"Don't put off being happy."
Hello everyone!
As in, I like to watch their movies.
I have, however, found I need to dial back a little and only pick the ones that feature cast I know from previous projects, which may sound limiting given that I'm sure others, of whom I don't know any of the cast, are just as wonderful.
But at some point you just have to draw a line, I guess!
Tonight I'm going to be talking about a new little pet project Hallmark launched just for Valentine's, a series of movies under the title Love Ever After, which only premiered this year as something new they're trying. This includes a full month of Valentine-themed movies for viewers to enjoy.
I won't be doing a full review of ALL four of the movies from the series because, like I said, I kind of need a breather every now and again, but I did tune in to this weekend's choice.
So open up that box of chocolates, because Matching Hearts is up next.
Since I've done a long line of reviews of Hallmark movies, I won't be listing them at the bottom of this blog, considering the fact that there's A LOT of them! If you type 'Hallmark' or 'Hallmark channel' in my search window up above, however, you can probably find more than a few of them.
Instead, I'm just going to come right out and say I wanted to watch the movie because it features two of my favourite Hallmark channel actors, who've never before shared screen time but apparently fans have been asking for it since forever.
Taylor Cole is, of course, one of Hallmark's leading ladies, with her sophisticated charm and easy going nature, and Ryan Paevey tends to hit the nail right on the head with his deep voice and overall friendly charisma.
Notable other mentions should include Osric Chau, who's definitely making his way around this movie town!
The story itself is also fairly entertaining: a matchmaker has to find a match for a high profile client who has previously said that staying single is the way to go, and in the process falls in love with him herself.
How, exactly, does this happen?
Read on.
So Julia is a matchmaker who's number two at an agency she helped build with her boss, and she also has some progressive ideas to move things forward, which her boss doesn't really approve of. Her best friend is trying to get her to adopt this one cute doggo they see every time they go for a morning run, but Julia is hesitant, saying she can't commit to anyone else in her life at the moment, even a pet.
Famous last words!
On the other side, new recruit Timothy discovers a quote by an entrepreneur who says that staying single is better if you want to build your business, and the hunt is on to find this guy so they can match him up.
Ironically, Julia stumbles onto him while out with a birthday party, and then a second time when he comes to introduce himself to her parents (they own a flower shop, he's opening a pet adoption center nearby). It turns out Daniel is a little bit skeptical of the whole matchmaking business, but he doesn't really have much of a choice when his best friend (whom Julia matched up with her own best friend) gives him free matchmaking with the agency.
Here is where begins the tale of unsuccessful dates for Daniel, and also commentary by his friend that he seems to be afraid to get into a relationship. Daniel tells Julia, instead, that it isn't fear so much as that he's willing to try because all his friends are pretty much paired up, married, and expecting children, so he's wondering whether or not he did something wrong.
Same, Daniel. Same.
Anyway, Julia's boss heads off to Paris with her husband who just got a job there, leaving Julia in charge of the Valentine's Day party, so she immediately starts switching things around to make it a little bit new instead of the same old thing they've had for years and which people don't want to RSVP to (because, boring).
She also keeps running into Daniel, both at his center where she still won't adopt the dog, at her parents' shop, outside of it, and keeps trying to match him up.
All the while though, SHE'S the one who's falling for him, and he for her.
Of course they hit a snag when the Osric Chau character proposes a flier with Daniel's face on it and some 'Mr. Stay Single' commentary, which promptly changes Daniel's mind about using the matchmaking service (because he naturally walks in on that one). He also starts showing interest in Julia very early on, but she either doesn't see the signs, or she's too afraid of the signs, something he mentions later when he explains he was actually coming in to terminate his contract and ask her out - but afterwards she was very clear that nothing was happening, so he backed off.
Did Julia just overwork herself out of the perfect guy?
As a lark, she matches herself with him, to get a very low percentage, but one of the other employees revisits the questionnaire and then asks her all the questions - the new answers match her up with Daniel by 100%, which is cause for high alert for everybody.
This of course happens at the party where her boss is also present, and the husband explains that the Valentine's Day party was a sort of anniversary and remembrance for their own first date, down to the food they'd eaten (which explains her reluctance to change things around).
The problem with the match, if we return to it, is that Julia had previously arranged a date for Daniel with an artist whose class she'd attended, and they seemed to hit it off well enough.
Until, that is, Daniel shows up at the party, saying that, yeah they'd hit it off, but both of them realized they wanted different people, the artist her ex (who was also at the party for photography reasons, as Daniel helped him start up his company), and Daniel wants Julia, naturally.
And with Osric Chau happily employed by her parents now, Julia can finally stop worrying about all the professional stuff and give in to the attraction she feels for Daniel, and the undeniable spark they have, so they can see whether or not this will take them anywhere.
The end.
Charming and easygoing, without too many twists and turns or hiccups along the way, this is one of those pretty typical Hallmark stories if you look at it. Sure the matchmaking plot was interesting enough, but in the end nothing really stood out for the movie, not even its cast.
Taylor was lovely, but somehow they made Ryan seem like a country bumpkin next to her, even though he was supposed to be a successful professional, which jarred with the overall image. Osric was cute in his role though, so I think we need to see more of him going around.
Not going to lie, I honestly thought they would go the typical Asian + Asian route, because one of the assistants was also of the same ethnicity. THANKFULLY this didn't happen!
Overall, it was a lukewarm effort all around, although I have to say I agreed with the prevalent themes of how difficult it is to find partners in this new world we live in if you haven't been with a person since your high school years. Dating in your thirties pretty much becomes a minefield, so matchmaking agencies aren't really on their way out yet. Especially, as Daniel points out, when everyone around you seems to be settling down!
So I felt that resonate with me, for sure, but the rest of it ... could have been a bit stronger.
xx
*images not mine
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