Le camp des coeurs brisés

It was hard sitting thru this Hallmark movie. Slow moving with terrible production values and directing. To top it off the leads had NO chemistry whatsoever in my opinion. Only stayed with it for Ryan Paevey and even that was hard.

...I was expecting this to be terrible, but I was surprised.

Miranda runs a Breakup Boot Camp, where you get over getting dump in six weeks. Ben's girlfriend breaks up with him and his sister convinces him to go there with her. So our two leads meet. At first, Ben was quite skeptical (so was I) but seeing an opportunity for a job promotion and after running into his ex, he decides to attend.

It's nothing we haven't seen before, you know how this goes from the first moment, but the leads have good scenes and believable chemistry. And yes, I thought the plot was stupid at first (people paying to get over a break up?) but amazingly, it made sense (Maybe it was Italia Ricci's acting convincing me). Although I kept being distracted, my attention always returned to the screen.

Also, extra points for the flash forward. I appreciate seeing a glimpse of the characters in the future.

Yes we have seen this story before, but a good cast and not too sappy writing lifts this above the usual romance trope.

The leads have real chemistry, Ryan Paevey is particularly good.

The story uses a couple of common premises. Reporter does a hit piece. A break up boot camp is a slightly different take on: romance expert has her own romance problems. Throw in the trope of: can't date a client so we're just friends.

The reporter angle usually goes one of two ways and this follows one of them.

Ryan Paevey and Italia Ricci connect from early on. Watching them together was enjoyable. Their conversations are a little deeper than in some of these movies.

Finally a Hallmark movie that showcased the best for Italia Ricci acting skills!! Looking refreshed, confident, and working with a solid script, italia own the role of breakup boot camp leader Miranda. Cute original story that is interesting yet charming! Enjoyable and fun! 7 stars.