You Had Me at Aloha

First things first: This production deserves credit for navigating the COVID crisis, especially under the very restrictive mandates in Honolulu. Attentive viewers will notice the preponderance of outdoor shots--which is perfect for a film that wants to capitalize on the beauty of Hawaii---and the emphasis on spacing and small groups.

Pascale Hutton and Kavan Smith are a staple on Hallmark. Here they play Paige and Ben, co-hosts of a destination travel show, who come to Oahu to create an episode. Like oil and vinegar at first, they grapple with the incompatibility of their styles. Paige likes things scripted and under control; Ben prefers the ad lib and impromptu adventures.

As a travelogue for Oahu, the film does a satisfactory job. As a romance, it successfully leans on the comedic chops of its stars, who have a practiced and warm congeniality. They were heavily involved in the design and production of this film.

As other viewers have commented, some haircuts are noticeably patchy, but that minor detail is more than compensated for by the aforementioned extra effort required to make this film during civil restrictions and travel limitations.

Watching romantic comedy is for me an escape, a way to forget the ugliness of our world today. Contrary to popular belief, this is one of the most difficult genres of movies to make. Unfortunately, lately, few movies succeed in meeting the challenge of creating the magic of feeling in love and making people laugh. The majority of Hallmark movies increasingly look like superficial products where the main thing is to please the majority of viewers; even the cast of the main actors is terrible: they often have no chemistry. However, I was pleasantly surprised first by the secondary actors who are usually simple extras who add nothing to the story. Then the main actors are really good together, the story is told well and some moments are funny and some are really romantic. I really enjoyed the movie.

Love these two together. Fun story. Great scenery.

There is a Hallmark series that I watch and the two leads here are in that program. I guess it wasn't a surprise that the chemistry and ease of acting together was superb. So often I will watch a Hallmark movie that has at least one character that seems to have just been dropped right into the cast without a lot of acting experience. It becomes very distracting. I guess the main thing I enjoyed about this movie was that I could just watch it from beginning to end and believe it! Throughout, there were a lot of comic elements in the script, and that's what made it a very enjoyable romcom as well. I highly recommend it for a low stress, fun watch!

I was so excited for this movie because I love the main actors but this movie ended up being so boring. I only watched till the end because of two of my favorite actors. The "goat" embarrassment was stupid to ruin the main actors dreams for so many years. I listened to the "Deck the Halls" podcast and the screen writer said they "Up'd" the comedy. What?!?! My favorite HMM make me laugh or giggle at the characters but this one? No laughing, just boring... Oh, and the side characters drinking in the chairs? Ackward and unhappy.

I felt they didn't take advantage of Hawaii either. They could've entered a sand castle competition together or against each other! They could've went boogie boarding, kayaking, hiking, mixed drink competition, limbo contest!!! Grass shirt lessons, pineapple picking..... So much opportunity for a fun, romantic movie!