You're Bacon Me Crazy

While there are a number of establishing shots of Portland, mostly from overhead, the locations for filming are in Canada, which is common for Hallmark movies.

A young lady operating a very popular sandwich food truck gets some competition from a new truck in town, one that specializes in bacon. There isn't much friction, but some, so you know what the story love arc will be. And the story involves a competition, if she can win the $100,000 then she can re-open her grandfather's old restaurant.

My wife and I enjoy the occasional Hallmark movie, they are always pleasant as this one is. This one is part of a two-movie set on a DVD from our public library.

The movie was filmed in February 2020, just before the COVID pandemic became widespread. There is a late scene, supposedly on May 8, 2020, with people gathered in a group to hear results of the competition. Ironically it turned out in May 2020 you could not have had that scene without face coverings.

This Hallmark romance features two main characters that are very likable, making this an enjoyable film to watch. Natalie Hall plays Cleo, a chef who owns a food truck in Portland. Michael Rady is Gabe, a chef who drives his food truck around the country, enjoying new places and new people. When he comes back to Portland for his brother's birthday, he meets Cleo. From the start there is attraction, especially on his part.

When he parks his food truck near hers, a friendship develops that has an element of competition. He is such a nice guy, he goes out of his way to help her. When he discovers she plans to enter a cooking competition in hopes of winning the big prize and financing her dream, he helps her conceptualize her strategies and think outside the box.

She, in turn, treats him somewhat shabbily, but she realizes Gabe is on her side. It's a nice romance that develops organically, without benefit of dates or romantic scheming.

The entire cast is enjoyable, really. And this film rates as one of the better Hallmark stories.

Cleo has a successful foodtruck. Gabe comes back home for his brother's birthday, and he also happens to have a truck. They meet while buying in the farmer's market and there, Gabe learns about her foodtruck. Later, we see him parking his in front of hers. So, it begins: a little friendly competition, they hang out, they really get along. Until, the real competition arrives: whose food is the best.

I'm not gonna lie, it didn't get my attention the first 20 minutes or so. But then when it did, I actually enjoyed it. It was cute. Natalie was so much better in this movie as an actress than the previous one I saw (A Winter Princess). Michael Rady is great, I really like him. There was a good thing going on between them. At least, they didn't seem indifferent to the other. Likeable secondary cast. . What made me really happy was the "pre-ending" drama: it was explained from both point of views and both of them had good reasons. And they talked about it later like adults! No ignoring, no assuming something they shouldn't, no leaving town!

I see this movie takes place on May 8th, so it's good to see there is a world where is no Coronavirus. If you are in quarantine and enjoy these movies, you will like it. Is it the best? Will you want to watch in a year when you see Michael Rady in another Hallmark movie. Ha, no. It's perfect to have it in the background while you do something.

I don't feel this couple was very well matched. Beside looking very much younger than Michael Rady, the character of Cleo acted like an immature high School girl as opposed to Gabe, who responded to her antics in a mature level-headed way. she pulled a dirty trick on him by ordering all that food she didn't need while she could see that he was being slammed. What a brat! And then, when he successfully delivered it, he didn't even charge her for it. Did she even apologize? I don't remember. And then, when he offered to drop out of the competition, she had a tantrum because he was being egotistical instead of taking it kindly the way it was meant. Was he being egotistical? Maybe. but so what? That was his problem.

I've always liked Michael Rady, but have been unimpressed by Natalie Hall. She is just another over made up pretty face, and brings nothing special to the table. The story was actually pretty interesting and I did like that there were no big misunderstandings. A nice epilogue at the end further justified the half-hearted "7" that I gave this effort

The idea is cute, but the set design group really went too overboard on the whole fake flowers in the spring time thing.... Just WAY over the top. Okay we get it, it is spring time in Portland, there are flowers, but come on... way too many fake bunches EVERYWHERE ... Flowers that are not even in season. The morning farmer's market is a joke, it is spring, Romaine lettuce heads that big! And no way are apples, carrots and persimmons ready in April even in Portland. The story line was okay, you can tell how the story will end, but the journey there is so very Hallmark but of all the Spring Fling movies they churned out this year the set design was actually off putting. You know the old saying less is more... it would have been a much more visually appealing movie with far less. There are spring veggies and fruits around work with them and it would still be a good Hallmark flick... whether or not food trucks are in old town Portland is not relevant to me, it is a story and it was actually filmed in Langley BC so the fact that there may not be food trucks i Portland makes no difference. Even in Langley in April those "spring" flowers and veggies are not around... Good Hallmark movie, just bad set decor