Un goût de romance

I don't know why it is, but I have a not-so-secret appetite for movies where romance is served along-side the roulade and love is layered into the lasagna.

"A Taste of Romance" is a pleasant little rom-com, somewhat pedestrian but served with heart and comfortingly familiar to the palate. The place-setting is overly formal, too clean (if such a thing is possible) and neat. The restaurants, the market, the apartments are all too obviously set-pieces. The required formulaic characters are all there, and you know exactly what's going to happen, but that is what comfort food is all about. Don't be mistaken; this movie is just that, comfort food, there are no exotic ingredients here, only familiar heart-warming fair served in the proper proportions,

The casting follows the same recipe, charming and familiar. Well prepared, but nothing outstanding. Except possibly Bailee Madison who plays the daughter. At eighteen-years-old (twelve at the time this movie was shot) she has, in the dozen years of her career, racked up an impressive 50 acting credits, ten nominations, and five awards.

Really this was a romance coinoisseurs delight with just the right amount of sugar and spice (excuse the pun) and dealing with some heavy issues like grief and loss but without getting dark or heavy.

But a special treat was seeing a young Bailee Madison. I can now see clearly why she was selected for an ongoing role in 'Good Witch' and has gone on to be a highly respected young actor.

For a TV movie, this was an engaging movie, but the highlight for me was Bailee Madison. Before this movie, I was not familiar with this very talented and versatile young actor, though now I realize that I have seen some of her other work. She was great! She convincingly rides the emotional gamut in a childlike manner that was refreshing. I found Teri Polo's acting a bit over the top with how uptight she was, but maybe there are actually people out there like that. She did refresh my "how to make a bechamel sauce" skills. Her assistant chef, Romy Rosemont, had perfect timing again and again, and was the one who consistently made me laugh.

It is a movie with no real surprises, but for me, it hit the sweet spot on love.

LOUD music. this TV movie's scenario premise is just too absurd. the guy, a widower with a teenage daughter, leased a space for his junk pizza business, from day 1 when he started the remodeling of his joint, he brought in radio and turned its volume to the extreme, bombarded the neighboring french restaurant. well, here's the first stupid arrangement to have a red-neck pizza joint next to a classy french restaurant. may i ask, what kind business neighborhood is this? how come a guy could be such an arse as a retired fireman when his neighbor complaining the loud and very disturbing music, his answer and response to such complaints would be, so what? this is a free country, i have the right to turn my music volume as loud as i like. no wonder this rude and arrogant bastard's wife would die so early. the causes of her death were obvious: his arrogance and his deafening loud music. the daughter role is very likable and, the french chef, a beautiful female, an American sweetheart, neither needed such arse to be either the father or the next-door neighbor business owner. file a complaint to the landlord and to the city for noise control code. romance? not in a million years!

Any film and television series etc centered around food immediately has me sold. The culinary/restaurant setting has been done to death before and has been a common setting since, but anybody that loves food and loves to cook and always finds themselves salivating at different dishes on cookery competitions may find that that doesn't matter. Whenever Hallmark do this setting, it does vary in quality. Particularly in the storytelling and whether the characters are any good.

2012's 'A Taste of Romance' is one of the food-related Hallmark films to handle both well on the whole. Have seen some food-centered Hallmark and Lifetime films over the past few months, especially the Christmas films, that have really not worked for reasons other than setting, but this felt like a refreshment in comparison to those. It is a treat for anybody that loves food, mixes of food and romance and loves to cook and is not only a romance worth seeing unfold but it is a tasty one.

It is not perfect. The music is too loud and constant for my taste and it occasionally affect dialogue clarity and is better suited for melodramas. It's also not particularly good on its own, with it feeling drab and pedestrian. It also took a while for me to warm to James Patrick Stuart's character, did find him too selfish and lacking in self-awareness.

Personally did find the ending too pat and it is the kind of ending that never comes over realistically in Hallmark films when it goes against everything that came before it. It did have emotion definitely, but it didn't quite work for me.

So much is good however. It is very well acted, with Teri Polo giving a deeply felt but also good natured performance that shows that she does have a lighter side instead of playing it constantly seriously. Stuart does do a good job also, didn't like his character to begin with but he becomes a lot more charming as he softens. Bailee Madison shows why she was one of the best child actresses at that time, she brings a lot of warmth and charm to her role of the daughter. Mostly the characters are written well, Polo's being written the most consistently, and she and Stuart have a sweet, genuine chemistry that was just about right.

The production values are pleasing, never cheap while not overblown. The script is good natured and heartfelt, with the two leads' back and forth being entertaining. Any hostility did not come over as too overdone and nothing felt juvenile or over-sentimental. The story is not an original one, but it has a nice energy even when quite gentle in pace, doesn't take itself too seriously while not treating it as a joke and is cute.

Overall, nicely done and tasty. 7/10.