Love in Design

Danica McKellar and Andrew Walker, two of Hallmark's favorite (and mine) finally together in a movie. While I didn't think it was the best movie out there, I didn't find it as terrible as the rest of the comments make it. 99 out of 100 of these movies are predictable and use the same formula, by now I just hope they don't ruin it and make me have a nice hour and a half.

Both leads shine on their own, and I do think they had chemistry together, I even find myself hlding my breath during one scene. The plot, while predictable, it was original. I don't think I've seen it in Hallmark before.

I was even happy with the final problem, it was believable and not pointless as they tend to be. While I'll probably won't watch again, I actually find it cute.

Two old flames collide in a home improvement style Hallmark film that is boosted by two very likeable leads in Andrew Walker and the ever lovely Danica McKellar.

Yes, it's very predictable, and it drags a bit in places, but I cannot fault a film that thoroughly entertained me for the 86 mins run time too highly, because I thought it was warm, funny and heartfelt.

Having seen the ads for a movie starring two of Hallmark's most popular regulars..Danica McKellar and Andrew Walker, this viewer could not wait to see this couple in a new film. Sadly, their names and star status did nothing to make this movie worth watching. The characters were formulaic. Career girl who leaves her small town to make it in the big city comes back to oversee a huge and challenging project. Surprise, surprise, the man she left in order to pursue her big city dreams is assigned co-partner with her and to add his talents to her work .Predictable, old angers arise, who really left who, and old unfinished business gets note way of their working smoothly together. How often will Hallmark bring out this old premise in order to make a movie try to feel new? These two stars are magnetic, each in their own way..McKellar is a forceful power in her private life as a mathematics genius, author of math books for girls, and even with a math theory named after her. Walker is a talented actor with great variation in facial expression and with sparking eyes. One of his best films, from some time ago, is Bridal Wave, If you have never seen it, look for it. It confirms his acting talents and his romantic appeal. However, in Love in Design, none of this is visible. He is overshadowed by McKellar's perky, bouncy manner and her take-charge style. His role becomes one of a passive bystander with very few interesting lines, and even fewer opportunities to show any passion or romantic gestures..other than being remembered for brushing her hair off her face. Oh,my goodness..this is almost embarrassing. The relationship between the stars falls flat. Of course, the ending is predictable, albeit contrived..This is a Hallmark movie,after all.

But one is left wondering WHY?? There is no chemistry at all between the stars or their characters. The ending is overly contrived. Additionally, there is a scarcity of significant dialogue..way too many pauses, silences and frought facial expressions. McKellar's eyebrows turn upward, his face goes blank, no words are utter. They both give the impression they can't wait for the filming to be over. Another Hallmark cliche should be addressed here..The female character almost always has a best friend, supporter, cheering section. And recently, it seems to be role assigned to young talented women of color. I this a nod to diversity in films? Why not really become part of the new day and the new reality and make the heroine a woman of color and make her best friend a woman of any color at all? Time is fleeting..Hallmark needs to catch up.

Another cliche Hallmark needs to address is the over-use of the heroine's parents as the ideal married couple, middle aged and playfully in love, an ideal she is sure she can never achieve. This harks viewers back to the old tv shows, Father Knows Best, Donna Reed Show, etc..and has very little to do with today's reality. Time for Hallmark to catch up or to be forever stuck in a cliche that may have gone by the wayside years ago. If you are looking for a bland, predictable, under-acted, under-written Hallmark movie, this is the one for you.

Expectations were rather mixed for 'Love in Design'. Hallmark did do some well above average and more films in 2018, having literally just come fresh from watching one of the best from the year 'Pearl in Paradise'. Andrew Walker is always worth watching, even when the film isn't good (and that has happened quite a number of times). The concept didn't really excite me though. Am also not the biggest of fans of Danica McKellar, who tends to be typecast and plays most of her roles pretty similarly.

'Love in Design' didn't work for me. It is not unwatchable and has its good things, have almost always seen one or two redeeming merits in the Hallmark films that miss big time. It is also not particularly good and fails quite badly in a number of crucial areas, well strictly speaking the areas that matter the most. Is it one of the worst 2018 Hallmark films? Probably not, there were definitely worse. In my mind, 'Love in Design', while not one of the worst of the batch, is one of the duller ones.

Am going to begin with the good things. Walker is an amiable and subtly charismatic leading man. Also thought that the production values were attractive, it's not lavish but it didn't look cheap or shoestring budget like.

The music is pleasant enough, nothing memorable but it didn't feel at odds or melodramatic.

However, quite a lot doesn't work. McKellar is very bland and shows a rather limited range of expressions, literally the most believable expressions come from the eyebrows and even they are mainly one emotion. The two have no chemistry together and seem incredibly distant, they wouldn't even be believable as friends. For a story so heavy on the personal drama, the relationship felt very undercooked and the drama was thin and what there is lifeless. Didn't care for their cliched and really difficult to endear to, due to the overwritten negative personality traits (especially with McKellar's) and the characters have very little to them.

Supporting cast are undistinguished at best. The script has nothing to it, did not sound like everyday conversation, is too talky and is very forced and over heated towards the end. The story doesn't engage at all and drags badly most of the time, too much of the drama going nowhere. What there is is very predictable, with there only being one surprise in the whole film and it still managed to not be that big. For a setting as promising as this, nothing really is done with it. We even don't get to see much of a final result. The ending is not as too neat as most Hallmark films, but this reviewer did lose interest quite some time before the end to really care about the outcome and part of me thought it contrived (like the whole conflict itself) and anti-climactic.

Overall, very lacklustre. 4/10.

Hannah McElroy (Danica McKellar) has hosted four seasons of her modern renovation show in Los Angeles. Network brass Wally wants to change it up and for her to renovate a historic manor in her hometown of Lewisburg. She reluctantly accepts but is shocked to find her ex Jeff Winslow (Andrew W. Walker) as her liaison with city hall. The former couple clashes and reconnects.

Obviously, Danica has decided on steering her career directly into the Hallmark lane. That's no crime and she's good at it. She has the natural goodness charms since her childhood days. She's Winnie Cooper for heaven's sake. As for her co-star, he's also a veteran of these movies. They have the basic chemistry to make this work and it's not terribly demanding. It's a simple Hallmark movie and it doesn't need to be more.