Coup de foudre sous les tropiques

A lovely Hallmark film focusing on an overly busy Doctor, who finds peace and potentially love in Fiji.

With Catherine Bell giving a wonderful turn, and Hallmark regular Cameron Mathison as her potential suitor, this was good fun.

A Summer to Remember strives to being something new and appealing to the Hallmark audience, but in this viewers opinion, it misses the mark . To its credit, the leading actors are mature and attractive, and present the story of how two people with an emotionally complicated past can find hope and happiness once again. The distraction from this worthy plot, however, is that the leading roles are played by two very attractive, yet poorly matched actors. Cameron Matheson certainly comes across as n appealing and attractive man..mature in years but with a remarkably toned and 'buff' body. Strangely, his high-pitched voice detracts from the seriousness of his role.. His smile is so pervasive, there seems no time for a serious moment between the two stars. Catherine Bell is a lovely actress..physically she is in incredible form. However, what plastic surgery she submitted to in the past has left her face with a seriously limited range of emotional expressions. Her mouth is permanently turned up at the corners, making it impossible for her to look serious. She seems always smiling, no matter what the emotions of the moment might be, rendering her unable to convey some of the sadder, intense moments of the story. She cannot express concern in her role as a doctor, a single mother, a woman of new conflicts about romance and her future. The best acting in the cast is done by her daughter, the teenager who finds herself much more accepted and successful in the setting of the island vacation resort. Her acting stands out among the others in the cast ..and shows some real potential for future roles. One little quirk that Hallmark directors ought to be looking at..that has become almost a Hallmark trait in every romantic movie..is the moment when the two stars are about to have their first kiss..and bingo!! there is always an interruption from some outside source..an unexpected returning old lover, an emergency phone call from home, something that stops the kiss just an inch from happening. Hallmark views almost laugh at this predictable moment in every single movie..Maybe the producers and directors could surprise us with an other way of letting this moment happen..Let the lovers kiss!

In all.this is a beautifully filmed movie , in a gorgeous setting, but with very limited emotional range for the 2 leads,and with almost no believable chemistry between them whatsoever.

Movies like this usually come down to the performances of the lead stars and also on the chemistry.

Catherine Bell is quietly good and her chemistry with Cameron Mathison works, but also with her screen daughter Samantha MacGillivray. This is a mother and daughter that has a little bit of that teenage tension, but there is obviously deep love between them.

The story revolves around Will and Jessica being thrown together often with a bit of backstory based on ex-spouses.

The setting is beautiful. Who can argue with Fiji, which is listed as the location.

Unremarkable plot and writing made watchable by the luminous Catherine Bell and her chemistry with another Hallmark regular, Cameron Mathison. 50 year old Ms Bell, who looks 40 at the most, plays her age with an older teen daughter and is paired age appropriately with the male lead. Of course, Hallmark being Hallmark they couldn't resist casting a 10 years younger actor for Cameron's rival for her affections. In addition to the big plus of two attractive leads who are also more than competent actors, the beautiful scenery adds to the charm. Most importantly there is an easy rapport between all of the likable cast. They seemed to all be having a good time (and who wouldn't in beautiful Fiji?) and genuinely like each other. I felt sorry for the poor actress who had to stay in the states and do much of her part on Skype. All in all, a likable entry with few if any cringe-worthy moments from the Hallmark movie assembly line.

Most of these kinds of stories follow the formula of boy meets girl, boy (or girl) shows interest, apparent rival shows up, misunderstanding leads to conflict, all seems lost, love prevails last minute, great sunset (metaphorically), the end. What I liked about this presentation was the minimal angst and conflict. I'm tired of "death-spiral" plots that pull up at the last minute. Perhaps my tastes are more simplistic than they used to be, probably my age accounts for this. The part played by Cameron Mathison is the same way he played his part in a movie with Mira Sorvino a couple years earlier, "A Christmas to Remember." I liked that movie also. They're both "A Hallmark Moment."