Saint-Valentin pour toujours

I had not read any info about this one when it came on so I was happily surprised by the detour the plot took. An unsure engagement leads 1 new fiancée' to escape with her silly best friend on an adventure. The two gal pals have fun banter and land themselves in silly situations. Certain "souvenir photos" made me laugh. They end up on a ranch and of course there is a Hallmark-esque fundraiser. This has more comedy than most and the two lead actresses are believable friends and funny together. Autumn Reeser is perfect in her role as is Vanessa Matsui. Autumn's character has her choice of two very different men and definitely makes the right decision, of course. I enjoyed watching their sweet romance develop and the beautiful scenery.

This is certainly my favorite Hallmark movie. All of the actors are good in this one, especially the leads. Eric Johnson is a hunky cowboy and Autumn Reeser plays a girl with a brain and a heart. The scenery is gorgeous and the love story is not contrived like many. One scene between Julia and her fiancé seems ad libbed and a little awkward, but that is a minor flaw. I have seen both of these actors in other movies, and liked their performances, but they are just plain excellent in these roles. When Ben rides up on his horse to greet the stranded girls, he is a cowboy.

I watch a lot of Hallmark movies, but I watch this one over and over.

There is a lot of humor in this Hallmark formulaic movie. What sets it apart are the supporting characters; I wanted more of them and less if the leads.

Valentine Ever After casts Autumn Reeser and Vanessa Matsui as a pair of Yuppie girls from Chicago who get stuck in the middle of some rugged Wyoming country out of gas. Fortunately one hunky cowboy played by Eric Johnson comes to their rescue and invites them to stay at his ranch. No fools they, Reeser and Matsui take that invitation up in a nano-second. Reeser even slightly forgets she's kind of engaged to Damon Runyan, same name as the famous writer who's top Chicago society.

If Hallmark Channel movies have one thing in common just about every one I can recall celebrates the values of small town America. Valentine Ever After is no exception. Johnson and his family want to convert a working ranch into a dude ranch, but they're having cash flow problems. The local hospital is having those as well. The girls are responsible for breaking a local statue of the town's founder in the local Mickey Gilley's. These small towns do have their traditions. They work out their punishment with community service to both and the community is of course well served.

I'm in agreement with the previous reviewer about Runyan's character. I can't imagine anyone falling for this guy, he's so self absorbed. He's a kinder, gentler version of Donald Trump. It's all about him.

Valentine Ever After is a good Hallmark Channel film from their world where only good people thrive in small town USA.

I'm a big Autumn Reeser fan and this was a nice change of character. Usually she plays charming, lovestruck roles but this was a truly comedic role for the most part. Her facial expressions during the various snafus are funny without even speaking. That's good acting when you can express an emotion to the audience without words. I admit the plot is pretty contrived and when the movie moves from comedy to serious romance in the second half it kind of loses something. Her sidekick in crime is also appealing and has a flair for comedy too.