Valentine Ever After

This is certainly my favorite Hallmark movie. All of the actors are good in this one, especially the leads. Eric Johnson is a hunky cowboy and Autumn Reeser plays a girl with a brain and a heart. The scenery is gorgeous and the love story is not contrived like many. One scene between Julia and her fiancé seems ad libbed and a little awkward, but that is a minor flaw. I have seen both of these actors in other movies, and liked their performances, but they are just plain excellent in these roles. When Ben rides up on his horse to greet the stranded girls, he is a cowboy.

I watch a lot of Hallmark movies, but I watch this one over and over.

The 2016 Countdown to Valentine's Day films were mostly quite good, and of a more consistent standard of most of the succeeding years' Countdown to Valentine's Day batches. With the only major misfire being 'Dater's Handbook', which for me was one of the worst Hallmark films from that year, and 'Appetite for Love' was slightly above mixed feelings. Also saw 'Valentine Ever After' for having seen Autumn Reeser and Damon Runyan in other things.

'Valentine Ever After' is mostly a winner. It isn't great and has its flaws, but it also has a lot of very good things and among the better 2016 Countdown to Valentine's Day films along with 'All Things Valentine' (though this has the more appealing, if admittedly more typical, premise. Much better than 'Dater's Handbook' at any rate. If asked whether 'Valentine Ever After' is recommended, the answer is yes. 2016 was a very uneven year for Hallmark, and luckily this is one of the hits.

It has its issues. The story is patchy, the predictability and silliness at times getting too much while the final act is contrived with a too neat ending.

Also found Runyan out of his depth here surprisingly, here he looks unusually stiff and has very little personality, coming over as dull and over serious.

Can't fault the rest of the rest, loved the perky charm and down to earth quality to Reeser's performance in a role that plays to her strengths very well while Eric Johnson excels against type. Don't usually associate him as a romantic lead, but he is very likeable and charming and has a sweet and natural chemistry with Reeser. Vanessa Matsui enjoys herself without overdoing it. The characters are engaging and easy to connect with, with the sole exception of Runyan's who is an over serious bore and unattentive.

Furthermore, it pleases visually. It is beautifully photographed and can't say anything bad about the scenery. The music at least fits and doesn't feel as overbearing, over constant or repetitive as some Hallmark scores can be. The script is the right amount of light hearted and heart-warming, with some non-mushy serious moments and genuinely funny ones as well. The banter is playful but not overwritten or hostile. The story is rarely dull and it has a warm heart and light hearted charm.

Overall, very pleasant and well done if not anything that blows the mind. 7/10.

I'm a big Autumn Reeser fan and this was a nice change of character. Usually she plays charming, lovestruck roles but this was a truly comedic role for the most part. Her facial expressions during the various snafus are funny without even speaking. That's good acting when you can express an emotion to the audience without words. I admit the plot is pretty contrived and when the movie moves from comedy to serious romance in the second half it kind of loses something. Her sidekick in crime is also appealing and has a flair for comedy too.

Valentine Ever After casts Autumn Reeser and Vanessa Matsui as a pair of Yuppie girls from Chicago who get stuck in the middle of some rugged Wyoming country out of gas. Fortunately one hunky cowboy played by Eric Johnson comes to their rescue and invites them to stay at his ranch. No fools they, Reeser and Matsui take that invitation up in a nano-second. Reeser even slightly forgets she's kind of engaged to Damon Runyan, same name as the famous writer who's top Chicago society.

If Hallmark Channel movies have one thing in common just about every one I can recall celebrates the values of small town America. Valentine Ever After is no exception. Johnson and his family want to convert a working ranch into a dude ranch, but they're having cash flow problems. The local hospital is having those as well. The girls are responsible for breaking a local statue of the town's founder in the local Mickey Gilley's. These small towns do have their traditions. They work out their punishment with community service to both and the community is of course well served.

I'm in agreement with the previous reviewer about Runyan's character. I can't imagine anyone falling for this guy, he's so self absorbed. He's a kinder, gentler version of Donald Trump. It's all about him.

Valentine Ever After is a good Hallmark Channel film from their world where only good people thrive in small town USA.

There is a lot of humor in this Hallmark formulaic movie. What sets it apart are the supporting characters; I wanted more of them and less if the leads.