Advice to Love By

The premise was a common one and several of the usual tropes were used, but as another reviewer pointed out, some of the romantic elements were missing like physical touch and longing stares.

The social chemistry was there as the leads had great dialogue and verbal interaction. Brooks Darnell always has a comfortable presence and his voice draws you in. I thought Erinn Westbrook was perfect for the part and carried it well. This Kendall is a true nerd with a little bit of naivete especially in the experiential aspect of romance. I liked how the two contrasted the science vs the feeling aspects. Watching these two together was fun, but they didn't carry it through the finish line.

Another reviewer said the movie was choppy and that's one way to describe how the conflict and the ending just didn't flow or make sense. The conflict was forced without enough justification and then all of a sudden the conflict was gone, again without enough justification. In other words, that part of the movie was rushed like the director ran out of time to make it feel right. I was loving this movie up to that point, but the last part brought the whole movie down a bit.

Erinn Westbrook is very pretty and talented but she got stuck with a somewhat abrasive character (the "science of love" author). Kendall rudely dismisses the "love at first sight" feelings that her sister and boyfriend experienced because, you know, "science" (it's all "completely biological"). The problem with Kendall, is that she has all these strong opinions about "science" but it doesn't seem like she has actually studied any of the relevant "science".

For example, there's research out of the Netherlands which provides evidence in support of the phenomenon of love at first sight (Zsok, Haucke, De Wit, & Barelds, 2017), which she dismisses as nothing more than "signs from your neuroreceptors, not your heart" (and what's scientific about the "heart" in connection with love?). Although I wasn't a big fan of the writing, I did like the boyfriend's response: "Well, wherever the signs came from, I'm glad I was paying attention."

And what was the "science" behind pairing up two random strangers on National TV and pressuring them to go on a date together?

There were several other annoying things about the script. When Kendall calls Nathan, he says he has some follow up questions. She says "Saturday, lunch in the park" and then just hangs up. She doesn't wait for an acknowledgement, confirm a time, say "I'll see you then" or even "bye", she just hangs up. Huh?

And then she gets all bent out of shape about something that nobody would be bothered by (even those who know nothing about contractual confidentiality obligations). It was just a fake and phony conflict. If all of that seemed annoying (as it was for me), the blame goes to the writer and/or the director. Erin Westbrook is just reading her lines and doing the best with what she was given. Don't blame her for how Kendall was written. Some other reviewers don't seem to understand that an actress who plays an annoying character isn't necessarily a bad actress or annoying. Erinn Westbrook deserves a better script. As does Brooks Darnell. He's a really good looking and charismatic actor (he was quite impressive in A Winter Getaway, although that was another movie where the stars were better than their material). But his character's grand gesture just came across as poorly timed and embarrassing.

Finally, other reviewers noticed something else that really bothered me too. I've always thought it was ridiculous that nobody ever has sex in Hallmark movies. We don't need R-rated sex scenes, but there's not even a hint that anyone is having sex. It's never even implied. That's just weird and unrealistic. But it was even worse in this movie. These two went on a bunch of dates and never even kissed. Heck, they never hugged or even held hands. That's just ridiculous. Is Hallmark really that worried that their core demographic will clutch their pearls in horror and turn the channel if they see people showing physical affection for one another and, heaven forbid, going into a bedroom together at night and closing the door behind them?

The only good thing and reason for my generous 4 stars was the lead actor. He's a fine actor given lousy material.

The rest didn't flow, there was zero chemistry, the lead actress was another spunky, fast-talking, know-it-all and where did the plot go? You'd think you were finding it then they threw it in a blender or something.

It just rushed through whatever plot they were struggling to find, couldn't find it and did a quick wrap up, I guess. Better writers needed.

I'll never watch that actress again, however. There's enough stress in the world without adding these high octane power people. Hallmark's "hallmark" is cozy comfort. Sadly, none of that was to be found here and I couldn't have cared less if she found love or not. Hopefully not. She'd be awful as a partner.

I was far more interested in this steamroller woman's assistant's love life. She was charming.

I really and honestly enjoyed this movie from beginning to end. It is definitely one of the better Hallmark movies. The acting was good all around, which is not always the case with sappy romance movies from Hallmark. I'm not sure I understood the storyline that set up the romance in the first place. Although, the actors had convincible chemistry. They play well together. It kind of got left by the wayside in terms of plot. I liked the ending, but what happened to the hallmark (pun intended) clapping at the kiss? No, no, don't bring that back - I'm just wondering. I liked the goofy dancing to send the audience off. Nice movie,

As said in some reviews for other 2021 Hallmark films, 2021 was a hit and miss year for Hallmark but actually was expecting in all honesty it to be a lot worse than it turned out. Have seen Brooks Darnell in other things and he strikes me as a very likeable actor who is usually well above what he is given in too many of the films he's starred in. Most of the 2021 Fall Harvest films didn't do much for me, the best by far being 'Love Strikes Twice' as that felt like a refreshing attempt at doing something different.

My overall thoughts on 'Advice to Love By' were mixed to mildly positive. As far as the 2021 Fall Harvest films go, it is one of the better (or at least one of the more watchable) ones. There is a good deal to like here, Darnell being one of the biggest pluses. But this reviewer also had some big issues with 'Advice to Love By', even when knowing what to expect as someone who has seen a lot of Hallmark films (a number of them being above average and more), namely some of the storytelling and the female lead.

Beginning with the plusses, Darnell is very amiable and charming in his role, a character that is interesting and easy to like (felt sorry for him at times). Samantha Cole stands out in the solid supporting cast, bringing some welcome energy without being annoying or over-compensating. The characters are typical but generally no real issues. The production values are attractive, once again the scenery delivers on the beauty. The music isn't drab or repetitive, and it isn't discordant, maybe it could have been used more subtly but other Hallmark films do much worse at this.

Furthermore, 'Advice to Love By' is often very cute and heart warming. Some of the dialogue and interplay are quite fun.

Having said all of that, Erinn Westbrook seemed rather stiff too often, she does get better later on but she tends to overdo her character's naivety and abrasiveness. Characteristics that at their worst were pretty hard to take. While the chemistry does get warmer as it develops a little more, it does take quite some time before anything progresses and even then the spark never feels enough.

One expects a Hallmark film to be formulaic, and 'Advice to Love By' is certainly that. It just doesn't do much new or enough really with too many typical elements and the dialogue can be very corny and stilted (especially early on). Do have to agree with those that say that the story can feel very choppy, especially the severely underdeveloped and forced conflict, introduced suddenly, near-discarded and resolved too easily and unrealistically so. Which did make some decision making not easy to fathom.

Concluding, above average and quite decent but didn't blow my mind and could have been a good deal better. 6/10.