Prête à tout pour trouver l'amour

Honestly the dog named Sam was the best part of this film...and that is no slight to the actors, the dog is just that charming.

Kyra has a pretty simple check list... get job at natural grocer, get employee of the month, become a buyer, promote her own product, find the perfect guy. Oh! And she has a list for the requirements of the perfect guy...including gluten-free, stable, etc. When she meets someone she thinks checks all the boxes, she discovers he is a dog person and between her and her friend they over sell that not only does kyra have a dog (which she doesn't) but that her dog is an agility trained "super pup".

This is how Kyra meets both Sam and Kevin, who is the owner of a shelter and becomes Kyra and Sam's private trainer.

If you are both a romantic and a dog lover...this is the movie for you. Both funny and fun loving, our heroine was not only goal driven, but able to make fun of herself.

The reviewer who titles "Another One not worth watching" captures the essence of the story quite well. It is another story with no great highs or lows. But that's merely the story. By the way, the ending surprised me a little.

I watch these movies for the relationships especially when the story is more of the same old stuff. This one had two things going for it as far as the characters. Sam (not sure real name), the dog, was great and quite appealing. Sam was a perfect match for Andrea Brooks. They had similar personalities, for a canine and a human. Several reviewers commented how Andrea is in her first lead which I agree was long overdue. Her role as Kyra was charmingly upbeat and energetic Her chemistry with Marcus Rosner was good and they had a lot of screen time together.

The humor, especially in the early going was of the exaggerated or silly kind. Not usually my favorite, but I got a couple of laughs.

Another Hallmark semi-regular who I have yet to see get a lead is Lucie Guest. She always puts in a good performance.

'Romance to the Rescue' (2022)

Opening thoughts: Hallmark have done a lot of above average and more films and that has been obvious in their 2022 output. There have been quite a lot of misfires as well, again obvious in the 2022 output, but have never been one of those people who immediately judges something negatively. Have always seen a Hallmark film knowing what to expect while not expecting too much, but many have met and even exceeded expectations. Apart from those that didn't sound that appealing or interesting from the outset, like 'Romance to the Rescue'.

While not a complete waste of time, 'Romance to the Rescue' is not good on the whole. There are a few good things, but also a lot of major issues. Marcus Rosner is worth watching in enough of his films, but Andrea Brooks is rather take and leave, while a good representation of him it is a very bad one of her. When it comes to ranking Hallmark's 2022 output, 'Romance to the Rescue' is towards the bottom if not quite as bad as 'Cut, Color, Murder', 'Butlers in Love' and 'Road Trip Romance'.

Good things: There are a few things done well. Sam is absolutely adorable and has such an expressive nuanced face and eyes. Rosner is also very easy going, charming and likeable.

Also thought that the scenery is nice and well photographed.

Bad things: Brooks however overacts horribly and comes over as really annoying, with so many overdone and overused mannerisms. The supporting cast also try too hard to a cartoonish degree and only Sam and Rosner's character are interesting or likeable, too many dumb, vague and senseless behaviours for the other characters to be remotely endearing and development is next to nil. Rosner and Brooks are very lacking in their chemistry too, they don't look comfortable together and seem too distant.

Moreover, the script is horrendously stilted and one is cringing from all the cheese. That the story has no surprises and is very predictable was not too much of a problem, was expecting that. Was however not expecting it to be so dull and ridiculous and for sense to go out of the window completely. Especially at the truly cringe-worthy and laughable ending that didn't feel deserved, it wouldn't even pass for unintentional humour.

Concluding thoughts: Overall, very weak.

3/10.

Liked the chemistry between Andrea and Marcus (first saw them in Jill Wagner and Victor Webster Hallmark Harvest Wedding movie.) The dog was adorable but the overall movie was slow at times.

If you're looking for a mediocre use of your time then Romance to the Rescue is the way to go. Heartfelt and kind of cute, but it was as if the characters, the setting, and the puppies in the film were thrown into a mixing bowl to create a store bought cake for the audience to "enjoy". Not my favorite film to appear on this network, that's for sure. I wouldn't recommend it but it's fine to have on in the background while you're doing other things that require half of your attention. Forgettable film if you ask me. The actors were good enough but again, the film over all was not very memorable.