'A Brush with Love' did have a nice cute idea going for it, love and painting is a good harmonious mix. Arielle Kebbel can be very expressive and likeable, but has had times in other projects where she tries too hard. Am not too familiar with Nick Bateman, actually can't remember whether there is anything in his filmography that has already been seen by me. Having said that, my expectations were not high considering the negativity that has been garnered here.
Negativity that to me is deserved and justifiable. 'A Brush with Love' has a few good things, but it just has very little to it and came over as very weak in most areas. As far as the 2019 Spring Fever films go, which is of variable quality, 'A Brush with Love' is towards the bottom. When it comes to the previous 2019 Spring Fever films, 'Flip that Romance' left me mixed and 'Love to the Rescue' to me was among the best Hallmark films for that year.
Shall begin with citing the good. The best thing about 'A Brush with Love' is Kebbel, who radiates charm and has a lovely energy and charm without overdoing either. The female supporting cast did quite well, with Hilary Jardine a standout.
The scenery is beautiful and nicely shot.
Bateman however is very wooden and also behaves in a juvenile manner reminiscent of teenagehood. Also found Matthew James Dowden bland, and both characters were dull as dishwater and hard to root for. Bateman and Kebbel have no chemistry together, didn't get the sense of them being in love and it was like he was too immature for her. The film also makes little effort to develop their relationship, which is basically only just there with nothing to it. The direction lacks any kind of distinction and there is nothing memorable or interesting about the music.
Script is awkward and goes overboard on the cheese and schmaltz. More could have been done with the setting, nice idea but underused. The story is very formulaic, meaning that everything is obvious long before it happens, is far too thin which affects the pace and lacks charm and energy. Dull and bland are the two main adjectives to describe 'A Brush with Love'. The characters are too one dimensional and also on the dysfunctional side, with a heavy-handedly negative emphasis on commitment.
In summary, pretty bad. 3/10.
