Romance with a Twist

So good I'm giving this 7 stars, which I'm not sure I've ever done for a Hallmark romance.

Accept for one small thing, this movie was perfect. It was mission driven "gotta learn this aerial routine in six weeks because the annual small town festival DEPENDS on it." And then there was a beautiful performance at the end. I rewound the final performance no less than five or six times and put the song Catch Me by Thomas Bergersen on my YouTube playlist.

The hero and heroine looked beautiful together. The banter was funny. Nobody was annoying. The small town didn't have any of those "cute" quirks, which I usually can do without. ( I grew up in a small town and it was *nothing* like they show in these Hallmark movies.) This movie showcased a realistic small town atmosphere.

There was some tension and drama with the question of whether Luna could transition from dance to aerial silks. Whether she would stay in the construction business, whether the hero would leave town and continue to tour, etc. So I guess this was also a Work vs Love romance

There was a stepfather in this movie, which was a refreshing change from the widowed parent, which is the norm for a Hallmark romance.

I mean there was *nothing* annoying and everything to like about this movie.

There was just one little tiny thing, the sound was off during the performance of Give My Regards to Broadway so it looked like a bad lip sync performance. But otherwise I really enjoyed this romance.

This film had some issues, but it was fun to explore a different topic for a Hallmark romantic film and smart to use an actress with former ballet training.

Premise:Luna gave up her dreaming dance to help her family out in their construction business. Her best friend is responsible for putting together an arts festival that is pairing professionals with local talent...including her brother who is a famous Olympic gymnast and now does silk Aerials for a Cirque du Soleil-like show. He gets paired with Luna, agreeing with his sister to give her one week.

The two main actors were cute and the premise was did enough it was worth watching. While not my favorite Hallmark offering, I appreciate that they are trying new things.

Jocelyn Hudon is gorgeous. There, got that out of the way. Truth be told, her presence in this film that is basically about dancing is the only reason I watched it. And I'm actually glad that I did, because Hudon, as Luna, lights up the screen whenever she is on it.

Non-spoiler alert - the plot is Hallmark standard: two people who don't meet and start off by butting heads as they come together to achieve something - in this case it's an artistic dance routine at an arts festival - and end up falling in love with each other. Familiar trope, new setting.

Hudon and Oliver Renaud as Bennett have pretty good chemistry, once the initial scripted standoffishness is a thing of the past.

From the start Bennett was somewhat cold. Luna knew how to deal with him though. I thought the car scene was sweet and realistic when he said he had a surprise for her. Loved when the prospective partners auditioned. So funny. Felt there was a lot of Luna with her family. The couple definitely needed a hug together when they danced at the festival, to warm things up before the lovely ending! Olivier Renauds facial expressions made me smile and the finale was super, especially as the music escalated and the couple climbed higher. It was a little slow in places but came together well at the end.

The story is a little rough at times. Rough outline, it sounds like another one of those where the leads get thrown together to do a project, and more specifically to do a performance. You could call this a dance performance in the air. But it starts out rough. Olivier Renaud does everything he can to make his character, Bennet, a spoiled, arrogant former Olympian with no tact whatsoever. What I found more disturbing was how much real hurt was inflicted on Luna. But she's no snowflake. She stood up to it and gave some back.

There are some ups and downs for just about all the major characters. Some of the actors handled that better than others, with Jocelyn Hudon being one of the better. Through all their practices and rehearsals, it didn't seem like this could become anything worth watching. But if you don't watch anything else in this movie, you have to watch their performance. I have no idea how much either of the stars did on the silks. Probably not a lot except the still shots, but the performance was beautiful. The stunt doubles should get first page credit in this movie. (Michel Bray, Emma Carrothers and Edio Silvio).

The ending was sweet too.