Roadhouse Romance

I will admit that Lauren Alaina has a ways to go in her acting ability. It's not horrible, but there are many times when you can tell that she is making an effort to deliver her lines or her expression rather than having it flow naturally.

But to say that she and Tyler Hines have no chemistry is going too far. For me the chemistry sizzled. The dialogue helped. When they are sparring at the beginning, it is fun rather than mean. Then it transitions into a friendship on the edge of romance which is only held back by the knowledge that he is already in a relationship. They educate one another in things that are new to the other and do it with obvious good will mixed with good natured teasing. I love watching relationships like this one.

Alaina has a spectacular voice. Hallmark has used a couple other ladies whose day job is singing and Alaina's voice is as good or better than each of them. I'm sorry we didn't hear more of "Run".

The only tension or conflict is the already existing relationship, but that's ok for me because I tend to be adverse to nasty conflict.

Set in Tennessee but filmed in Canada, as most Hallmark movies are, and filmed quickly over about 3 weeks in 2021.

For us the best part of this movie is seeing former American Idol contestant, country singer Lauren Alaina. She does three songs as part of the story and for us that was the best parts. She plays Callie who is coming home to her small Tennessee community after a military tour of duty. There is some hope she and her former boyfriend can reconnect but both have changed.

By stroke of fortune a movie man named Luke, aimed at directing a movie in Hawaii with his girlfriend as the star, has a car problem and gets stuck for a few days in the small town, leading up to its annual festival. The story gets a bit interesting with Callie's search for her deceased grandpa's secret BBQ sauce recipe. And as the stories are wrapped up this one takes a familiar path that all Hallmark movies take, and that is why they are all good, clean entertainment.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library. There is an interesting 5-minute feature showing some of the "making of" cuteness.

Although the leads had nice moments together,it lacked true romance chemistry. -Felt like he was an older caring mentor.

It was her first movie to my understanding so will overlook her acting,far as music was rather underwhelming too. -Think partly due to how Hallmark,presented those music scenes.

She seemed rather young to been in the military for years,on top of her career stuff she mentioned.

Couldn't Hallmark give a better overall topic,than just about a lost BBQ sauce recipe?

Unless as mentioned was an easy cover-up for a lead,with no real acting experience or pandemic issues.

Scenery & cinematography was ok,but always the music seems to upstage the actors talking.

If the storyline & acting is good,you don't need music to always cover that fact.

Won't be watching it,again.

When Callie gets off the bus, I'm surprised that Hallmark wouldn't get a military consultant to check the authenticity of her uniform. No rank on hat or uniform, American flag wrong orientation, questionable patches, etc. Otherwise, I appreciated the emphasis on the VA.

More Lauren Alaina, please. She is such a breath of fresh air, and I love seeing her in a Hallmark movie. I hope she gets more chances to light up the screen. I've been a big fan since Idol. What a beautiful voice. And Tyler Hynes is one of my all time favorite Hallmark guys. Keep casting him as much as possible! This was a cute and enjoyable movie.