Romance in the Air

I always said I'd never rate a Hallmark movie below a 5 because they're family-friendly, but this should have premiered at Thanksgiving because it's a turkey. Cindy Busby spends most of her time pretending to care about a cast of near-cardboard cutouts and a stupefying soundtrack, which is a shame because she's carried movies before and during her time at Hallmark. If the movie was trimmed to about thirty minutes, it might have moved at a more realistic pace and the writers might have been inspired enough to give their actors something to do.

A new Saturday night Hallmark romance is always an anticipated joy. Sadly, this film did not live up to that anticipation. While the lead actress struggled valiantly to do something evocative with the weak and predictable script, her efforts were futile. Cindy Busby is always the energetic, expressive lead actress one counts on . She has a dazzling smile, sparkling eyes and a true sense of the role she is in. This script did not give her enough to work with , and her gifts were sorely wasted. To her credit, this is the first movie this viewer has ever seen on Hallmark where the lead actress is in a bathing suit. Not only is she in a bathing suit, but she looks perfectly comfortable in it. She is also viewed in a bikini bathing suit "bottom" that is the most audacious wardrobe risk Hallmark has ever taken. Good for Cindy Busby ! How innovative and courageous of her to accept these wardrobe demands. Her leading man was a mystery. Not being familiar with any of his previous work he was new to this viewer. What was wrong with his uncombed hair? Could a wardrobe/makeup staff member not have brushed his straggling hair off his forehead and given him a cleaner appearance?

With very little script and plot to work with, and with the story line being the most familiar Hallmark theme, the real star of this movie was Lake Tahoe. Stunning and thrilling to look at and a good distraction from a predictable and unoriginal story.

'Romance in the Air' is the first film of the 2020 Hallmark Summer Nights group. Expectations were not high to be perfectly honest. There are some good and more films Hallmark did in 2020, in most of the seasonal programmings. What lowered my expectations was that there was absolutely nothing special about the premise and also because of not being the biggest of fans of Cindy Busby, whose acting range has often struck me as rather limited.

Those not so high expectations for 'Romance in the Air' were executed even worse in my view. Not only one of the worst 2020 Summer Nights films, but also one of the worst Hallmark films from that year. And the worst Hallmark films from 2020 were close to dire. One knows something is not right when Busby is one of the two least bad things about a film, because she actually comes off quite acceptably here. Certainly compared to everything else.

As said, Busby comes off well. She here shows more emotional range than she tends to and although her character is quite more of the same when comparing her with her other Hallmark characters she does try to bring some variation. She has a perkiness that is not there with any of the rest of the cast and the only one who seemed to be going.

What also came over well was the beautiful scenery.

It is a shame though that that was cheapened by the drab filming and the amateurish overuse of green screen, which often looks cheap when used in film and it is just too glaringly obvious here. The rest of the cast are poor, the supporting actors go through the motions (especially the bored looking and sounding ex) and Torrance Coombs is ill at ease and seemed to have no idea what he was doing. He and Busby have no chemistry here and don't look comfortable with each other, it's not a good sign when it comes over like they didn't like each other when they are supposed to be having a romance. Which is underdeveloped and rushed.

Direction is near-non descript and the same goes for the story. Which is wafer thin and what there is is excessively predictable (even for a film with so many recycled Hallmark film tropes) and sluggishly paced, complete with no heart or charm. It also seemed to take itself too seriously. The ending makes little sense and is mean spirited. The script is too talky and stilted, some of the talk unnecessary, while there is nothing interesting or likeable about the characters. The music has no personality and intrudes too much.

Concluding, very, very bad. 2/10.

Who has a lake house in Tahoe and never goes to it? Couldn't get through the premise. Not a fan of this actress either. Her voice gets to me. Sorry.

I don't normally like movies with this main actress, I find her annoying and bratty, but it worked well in this movie. First off, someone is finally fearing they will be fired from a job rather than getting a huge promotion and going on mandatory vacation. The hot air balloon was beautiful, backgrounds were breathtaking, and the two leads have chemistry. I'm not sure what time of the year it was when it was filmed as they seemed to avoid touching the water at all costs but the scenery was so lovely I wish I could go there. Enjoyed the movie- give it a try!