Ein Schnappschuss des Glücks

Set in the California wine country, it was actually filmed in British Columbia. Many of the scenes appear to be at Porteau Cove just a few miles north of Vancouver where my kids and I camped in 1990.

Natalie Dreyfuss is Jessie, a talented photographer who at one time worked for a publication but now prefers the local scene. Her friend runs the winery and will be the photographer for an upcoming wedding.

The bride has a brother, Anthony Konechny as somewhat famous actor Shane. As fate (and script) would have it the photographer and the actor, both healing from broken off relationships, quickly take a great liking to each other.

As an aside of sorts, Dreyfuss is tiny, listed as 5'2" and is slender. Konechny is large, listed as 6'3" and built. The two of them next to each other is an interesting contrast.

Anyway, my wife and I watched this movie streaming on Prime. Mostly predictable it was still a pleasant viewing with attractive actors and great scenery. It is not a Hallmark movie but still follows their method, and what we call the "Hallmark Kiss" comes during the last minute of the movie.

The network I watched this on and the production company that produced it can both be hot and cold, so when I chose between two Saturday night rom/coms, the Hallmark movie won. And it had one of the worst premises I have ever seen so I was done in 15 minutes and switched to my recording of this movie.

The story is fairly common where it revolves around the week before a wedding with some leisure and some planning. Shane is a huge movie star. Jessie was once a top photographer but left the rat race behind with a vengeance. She has some aspects of her personality that are borderline irresponsible. She might be mistaken for a slacker, but she keeps coming through.

I'm not a fan of when the leads meet and one or both tears into the other. This movie had a brief moment where the big movie star said leave me alone, but they quickly cleared up the misunderstanding. I liked it.

The conflict is done a little differently than you might expect in a couple of different ways. And unlike a lot of rom/coms that blow something totally out of proportion, in this movie it makes sense why one of them is so upset. In this genre you know there has to be a reconciliation, but this obstacle was almost too much to overcome.

Natalie Dreyfuss and Anthony Konechny have good chemistry. A lot of screen time early is spent with them getting to know each other. The banter is good.

BTW - this movie gets a D-, almost an F, in my pet peeve, size of text messages.

This is not an original storyline but it is the best version I've come across. So many of the decisions regarding work, family, relationships etc are totally understandable and trying to get your head around things not working out is definitely the norm for many. There's nothing nasty, just one sneaky person who causes a bump or two, but they too are just trying to get adjusted. Obviously there is a bit of tension in the plot in order to have a story, but most of the time it is really relaxing, especially for a wedding-themed movie. The characters aren't desperate to be coupled up by a certain age, so it is more watchable for middle-aged ... and potential retirees, as this is covered too. There's no children, but this is an all-age friendly movie about the work/life balance.

Reel One Entertainment just loves to pull from Hallmark where they take their tropes and use for their own. It's the old where a small town gal falls in love in big shot from a big city. I don't understand why they make these plots so predictable where you can know who will fall in love and you know the character will hate the guy then started to love him eventually. The actors and actress do a pretty good job with the predictable plot and setting is quite good so I'll give them that but overall it's a predictable plot with an ending you know it will happen. If you love cheesy romantic comedy then this for you.

A sweet and gentle film, visually gorgeous settings, locations, interiors and clothes.

But a warning on the music: viewers will hear and see the famous and much-loved minuet from Boccherini's string quintet (Opus 11 No.5), apparently miraculously performed by just four players instead of the necessary five, both at rehearsal and in performance. (This is the unspoken joke for the audience in the old movie The Ladykillers, where neither the incompetent criminals nor their adorable landlady realise that they are rehearsing a quintet upstairs having brought in only four instruments).

Back to this movie: next, a second violin and a viola can also apparently share a desk and sheet-music, despite their music being written in different clefs.

Thirdly, all of them - still only four players - can apparently read their string quintet music from a printed sheet of piano music.

And at the end, I'm still left wondering where that second cello needed for the quintet has disappeared to...

Apart from these hilarious musical howlers, it's a delightful film.