Eat, Love, London

Some films are bad. Eat Love London is something else entirely - a baffling, beige mess of rom-com clichés, fake accents, and acting so wooden you could build a canoe out of the entire cast.

We're told our main character is a brilliant American chef recovering from heartbreak - though we never see her in America, never meet the mysterious fiancé, and never witness anything resembling actual heartbreak. She just turns up in London, sighs a lot, and pretends to be a fully-formed adult while delivering every line in a fake American accent that sounds like Siri having a breakdown.

Within minutes of arriving, she meets a brooding food critic who stares at her like she's the last truffle on Earth, then offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity based on... nothing. A ten-minute chat, maybe a mildly edible plate of food, and boom - life changed. Realistic? About as much as Hogwarts is a viable education system.

Now, let's talk about Rebecca - her best friend, business partner, and emotional life coach. This woman spends the entire film comforting, coaching, and coddling our flaky lead through every meltdown. But here's the thing: the actress playing Rebecca is objectively terrible. Her line delivery is so unnatural it feels like she's reading from a cue card just off-screen. Every sentence lands with the emotion of a parking ticket. It's not even charmingly bad - it's just bad. You can actually see the acting. And once you notice it, it's impossible to unsee.

Add to that the fact that she's meant to be a savvy Notting Hill restaurateur, yet dresses like an adult who's been styled by a preschooler with a soft spot for dungarees and oversized cardigans. It's like the costume department was told: "Whimsical... but make it unhinged."

The rest of the film staggers along through limp plot turns, chemistry-free romance, and one of the most undeserved happy endings ever. No stakes. No growth. No reason to care. It's all soft-focus filler and shallow vibes with characters who have the emotional complexity of scented candles.

Verdict: Eat Love London is a painfully undercooked rom-com that serves up unbelievable characters, a lead with the acting range of a sat-nav, and a supporting cast that feels like they wandered in from a local amateur panto. The only thing less believable than the romance is the fact this got funded.

After decades of Americans doing terrible depictions of 'British' accents and culture, it's refreshing to see this movie is annoying my US friends!

In a world of increasing misinformation/misrepresentation, many of these shows, wherever set and made, are also very flawed in their writing, which could and should be improved across the genre.

On the upside, any inclusion of actual locations is always great in productions, and a good use of the budget, especially where a number of viewers are likely to have visited.

The problem with this movie was casting. The story is your typical romantic arc, albeit a silly plot arc, and had the characters been more sympathetic, I might have gotten past insipid plot. But the lead actress is a spoiled, petulant teenager, lacking in the tenacious drive and talent of a true chef. You can't support her romance because you can't support her. You might think it's just the lines, but it's more the delivery of the lines. I felt sorry for her "best friend." After all, who wants a friend who doesn't put the same passion and work ethic into the job you offered her. Nobody. Nobody wants that nonsense in their lives. Nobody is a glutton for that much punishment so as to risk livelihood for such a poor friend. And, don't ask me about the hero because when ever the lead actress was on screen - which was all the time - you needed to close your eyes and ears. Just yuck.

The lead actress's adorable looks didn't help the acting. Or maybe it was the writing? I've not seen her in anything else to compare. I don't understand the purpose of dressing her and doing her hair as if she were a child. Well, I guess that it closely matches the way her character was written. I wondered the entire time it was on, if a different actress wouldn't have sounded so whiny and spoiled? Came the resounding conclusion, that it was 8% the bad writing and 92% the terrible acting. If this were real life, I would not want to be her friend.

It's very rare that I don't finish a movie, but I couldn't see the point in finishing this. I feel like the look on my face may have ended up there permanently had I watched the entire film.

The scenery was nice.

There was also zero chemistry between the two leads.

I love the london background and the tour around my coveted notting hill but please why cast actors who are clearly not into food or even passionate about it when u are literally casting a chef . Her hair is everywhere , she keeps this unified cuteness about her when everyone knows chefs are focused on ingredients and not a curling iron. The chemistry I blame on the lack of time between the love interests and I feel they could have utilized some of the lines to benefit a spectrum of colorful antic dots between the difference between American and London culture instead, they gave us beige, beige, beige dialogue and not enough silly funniness to make me want to comment better honestly I expected more. I love acting in Hallmark movies and I always try to change something to give myself a stamp on the show. Yet this one seemed run-of-the-mill bland. I wish that I was in the casting room when decisions were made.