Sweeter Than Chocolate

IN A NUTSHELL: Just in time for Valentine's Day, this sweet rom-com was directed by David Weaver and based on the novel. It's being aired on the Hallmark movie channel as the first one of four movies in the "Loveuary" lineup. It's the story of a TV reporter who goes to investigate a local bakery that is rumored to have the secret recipe to finding true love on Valentine's Day.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Kids will be bored.

There is a gay couple that talks about how they met. They kiss.

An old lesbian couple talks about how they met.

THINGS I LIKED: I used to teach classes at the famous Le Cordon Bleu Culinary College! Yep, I have the weight gain to prove it too. We had an incredible chocolatier there who now has her own tea house in Las Vegas called Queen of Hearts, featuring some beautiful chocolates and other delights. Check it out! Tell Chef Sweetster that I sent you. Yes! That's her real name! Amazing, right?

The cast of this movie includes mostly new faces unless you're already a Hallmark fan. The one you'll probably recognize is Brenda Strong because she was in Desperate Housewives. Also in the cast are Eloise Mumford, Dan Jeannotte, Christin Park, and Linda Ko.

The two romantic leads DO have chemistry. I thought their romance was believable.

Hallmark always cracks me up with their play on names for their characters. Lucy, the chocolatier, explains how her grandmother changed their family's last name to sweet because it would make a good story in the chocolate business. The male lead is Dean Chase, a reporter who is always "chasing" a story and his dream of becoming a news anchor.

The two bosses in the film are both women.

I loved the reveal of the secret ingredient in "Cupid's Chocolates." Maybe I was feeling extra emotional, but it actually brought tears to my eyes.

Sometimes, romantic movies like this one can paint a very rosy picture of "living happily ever after." One of the elements of the story I thought was great was that it didn't gloss over the hard things about relationships and marriage. There is talk of the death of a loved one and how much pain that brought. Others talk about how hard love can be but that it's worth it. All true.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: At the beginning of the movie, a character reads a letter that explains the rent for the store is going to increase 62% every month. That's insane. Did the writers not understand what that math would mean?

Two characters state that people over 20 years and 40 years don't eat milk chocolate. Why? Weird. I love milk chocolate. Don't you?

It always bugs me that the female protagonists in Hallmark movies are so serious and easily overwhelmed by problems, while the male protagonists are much more playful and entertaining.

I wish there had been more humor.

!

I immediately found it interesting to see Eloise Mumford in the role of the magic maker when almost two years ago she starred opposite that person in The Baker's Son.

Two common themes make the premise for this movie. The family store is in trouble due to a huge rent hike so they need publicity. And a reporter is sent to cover the story of the magic chocolates but his default mode is expose. I hate the latter and usually leads to a predictable conflict but not that particular one here. The story follows the usual path of meeting people who tell romantic stories, and this part works. The conflict turns out to be a mixture of small things. And then the ending is spectacular. I usually get turned off by showy public speeches, but this one was done just right. The interview leading up to the ending helped build up to it.

Mumford and Dan Jeannotte have very good chemistry. A lot of that is Mumford's shy flirtation. Overall, the acting is good and the dialogue is decent.

One of the other reviewers called it depressing. I call it hopeful. It's about healing from grief, and overcoming one's fears to take that leap of faith. Eloise Mumford is an excellent actress. She was also great in "The Presence of Love."

I really like that the late conflict of the movie wasn't some forced misunderstanding between the leads, or really any problem between them. It was about her needing to overcome her fear, and him needing to decide what he wants.

The middle of the movie features a lot of couples talking about love. This is a heads-up that two of the couples are gay, and one of them kisses.

This Hallmark romance, like many, is formulaic, which is okay. We expect some of that from their homey homilies on hometown hegemony over metropolitan mores.

In this one, you can expect: A bakery. Check. A smalltown girl. Check. Her initial resistance to his charms. Check. Her gradual softening. Check. A legend about an item bringing true love. Check. Someone longing for a big promotion. Check.

The bakery is run by Lucy Sweet (Eloise Mumford). At the beginning of the story, she is rather sour, despite her name. And her recalcitrance when it comes to love lasts longer than most Hallmark heroines, but the film does have a satisfying ending. Hang in there for the emotional payoff.

8.3 stars.

If you wish to enjoy a character study of a female chocolatier that owns a small shop somewhere in the states, this is the film to watch. Here is an in depth analysis of a woman who claims to be a realist, but is a cynic at the far end of the spectrum when it comes to believing in true love. She believes in the power of chocolate maybe too much. She makes cupid chocolate that when people eat it they quickly fall in love. There are many secrets to this chocolate that you will discover if you choose to see it. I suggest that you do.

What I really treasure about "Sweeter Than Chocolate" is that it portrays the depth of love that many hopeless romantics exhibit in spite of living in a cruel and painful world. Lucy is very hesitant to experience true love because for years after her father died, she and her mother were devastated beyond measure. It is a wonder either one recovered from the fallout of their unutterable loss. It's obvious from their level of pain that he was a most wonderful and beloved man. Lucy claims that that it was her mother who was desolate and damaged with the loss, but you will come to recognize that Lucy was equally as broken, if not more.

Dean is a reporter doing a story about her chocolate shop and the famous cupid magic love chocolate. He is blindsided by more than this completely audacious farce of a fairy tale chocolate as he gets to know Lucy and her history. In the meantime, he has aspirations to do bigger and better stories, but for now he is stuck trudging his way through this story in order to get to the big time. What he didn't expect was to meet this charming and wonderful chocolate maker named Lucy.

This is the tale of their magical love story, about his desire to be an anchorman and the permanent imprint that she leaves on him. His choices are inevitably altered as he is swept up by her irresistible charm. You too will be swept up by the magic of Lucy and Dean's romantic adventure, and then realize it is indeed "Sweeter Than Chocolate".

"Sweeter Than Chocolate" reminds us that we must be willing to love, because it's infinitely worth it. You've heard the famous quote "better to have loved and lost..." So true, but said in a different way, in spite of the anguish of losing your true love, the experience of love itself is worth it. Is love worth the grief? What is love without grief? What is happiness without pain? What is light without darkness? You get the point. This movie reminds of that point, and it's exactly what I needed.