An Unexpected Valentine

Okay, right off the bat, she gets into something that's, you know, euivalent of a Uber or lyft, she says she's not going too far, so she was alright sitting in the back. He drops off one couple, then he drop off another lady and then I guess her time to get dropped off. First of all, they pulled over so she can find her missing phone, but yet it just happens to be somewhere he always parks. She finds a box, which she says an engagement ring. Then he decides he needs to replenish snacks for his other passengers. The thing to me is well, why did she have to go in the store with him,, like when is he going to drop her off?

I really like both Lacey Chabert and Robert Buckley, who are paired well as Hannah and Finn in this Hallmark Valentine's Day film. The premise is Finn picks up Hannah as her ride share driver. Hannah is the last one picked up and when she's dropped off she discovers that someone left an engagement ring in Finn's car. She proceeds to convince Finn to retrace his day's deliveries to find the owner on this all important day...Valentine's Day. Along the way Finn takes photos, his real passion, and the two get to know one another.

I have always found Robert Buckley to be very genuine in any role he plays, and this was no exception. I enjoyed watching him and Lacey Chabert flirt on screen, the two have smiles that just light up the room. This was an enjoyable and flirtatious film with no villains and no one trying to sabotage two people who seem to be hitting it off in the big city. I think romantics like myself will enjoy this film.

The story is not important in this movie. The allure is in the time spent on screen between Lacey Chabert and Robert Buckley. The chemistry is great and the two of them are completely in sync. There are great lines. There are great moments. There is a little physical comedy, but not in a big way.

Mostly it is just two people who never met before on a quest in downtown New York City to find the owner of the engagement ring that was left behind in Finn's car. Along the way, they make a lot of stops. Some are in hopes of finding the owner. There are others involving deliveries. And a couple of rest stops.

If there were any of the usual check-off items for a rom/com, there were barely noticeable. Oh, there were the main character's close friends egging them on to pursue love, but I really didn't notice anything else cliche. Unless you count the inevitable.

With a whole host of Hallmark movies that are hard to differentiate from each other; this one doesn't just step out of the box, it leaps. And the leap pays off.

Excellent and original script, charming characters, some romance & humor and it was shot beautifully.

As the characters drive through NYC, searching for the owner of a ring, they experience all forms of Valentine's Day - couples in various stages of their relationships. It's done with fun, instead of the typical schlocky romance you might get in a movie like this.

Robert Buckley and Lacey Chabert are really good, letting us watch their attraction grow as we get to know them through one evening of various Valentine celebrations.

I can be cynical when it comes to these movies, but this won me over. I loved everything about it.

You know how formulate these things can be. A few minutes of heavily expositional dialogue where the characters say things to each other that they already know, strictly for the audience's benefit. A series of contrived events designed to illustrate the quirks of the leads and their apparent incompatibility. Gradual attraction. Then, at 9:35, one of them says something on a phone call that the other one overhears and misunderstands. Followed by reconciliation.

Not this one. This found a fresh path, with reasonable obstacles and a valid payoff. Very pleasant and unexpected. Still, I have one concern: Why did the radio DJ have to pull a 12-hour shift?