Love on the Air

I like Allison Sweeney. She's a quality actress. I knew her more from her Day of Our Lives tenure, than I did with Hallmark, but I'm watching her in more Hallmark films now these days. I had fun watching this movie. Crawling through the dog door, lol! I've done that before after being locked out of my house. What else can I say? It's worthy of watching over and over again.

I suspect that the writers were fans of Jane Austen. I think Austen would have enjoyed this immensely. I certainly did!

The banter is fun and the main characters have a lovely arc. Perfect chemistry between Scarfe and Sweeney. One of Hallmark's best!

I have watched a lot of Hallmark movies and this is one of the top. The banter is off the chart and made it really enjoyable for both of us watching. You still knew what was going to happen but super witty and great one liners.

If you're looking for a standard Hallmark Romcom with a bit extra to it, this is the movie for you. She's a career-driven radio adviser to women, always advising her audience to "be an island" (especially after her fiancé dumps her); he's also in the business, but his métier is single men who want to stay that way.

With a set-up like that, of course they wind up as a wrangling advice couple on the same radio show. Also, inevitably they will fall in love, but they won't figure that out until the end of the movie.

In the meantime, they wrangle, and Alison Sweeney and Jonathan Scarfe are very good at that, speaking in short, clipped, snarky put-downs. Normally I would credit the writer, the actors or the director, but I'd really like to know who the editor of this one is. The cutting, although simple, helps the pace immensely, which is what editing is supposed to do.

There is nothing that is extraordinary in this one, but here's what happens when everyone does a good job: a superior result.

Sonia Mayerick (Alison Sweeney) has her own female empowerment radio show in Chicago. Her selfish boyfriend Scott Ryder ends their engagement on the air after listening to the popular man-cave show hosted by Nick Linden (Jonathan Scarfe). Sonia is substituting for a radio psychiatrist. She and Nick have an encounter. When Nick starts talking about her in his show, she is shocked to discover that she has been talking to the caveman himself. She barges into his show and chemical reaction occurs.

At the start, these are two annoying personalities. They are both know-it-alls. Her boyfriend does humanize her and his history does show more sides later on. I do see what the movie is setting up. Obviously, this is a meeting of combative opposites. It's a classic romantic trope although it's a little more edgy than the usual Hallmark fare. It boils down to the likeability of the two lead actors and the speed of their characters' growth. The explosive meet-hate of the first studio booth encounter piques my interest. They soften quite nicely. The reintroduction of Scott is good although he needs a more compelling actor. Without a better Scott, the triangle isn't strong enough. This is a solid Hallmark with a little spice.