Fourth Down and Love

I recently watched a movie that left me with mixed feelings, mainly due to the lead actress, Pascale Hutton, and her portrayal of the character. Here are some aspects that I found particularly disappointing:

1. **Lack of Convincing Romance**: Pascale Hutton seemed more concerned with pushing the male lead away than convincing the audience that she was in love. It's essential for a lead actress to convey genuine emotions, and this was a missed mark.

2. **Prioritizing Spouse's Feelings**: In the movie, it felt like Hutton was more focused on her spouse's feelings rather than the character and the overall film. When you audition for a role, your job is to become the character, and this detachment was apparent.

3. **Chemistry Issues**: There were instances where Ryan Peavey tried to show affection towards Hutton's character, and she didn't reciprocate. This lack of chemistry between the leads hindered the believability of their relationship.

4. **Misleading Previews**: The movie's previews built up my expectations, but unfortunately, the actual film fell short. The quality of the previews didn't reflect the overall disappointment I experienced during the movie.

5. **Missed Potential**: The film had the potential to be great, but everything seemed to fall flat. The lead female's performance made the situation worse and hindered the movie's progress.

6. **Inconsistency with Character**: Hutton's performance felt like a repetition of her role in "When Calls the Heart," which could be seen as annoying at times. This lack of differentiation between characters was a missed opportunity.

7. **Overacting**: Hutton's tendency to overact in every scene contributed to the movie's lack of credibility. It also affected Ryan Peavey's performance, making their chemistry even more unconvincing.

8. **Lack of Character Development**: Hutton's character remained the same throughout the past, present, and future, which was baffling. Her fears as a student should have made her more mature in the present day, but this character stagnation made her seem non-authentic.

In conclusion, while the movie had the potential to be a success, Pascale Hutton's performance, lack of chemistry, and character development issues hindered its overall quality. It's essential for actors to adapt to their roles and create authentic on-screen relationships, which unfortunately didn't happen here.

This is the third time I've watched this movie, trying to figure out what's missing. I always look forward to seeing Ryan's movies, & I'm normally glued to the tube. Not this time. I even dozed off a few times when I first watched it. I love the main actors, just not together in this story. I don't believe they had the chemistry it takes to make it romantic. Maybe, it's because I'm so convinced of Pascale's role with Kavin in the series, When Calls the Heart. Sorry, Ryan! I hope in the future, they will match you up with the perfect actress in a true heart-throbbing romance. I did hear in one of his interviews that he'd like to act with Emilie Ullerup...hint hint.

7.3 stars.

Ready, set, hike, pass the cheese... this one is a bit silly. I like the football theme and he looks like a baller with his muscles and physique, but his personality and how he handles life are not anything like an NFL receiver would be in my opinion. On the other hand, the romance is cool and they seem to have chemistry. I see patterns with Hallmark films and they seem to be stretching their legs with this film as it does expand some of the ideas in a way that I find unique and strangely stimulating.

There are several hard to ignore details like the fact that he's not mobbed by fans wherever he goes. If he's a pro, and he's back in a place where he would be recognized, he would not have any time to himself. Also the way his agent and the NFL are handling things is totally fabricated and fake beyond belief. Finally, how they were together but she let him go when they were younger so he could pursue his career has been beat to death, Hallmark, give us something original for once.

The way she is enamored with him showcases her acting ability, especially with his dry humor and acting style which seems to pervade every role he performs. All that being said, I enjoyed 'Fourth Down and Love' enough that I'd recommend it to any Hallmark fan at least once every few years.

I love Ryan Paevey and it was great to see him as the romantic lead in this football centric hallmark romance. I was happy to see that even though this was a football film, that they didn't make it male centric. Ryan Paevey plays the professional NFL football star Mike. He gets injured and has to go on injured reserve for his team while he rests his broken ribs and allows them to heal. His big brother Jimmy invites him to his home to rest with family support. There Jimmy and his wife Danielle talk Mike into helping Jimmy coach his daughter's all girl flag football team. Meanwhile, there is a single mom played by When Calls The Heart's Pascale Hutton whose daughter Kiera just wants to play football and is the only girl on her flag football team where they never give her a chance. One day while sharing the field she discovers the all girl team and has her mom talk to the two coaches. We learn that the reason Jimmy started his daughter's all girls team was because his daughter Zoey experienced the same thing as Kiera the year before. And this is how Pascale's character Erin meets Mike...again. As it turns out these two were college sweethearts and Erin broke Mike's heart.

This is filled with some sports romance cliches for sure...like the money grubbing manager played by the beloved Steve Bacic, the athlete having to leave town playing havoc on a romantic relationship, etc., but the truth is I didn't care. I enjoyed it and I appreciated some of the fresh aspects...like the struggle of girls who want to play, the camaraderie between the real estate partners Erin and Georgina that played out like a real friendship, and the loving and supportive family dynamic between Jimmy's family and Mike.

I though this was one of the better stories to come out of Hallmark, who has had a rough spell in my opinion trying to be too political or working overly hard to be inclusive and loosing the authenticity...that love and family that used to be their brand and attract their core audience. I feel like this was just a feel good romance that got back to that....love and family. I recommend this to all those romantics out there, especially fans of Hallmark.

Wow a movie without saving the farm, store, town....or someone caught in a blizzard, it's a football storyline mixed with some romance. The story revolves around a divorced mom, Erin (Pascale Hutton) and a professional football player Mike (Ryan Paevey)who were once college sweethearts. They reconnect when the player gets injured and while he recovers he agrees to coach an all girls flag football team. Erin's daughter, Kiera, (Sophia Powers) is one of the players on the team. Old feelings reignite as they work through the reasons they broke up and renew the love they once had for each other.

Ryan Paevey is my favorite Hallmark male actor, and it was so good to see him return to acting after he took a hiatus. Ryan had great chemistry with Pascale Hutton and you could really tell that their feelings for one another were growing. The other characters were also well cast.

This is one of the better Hallmark movies, great script, great cast, and something a little bit different than "the usual" More Ryan and Pascale please.