Fourth Down and Love

I watched this the first time awhile back and remember it as a rather blah romance. However, I just watched again, this time with an eye towards finding what I didn't like. While Pascale Hutton doesn't do much for me, I realize now the script called for her to be reluctant to engage romantically with Paevy because Paevy's agent sold her a bill of goods back in college. Now that I caught this, I think her character acting was fine as she was scripted. If anything this second time, I thought Paevy was too low key on the romance angle. His style is always laid back but with engaging charm, which I usually find enjoyable, but this time, he didn't bring enough charm to make it work. I have a feeling this role, the casting match and a rather lame script caused this to be one of his lesser outputs.

I love Ryan Paevey and it was great to see him as the romantic lead in this football centric hallmark romance. I was happy to see that even though this was a football film, that they didn't make it male centric. Ryan Paevey plays the professional NFL football star Mike. He gets injured and has to go on injured reserve for his team while he rests his broken ribs and allows them to heal. His big brother Jimmy invites him to his home to rest with family support. There Jimmy and his wife Danielle talk Mike into helping Jimmy coach his daughter's all girl flag football team. Meanwhile, there is a single mom played by When Calls The Heart's Pascale Hutton whose daughter Kiera just wants to play football and is the only girl on her flag football team where they never give her a chance. One day while sharing the field she discovers the all girl team and has her mom talk to the two coaches. We learn that the reason Jimmy started his daughter's all girls team was because his daughter Zoey experienced the same thing as Kiera the year before. And this is how Pascale's character Erin meets Mike...again. As it turns out these two were college sweethearts and Erin broke Mike's heart.

This is filled with some sports romance cliches for sure...like the money grubbing manager played by the beloved Steve Bacic, the athlete having to leave town playing havoc on a romantic relationship, etc., but the truth is I didn't care. I enjoyed it and I appreciated some of the fresh aspects...like the struggle of girls who want to play, the camaraderie between the real estate partners Erin and Georgina that played out like a real friendship, and the loving and supportive family dynamic between Jimmy's family and Mike.

I though this was one of the better stories to come out of Hallmark, who has had a rough spell in my opinion trying to be too political or working overly hard to be inclusive and loosing the authenticity...that love and family that used to be their brand and attract their core audience. I feel like this was just a feel good romance that got back to that....love and family. I recommend this to all those romantics out there, especially fans of Hallmark.

7.3 stars.

Ready, set, hike, pass the cheese... this one is a bit silly. I like the football theme and he looks like a baller with his muscles and physique, but his personality and how he handles life are not anything like an NFL receiver would be in my opinion. On the other hand, the romance is cool and they seem to have chemistry. I see patterns with Hallmark films and they seem to be stretching their legs with this film as it does expand some of the ideas in a way that I find unique and strangely stimulating.

There are several hard to ignore details like the fact that he's not mobbed by fans wherever he goes. If he's a pro, and he's back in a place where he would be recognized, he would not have any time to himself. Also the way his agent and the NFL are handling things is totally fabricated and fake beyond belief. Finally, how they were together but she let him go when they were younger so he could pursue his career has been beat to death, Hallmark, give us something original for once.

The way she is enamored with him showcases her acting ability, especially with his dry humor and acting style which seems to pervade every role he performs. All that being said, I enjoyed 'Fourth Down and Love' enough that I'd recommend it to any Hallmark fan at least once every few years.

Hallmark is making too many movies where the lead couple already knows each other from their romantic past. I don't find it compelling. I would like to see two people meet and learn about each other during the movie. It's a shame that all of that discovery process happened years ago so we don't see any of it. All we are left to do is wonder why they gave up on each other years ago, when their resentment will subside, and why they think the outcome will be different this time around.

The rest of the movie is fine -- typical Hallmark stuff really, which is probably what most viewers of this movie want. The actors were pretty good, and the football content was actually very good. I just think the movie would have been nicer if the leads were as new to each other as they are to us.

I admitt, the presence in cast of Ryan Paevey is just enough for me to see a movie. In this case, near him, and the decent performance of pascale Hutton, a good point is represented by humor. And, indeed, in this case the humor is real important for reduce the unrealism dose of story and not the most inspired dialogue.

The football theme works not so bad, the past love story from universitarian studies at new beginning is more than reasonable and, sure, the supporting actors are precious.

But, in same measure, the sustain of their characters , interesting at whole, by the main actors is a virtue for film. Sure, predactibility and some mistakes. But decent. And nice.