Romance sous les tropiques

The plot and soundtrack are ok and the scenery is lovely. However the lead characters just don't look the same age like they're supposed to. I get that they live very different lives now so it's sort of understandable at a stretch but I think the casting team could have done a better job to really make the movie believable. Everything else was fine for this style of movie so I would rewatch.

I am a Hallmark movie fan. 80% of the time, I think they do a great a job with mindless, fun, sweet movies. But the casting is all. This one felt so awkward and wooden. The leads, ( all of them), had zero chemistry. The men were really bad in this one. This had some odd casting. Who thought the two lead actors were good for a romance movie? Even the small parts were not good. It felt like someone cast their friends for a free trip to Mexico. Paul Campbell seemed like he was reading lines to a wall. He had no charisma or feeling to his part. The actress, Tricia Helfer was not bad. I think she had to work with stiff dialogue and actors so that did not help. Also I kept thinking why she did not have the spark she has in the Netflix series, "Shut Eye" until I looked her up. I thought she was KaDee Strickland! These two look like twins. The story was beyond predictable, like a dime store romance. I do realize this is what Hallmark makes. As I said, many times I find them cute and fun. This one was rather painful to watch. The end felt rushed and wrapped up in a neat little bow. I can forgive many things, but 100% lack of any chemistry between the leads, is one thing you cannot fake. It felt like they did not even actually like each other. There was not even a friend vibe.

The setting in Mexico was beautiful, loved looking at the beach scenery. Unfortunately, there was no chemistry between the main female and either man. It was good background noise while I was working.

I would love for them to make a film where the leading lady leaves the big city to move to the sticks, then meets up with with someone from the city and realises how much she loves the city, the shopping, convenience and everything else.

I came into the movie being a big fan of Tricia and Paul's previous collaborative work on Battlestar Galactica, around 10 years prior. Although Paul didn't stay the whole series, it really showcased Tricia's acting expertise. It's also said by many who worked on it that it was an incredibly collaborative set, and most of them are still great friends today.

Hallmark movies are incredibly cheesy and the quality of production is always left to be desired, so you have to cling to what you enjoy of them to be able to ignore what's not so great.

With all that in mind, I've really enjoyed seeing Tricia and Paul work together again. Their friendship from Battlestar gave them great chemistry to work with. Their laughs, banter, and care for each other felt sincere. So many weak lines or situations could've been stumbled if it wasn't for their strong acting experience.

I also love that they got to play silly, which I feel is not given to every actors who get their breaks in dramatic roles. I genuinely felt happy for the actors (and there are way worse places to shoot a movie than the beaches of Mexico)!

So in short, I actively ignored or poked fun at the Hallmark recipe to make space for what I came to see : Tricia and Paul's return to the screen together. If you're a fan of either or both, I think it's worth seeing how they can light up an otherwise very generic formula.