Love, Classified

This movie is trying way too hard to be cool or relevant or Gen z friendly...it failed, miserably. Only got about 10 mins in and I gave up from boredom and sore eyes from all the eye rolling. The characters had no good lines, you aren't at all invested, the plot was muddy and confusing, the acting was under and over played by different characters. Hot mess. Skip it!

Set in New York but filmed in Canada, this Hallmark movie doesn't quite follow the common Hallmark story arc. Some of it is silly in spots but overall it tells an interesting and entertaining story with good characters.

Emelia Bloom travels home for a reading of her latest novel and a book signing. Both her adult son, an artist, and her adult daughter, who owns a flower and plant shop, are surprised. She had been gone five years, right after their dad, her husband, died and the children had heard little to nothing from her.

So, much of the story is mom trying to reunite with her two adult children. Her son seems more willing, her daughter is really a hard case.

Melora Hardin, from here in Houston, is very good as the author and mom, Emilia Bloom. As a side note, way back when she was a teenager was chosen to play Jennifer, the girlfriend of Marty McFly in 'Back to the Future.' However, when Eric Stoltz was fired and very short Michael J Fox was brought in, she would have been too tall so she didn't get the role that went to Claudia Wells. Funny how random events can have such an influence.

Anyway my wife and I watched this movie at home, streaming on Amazon Prime, we enjoyed it.

Loved the fast paced modern storyline. The connections become apparent as the movie proceeds to tell the character's stories. It didn't flow well at certain spots in the story when it just jumped ahead in time, but overall I thought the story was well written. Love and family relationships are always complicated and this movie addresses these aspects in a unique manner.

'Love Classified' was mainly seen for Hallmark film completest sake. Their 2022 output, like all their previous years, was unsurprisingly uneven. With some highs, some lows and plenty somewhere in between. But considering the tumultuous couple of years, the standard generally could have been worse. Did quite like the idea of the story, was very interested to see how the film would balance serious family drama with quirkiness and romance, with more than one storyline.

All of that are things that Hallmark have done a number of times, the execution varying between mostly well, half and half and waste of potential. 'Love Classified', the fourth Spring into Love film, is somewhere in between the mostly well and half and half extremes. As far as Hallmark's 2022 output goes, 'Love Classified' is one of the decent somewhere in between films. A lot of good things can be seen here, but the film is also easy to criticise.

It is my view that the film was on the over-stuffed side. It includes multiple subplots and it did feel like it was trying to cram too much in. It could have afforded to include less and do more and flesh out more a couple of strands, next to nothing is done with the Emilia and bookstore owner strand and that felt like superfluous filler. Instead it could have developed Emilia more, focused more on the reconcilliation and done a better job at making her easy to identify with and understand her past mistakes, because that felt rushed and under-developed when there were little signs of learning from her mistakes for much of the film. Which is why the ending felt too unrealistically neat.

There were pacing issues too, sometimes dragging and then the backing and forthing between subplots was at times jumpy. The tantrums and anger of the daughter, while understandable, did come over as very over-heated and over the top.

On the other hand, a lot is done well. It is very well acted, with a very persuasive, moving performance from Melora Hardin (personally didn't think she overacted at all), regardless of my reservations with Emilia as a character. The family relationship drama was very true to life and relatable to anybody with any family issues and the chemistry throughout didn't feel forced or phoned in. Mostly the characters were written with sincerity and were not too hard to relate to. Had no problem whatsoever with the diversity, the complete opposite (absolutely loving that Hallmark is embracing equal inconclusivity), and don't know why one part of a storyline, which is not that big, is made out to be something that ruined the film.

While there is a lot of emphasis on the serious aspects, which is done honestly and movingly, there were also plenty of cute, feel good moments that made the film a very pleasant light hearted watch. Production values are lovely, especially the scenery. The music is not too loud or used too much. The script is witty and heartfelt, always sounding natural and never juvenile or tasteless.

Summing up, uneven but with a lot of good things. 6/10.

I nearly gave up on this in the first few minutes with gen z and ads thing as it was quite annoying, however this evolved into a refreshing story and film.

I loved the development of the storyline with the mother, from the normal shallow character, she showed hidden depths to her personality and the actor played it with a fluff and lightness, not dwelling too much on the health issues.

The two romantic leads showed chemistry and it was a nice, gentle approach to their romance. Both actors certainly have a future! I loved the supporting cast, although it is quite sad to see one of the two previously Hallmark lead males only doing a cameo as a barman. Older women watch this too. The mother/old friend romantic story was lovely to see. Overall, a well balanced and written film, which will appeal to all ages.