Love Jacked

The "pretend to be a couple and then actually fall in love" trope has been done many times. But Love Jacked manages to inject some different elements, and made for an enjoyable movie.

I must warn, the first 15 minutes or so were confusing, I think because it was not clear which man was destined to become the main male character. But eventually we get to the setup: Maya has dumped her African fiance but has told her family she is still engaged, while Malcolm is on the run from a bad guy and needs to hide. Solution: Malcolm pretends to be the African fiance and stays with her family. So in with the "pretend to be a couple" movie we've got the "pretend to be a foreigner when you're not" and "on the run from someone who wants to kill you" movies.

And somehow, it works. The plot delivers plenty of laughs, a bit of suspense, and has a few twists on the way to its mostly predictable happy ending.

Perfect for fans of the Hallmark/Lifetime Romance genre. While #ChristmasRomance is the currently most prolific stereotype, #FakeEngagement is also a reliable chestnut that comes around regularly. So, nope, nothing whatsoever realistic about the set-up. But, I didn't come to this expecting otherwise.

My fear is always that the writing and acting are terrible. THIS delivered the low-stakes "awww, they so cute" happy that I was looking for, well above expectations. The writing and acting were just fine (and I WILL bail if those are excruciating). The family felt legit cohesive and there were some reaction moments that were truly LOL. Recommend if you just want to feel good for 90-120 minutes.

A well executed movie that took me back to the classics of Cary Grant and Doris Day! Filled with plenty of magical movie moments! Great job to All!

This is not a big budget film. So just enjoy it for what it is. A cute lovable film!

What a great movie! So much fun, great South African scenery, fabulous soundtrack. Shamier does such a great job and is so funny. Amber also plays such a great role. Fun for the whole family. A few twists along the way make for just a great funny movie experience!