The Wish Swap

When Casey (Emily Tennant) and Henry (Jake Foy)celebrate their birthdays at the same restaurant, they make birthday wishes at the same time, which are granted. However, they end up getting each other's wishes and teach each other to try things out of their comfort zone. Yes, its a bit Hallmark usual formula, but there's still enough creativity and uniqueness to keep you entertained. Emily Tennant and Jake Foy have great chemistry and are perfectly cast for their roles, Casey the adventurous optimist, and Henry with his hesitation to try anything new. You can sense their attraction for one another from the first time they meet and feel it grow as the story evolves. Of course there's the usual "conflict", and the scenery provides a nice backdrop. Overall a sweet, enjoyable, and entertaining romcom. BTW anyone else thinks Jake Foy resembles NFL Bill's Quarterback Josh Allen, he also happens to be a farmer in the off season.

The wish swap premise is clever. Two birthday parties at a restaurant but one family didn't have a cake, so they shared. And when birthday boy and birthday girl blow out candles together, their wishes get mixed. He wants a farm. She wants to be on a TV dance show. She inherits a farm and he gets on the show. So they kind of rent out their wishes to one another and presto, they are thrown together for the rest of the movie.

We find out pretty quickly that Casey didn't really have A wish, but a list of three wishes. And she won't tell what the third one is.

I like this type of movie best when the two leads have a lot of screen time together and this movie ranks way up there in that category. Emily Tennant (of whom I am a huge fan) and Jake Foy have excellent chemistry. I thought their dialogue together was good. There were some good laughs even if maybe a little cheesy, but they humor didn't fall flat for me which isn't always the case.

Most viewers can probably guess what will be the conflict in the romance.

Our two likable protagonists in this Hallmark romance, Casey (Emily Tennant) and Henry (Jake Foy), meet at a restaurant where their birthdays are being celebrated. It's a scenario that could easily have been botched, but it is deftly handled, allowing the viewer to fully enjoy the meet-cute that brings them together and the incident that reunites them: a supernatural conjunction in which they swap birthday wishes.

Once they realize what has occurred, Casey and Henry set about trying to remedy fate's misfiring. And their chemistry makes this film quite enjoyable. Miss Tenant elevates this film. Regular viewers of Hallmark films should find this one satisfying.

I first thought the plot of swapping wishes was hokey, but there was a spark between Casey and Henry from the start and it worked. The two leads Emily Tennant and Jake Foy had chemistry and it showed. It was not a perfect script, but it kept moving along between the farm, family, friends and dancing. It was funny and light, the many challenges that Henry and Casey faced, which kept it from bogging down. The supporting cast was good, mostly strong well known actors and actresses who have been in other Hallmark or Canadian films.

And beautiful British Columbia where it was filmed, a picture wherever you looked. Loved the old trucks. Maybe they'll do a sequel, "The Farmer's Wife".

I really liked the premise of a birthday wish swap. I do WISH they had built an even better plot around the concept, but it was pretty good. It was definitely cute and funny. The main characters were both likable all along, and they grew together with the storyline.

There were a couple of pieces I would have changed and/or emphasized more, especially towards the ending. It felt a bit rushed in some places and slow in others. There was a huge build up to a conclusion that wasn't quite as umm "celebrated" as it should have been in the end. I don't want to say anything here that rhymes with boilers, but if you watch to the very end you will know what I mean. My rating dropped slightly due to this little questionable result. But as the overall movie was enjoyable, I wasn't too harsh.

It was a very cute movie. It's definitely worth a watch if you like romantic comedies. It's easy fun that has some decent laughs.