The Story of Us

For one thing, this story is too much like too many other stories on the same channel. So many plot points are almost an exact copy of others before this.

How can a man even consider shattering the heart of the woman he supposedly loves. Crushing her soul. Destroying her dreams. The movie makes it very clear how much the store means to her. It upsets me that she even considers him if he would do anything to harm her that way. He can't possibly love her if he would do that. OK, I realize that it appears to be career suicide to do otherwise and if that's the way he sees it, then be honest and walk away from her, and he should have realized that long before it came to crisis point.

Maggie Lawson is the only redeeming thing about this movie as a happy and delightful young lady. Sam Page - meh. Not bad, but not the spark of Lawson. The couple who kept dancing around each other made a cute side story. Jacob Richter, as Jamie's ex, Matt, was a total non-entity - no life at all.

Even though it's a "seen it all before" premise and setting, 'The Story of Us' still sounded like if done right it could be quite charming. Originality should never be expected from Hallmark, and while they have done some surprisingly good changes of pace they are generally reliant on one formula with changes in setting. Even when unoriginal though, there are still plenty of Hallmark films that are charming and light-hearted with a nice cast.

'The Story of Us', the second Countdown to Valentines Day film of 2019 after 'Valentine in the Vineyard' (am reviewing the previous two of the Vineyard trilogy before that one), definitely has its plus points and is a watchable effort. It is though also rather hit and miss, with some things working and others not. Basically watchable but with nothing really all that special, and a case of the supporting cast being better than the leads (prefer Maggie Lawson of the two personally, Sam Page varies depending on the material).

Am going to start with the good. 'The Story of Us' looks lovely, Hallmark often delivers on the scenery even in the misfires (and boy were there plenty in 2019) and it is beautiful to watch and quite photogenic. While not the most memorable in the world, the music does fit at least and doesn't feel overused or intrusive, common problems with Hallmark.

Furthermore, 'The Story of Us' does boast some cute and warm-hearted moments and the middle act has a nice light edge. Really liked the supporting cast, Frances Flannagan and Jenny Mitchell are both solid and Marco Grazzini and Zibby Allen are immensely likeable and sparkle together. Their chemistry is a lot more convincing than the leads' and their story is more interesting.

On the other hand, Lawson and Page aren't anywhere as good. Page particularly looks stiff and going through the motions, and really did not like his character and his treatment of Lawson's character to the extent that one questions his love. Lawson has a little more presence but still found her quite dull and the writers did try too hard in getting one to sympathise with her character by making her excessively anxious and forelorn. Their chemistry doesn't gel either, they seemed disconnected and the relationship doesn't develop, neither do the two characters.

Moreover, the script tends to be awkward, any attempts at playfulness comes over as cheesy and contrived, any conflict lacks tension and any dramatic moments don't resonate as there is not enough to invest in. The story is predictability taken to extremes and could have done with more energy and consistent charm. It also could have gotten going quicker and the final act is rushed and too neat. The characters are underdeveloped in general, with the best characters by far being Rick and Lucy. Forgot to say that charisma-free Jacob Richter gives the worst performance.

Concluding, watchable as a one time watch but very mixed here. 5/10.

Jamie Vaughn (Maggie Lawson) runs a small bookstore in Waterford. Her store and the business district is threatened with redevelopment. The developer sends in architect Sawyer O'Dell (Sam Page) who came from the town. He also happens to be Jamie's former love.

This is a standard Hallmark romance movie. The premise is standard. The romance is standard. The problem is the limited heat in the relationship. They should try harder to be enemies for at least the first half of the movie. They need to heat up the connection with more combustible fuel. The second half would be Sawyer's redemption arc. I thought that the development would be the perfect vehicle for their fighting. The movie has the standard Hallmark light touch and that is its major flaw. It keeps the connection at a low simmer until the flame goes out for good. The love triangle comes too late to generate any spark. Jamie is better off dumping both guys. The secondary romance has more heat.

I LOVE this movie! It's truly one of the best Hallmark movies out there thanks to the cast! and the main couple are both amazing actors and yes I could see the end from a mile long, and their chemistry is questionable but it was still a beautiful movie! and for a bookworm like myself, the book store "True Love" is a dream! Loved every second of watching this movie!

6.4 stars.

There are a couple good scenes having to do with the romance between the supporting cast. They have the chemistry that our leads could learn a lesson from.

Let's see, we have a chef, a real estate developer, a bookstore owner, bookstore owner's assistant, a parent, the leads parted ways when they went to college, he stayed in the big city, she stayed at home and bought the bookstore, he now works for the big real estate developer and is part of the process of buying out the whole block to replace it with condos and tear down the bookstore and historical buildings. Did I miss anything? "The Story of Us" is just way too cookie cutter to ignore. There is absolutely nothing original in this movie. Even the dialogue is the same, with an absence of extraordinary or unique. The leads are too civil with each other, there is no indication of any previous attraction between them, no flare at all. High school sweethearts, I don't buy it. There is an interrupted kiss which did not belong in the first place, so yay for the interruption.

I'm starting to realize how difficult it must be to produce a really good film. "The Story of Us" could have been great, it's not easy to figure out what exactly makes for the magic in a story. I'm thinking it's in the editing, to be honest. Get the music just perfect with the pacing and change a few lines, intonations and expressions maybe? Good luck.

It's just a copycat film of a dozen other copycat films which copied something way back probably 20 years ago that is rarely aired anymore. At least they were able to produce a near average film with no major mistakes.