Près des yeux, près du cœur

Carly decides to take some well deserved break from work, so she goes to this lodge up north where her best friend from college works. There she reunites with a group of girls from the same dorm she was in and her crush from that time. She also meets and befriends the sous chef from the lodge, Nick.

I'm disappointed to say that this wasn't for me. I was really was looking forward to the movie and I was let down. I liked both actors in their parts and the chemistry was great. I do enjoy Janel Parrish as a lead and I wouldn't mind more movies with her. But...

What even was the plot? I finished the whole movie and I still don't know. The first part was awfully boring, nothing happened the first 35 minutes, it was just Carly wandering around the place. So, plotwise? Nothing exciting, it was quite a let down.

I did liked, as I mention before, the dynamic between Carly and Nick. They hit it off at the beginning, and they set a nice path for their relationship: from strangers, to confindants, to friends. They really encourage the other to be the best version of themselves, and that was the highlight of the movie for me.

Marco and Janel did the best with that snoozefest they had.

This film has a long, slow, awkward first half. The initial meeting of the two main characters was especially awkward. Perhaps the fact that they are stuck in one location for the majority of the film increased this aspect for me, because I know many Hallmark movies feature a "meet cute" moment that is sometimes pretty awkward. The movie improved in the last half, but overall this is a forgettable one from the Hallmark movie machine.

This movie had an even more predictable plot than most of Hallmark's movies. The plot was boring, and plodded along until the end, without any interesting plot twists. The acting was fine, with exception of the lead roles. Marco Grazzini was believable as Nick, while Janel Parrish didn't do as well. Unlike so many other Hallmark movies, I won't be watching this one again.

Why does Hallmark think that 30+ women act like 16 year olds? The way they portray Carly as a silly school girl with a crush on the guy is ridiculous. I realize they have to create some kind of drama - but come on! Carly is 32-33 years old, a confident and successful business woman ... in real life, she wouldn't behave like this about a guy from her college days...

The main characters go very well together; from the start, their relationship is based on a bond of friendship and complicity. The story, even if it is not original, shows everyone's questions about past friendships, unfinished stories, what could have been. However, I really don't like this mania in the majority of romantic comedies where, towards the end of the movie, there is suddenly a problem, an irrelevant problem which seems unrealistic, that is magically and quickly resolved towards the end, which is what usually ruins the story.