Nos cœurs meurtris

I wanted to like it, was hoping to enjoy it as a lighthearted cheesy romance - but I could not sit through any more cringey liberal and conservative stereotypes. No one talks like this. It was painful to watch and a little too cliché for my liking.

I didn't have high expectations for this, but I ended up actually kind of enjoying it. The story itself is sweet, I liked the tension between the main characters. The acting was great and the pacing was pretty good too. It was a little predictable, but nothing too bad.

The two main characters obviously had some differences in opinions and values, but still ended up falling for each other. This is sweet and all, but I just hoped they had explored that more. I mean, their values are in direct conflict, because they're literally the opposite from each other. And they never seemed to find any common ground, there was no chemistry in their conversations. This all made the ending feel a little unbelievable.

Didn't know the actors. (I'm Australian, cut me some slack) Sounded like a dud rom-com.

I'm a 54 yr old grumpy male. This is not my usual genre.

But as I'm recovering from Covid I found myself having a little pity party.

So that's my excuse for venturing into this movie.

Well, I can say it brightened my day (week) ten-fold.

Sofia Carson was brilliant. Her singing and song choices reminded me of Lady Gaga/Pink .

Don't you just love it when you take a punt on a movie and it just blows you away.

Terrific acting, great, and surprisingly good story line.

Yes, it fits in the rom-com category, but it offers much, much more.

Yes I had to bring up Nicholas Sparks coz if anyone remembers Nicholas Sparks's Rom-coms were a genre of their own and this movie reminded me exactly of those movies which we all love to see in a weekend but hate to admit. What I liked about this movie is that it knows that it is a feel good rom-com and it is committed to it. I felt good because it turned out better than I expected it to be. Bonus for using that dreamy sunlight glow filter in the movie which made it look like an actual movie not like a TV movie.

They said rom-coms are dead , sadly for theatres they are dead but this kind of faithful good attempts make me hopeful for this genre .

P. S- The both actors did a pretty good job, they made me rooting for them by the end of the movie.

Formulaic? Absolutely.

Did it pioneer new territory? No.

But beyond that did it check the marks for the genre? Yes.

Two leads that devour the camera, have realistic (current) differences and evolve. And most importantly- it doesn't overthink itself. It's a story about two people that find their way. And that's enough for me- and should be for nearly anyone of the genre.

Heck- the soundtrack was great (kudos) as and added bonus.