot of spoilers anyway. Suffice to say there is little original here and many standard tropes found their way into the script. That doesn't mean the film wasn't interesting or entertaining--it was.

But the movie really stands or falls on the characters--the actors and the job they did. Starting with the leads, Mallory Jansen, an Australian playing an American, was quite good in my opinion. Joshua Sasse, a Brit playing a Frenchman, was okay as well. I have a bit of prejudice when it comes to Frenchmen, who I think sometimes come off as haughty. Think Charles Boyer, for example. At any rate, Sasse's character fit this "Frenchman" niche quite well.

Others have commented on some less than excellent performances--but perhaps good performances of poorly written characters might be more accurate. Jayne Wisener played a somewhat indecisive and troubled bride--I can't criticize the actress, as I said, I'm sure the script writers, and/or the director, made her so annoying.

Lachlan Nieboer play Jansen's ex-boyfriend, and had being a jerk down to a science. Again, these things come from the script or from the director. The groom, played by (I think) Gregory Haney, was a non-entity here, and did not seem well-matched to bride Wisener. That was poor casting. Amanda Blake played girlfriend to aforementioned ex-boyfriend Nieboer. Her character probably deserved much better based on how the story evolved. But all in all, the cast was fine (excepting Haney). While not everyone was likable, it likely was not the actors.

While this is not a film one will probably want to return to over and over again, I've watched it twice, primarily because I'm a fan of Mallory Jansen. I've liked other romance movies she's done better, but anything she's in, I'll watch. But even if you're not a fan, this movie is worth a single watch at least.