The Magic of Lemon Drops

Lolly gets a once in a lifetime chance when her Aunt gives her 4 magical lemon drops. The first 3 lemon drops to be taken right before bed with her announcing a regret or a path not taken, but if she takes the 4th and last gum drop she has chosen one of her other 3 life paths. With each her life is both great and challenging, and she must decide the path she would like to go, one of her 3 other live's, or her current reality.

Different than the average Hallmark movie. I loved the story and the perspective of Lolly realizing and choosing her bliss.

Wonderful acting by both leads, I adore Ian & Lyndsy. But the supporting cast was just as amazing. This one is a win for Hallmark!

The review -- friendly, polite, somewhat sterile story about parallel realities, choices, roads not taken, consequences, and appreciating what is right in front of you, right now. Everything about the production is perfect. Which is both a blessing and a curse ...

Bonus Notes -- this is a Canadian film pretending to take place in the US. Something that was very common in the early days of Canadian film-making, but quite rare today. It suffers from all the common telltales and giveaways -- lighting perfect in every shot, like the Director just graduated film school. Everyone's clothing is fresh out of the laundry or dry cleaner. Not a smudge or spot anywhere. No recognizable actors, not one, very usual for a production supposedly taking place in the US. Dialog not very "natural," especially for the wisecracks and snappy rejoinders. Accents that don't quite ring true.

Conclusion -- Friendly, and includes useful Life Lessons. The inherent sterility of the Canadian production values blunts much of the impact and audience connection. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Hallmark has run their usual plots into the ground, so instead of saving "something" or a widow or divorce returns to their home town, or a wedding disaster, so Hallmark returns to FANTASY, there was a movie about a mixup by the "dream team" (and I'm not talking about the USA Okympic Basketball Team). Anyway, the story is about Lolly who works in a restaurant, her Aunt Gert gives her three magical lemon drops, she gets to experience what her life would have been like if she had made different choices and lived those unfulfilled dreams. She meets her old flame, Rory, who is now divorced and raising his daughter. The chemistry between the actors seems a tad lukewarm between the two. There is a coldness about the actor Lyndsey Fonseca that doesn't fit the part, the character needs more warmth. Lately, Hallmark is having problems with casting the right actors for the parts. The magic lemon drops reveals her life choices, Lolly learns valuable life lessons and the outcome is just so predictable! Another disappointment!

Another dumb topsy turvy Hallmark movie. What's the obsession with magic, the supernatural and sci-fi, there is nothing wrong with a good basic romantic comedy.. Rom-coms are an American thing, but they don't go out of style and are fun. Even European countries are enjoying US and Canadian rom-coms. Another bad script ruins the movie.

The dialog isn't good, too much inane dialog. Get rid of all the nostalgia and the past, focus on the present and look to the future. The location in Manitoba and filming locations used were nice and the cast is generally good, it's always nice to see Ian Harding.

6.4 stars.

Fonseca is in my top ten women of Hallmark movies...at least I think she is. If I had to pick a top ten, the list expands pretty quickly. I'll be like: oh yeah I forgot about her, and I must include her, and this one definitely belongs and that one is a total top ten, and then Fonseca comes in a distant 14th place...who knows? What I know is that she seems to pick some pretty odd characters in almost everything the last three years, which has noticeably had an impact on my feelings about her. Too bad really, I've been rooting for this kid from HIMYM.

The plot is nothing special, the story is slow, the chemistry is absent. The dialogue is mundane but the acting is okay. The rest is up to usual standards. *sigh*