Perfect Harmony

As a romance this pushed all my buttons.

James Denton has been so enjoyable in prior endeavors but really captured my total attention in this one, almost like truly seeing him for the first time. When he came away from the bar, grabbed the microphone and sang TURNN AROUND.." I positively melted. Loved the stuble beard - perfect for the character.

So believable and heart-warming without being over the top. And a well-told story, not run of the mill. A good deviation from similar themed stories. Very believable.

Thoroughly enjoyed it and played their karaoke scene over and over, loved Denton's musicality and portrayal of the supportive and nurturing character. Thought he had a surprisingly good voice, smooth and strong with good depth, perfect for his leading male contribution.

7.2 stars.

This story was probably the perfect romance for Hallmark. Two lonely adults need a soulmate. They have practically hated each other for a decade, got off on the wrong foot when they met, one of the worst first impressions - went both ways.

There is some really good sound and music in the film, which I really liked. There are several additional characters that share in the romance and the story as a whole. It's nice to see a Hallmark movie where they showcase 5 or more characters instead of just the two main ones.

Was this a 10/10, heck no. I don't understand those inflated ratings. I do understand why this was good, because the acting and the dialogue didn't disappoint. But, for me it was just average for a Hallmark romance. The story and all is great, but I wasn't totally convinced with the chemistry.

The last 10 minutes was fantastic.

While there are echoes of plotlines from many other movies, somehow this feels totally different. We've seen plenty of movies where a best man and maid of honor have some bad history but have to work together. We've seen stories about washed up rock stars. But a rock star and a poetry professor. Hmm.

I never thought of James Denton as a singer, but he's not bad. Not great, but there was no cringing. Sherri Saum has a nice voice. I wouldn't say she could make a career of just singing, but she sounded good here and the two together worked well.

I would have liked more of what was bad about their history. It seems it was only one bad meeting even though Naomi and Simon confronted them at first made it seem like the rift was deeper. As the movie goes on, it appears it was just what happened 10 years ago.

The story flows nicely. I liked the way the handled several incidents including the inevitable conflict. The ending was predictable but still worked.

I never realized that Julia and Peter Benson were a real life couple.

Not sure I like scruffy James Denton. I found it distracting for most of the movie.

A truly refreshingly well written movie that doesn't rely on the usual Hallmark formula. The characters are believable and the acting well done. It was nice that there were family members in this movie (James Denton and his real son as well as real life married couple Peter Benson and his wife). I specifically look for any Peter Benson movies now because he always seems to produce quality stories. Would love to see more movies like these in the future, Hallmark: well written adult storylines where the characters have life history that presents challenges to being open to new relationships however through the storytelling they learn to grow and be open to learning new ways to interact.

Main female lead does the following:

1. Starts off being rude to the main guy multiple times, despite him still being nice to her.

2. She can't sing but he goes out of his way to help her, despite her not being worth it.

3. She lectures others about being rude, talking bad about his music, which she did herself, so now that she knows him better, how dare anyone do that.

4. Steals his notebook without telling him & wonders why he's upset.

5. She states she is determining how much time of her life she'll lose with another man.

And we are supposed to love this woman? It's just mind-boggling to me what people will choose to believe because their mind is in fantasy land. It's like watching a soap opera, it doesn't matter that the same actor is now playing a different character & the previous one was killed off.