La guerra delle torte

Hallmark now produces movies at almost soap opera pace. In fall 2017 it appears there will be six of the Autumn/Halloween movies. This volume means a lot of them are hackneyed and redundant. However, some are better than others and this falls in that category. Of course we all know how they will end. The joy is in the journey I guess. That being said I think there are four factors that make or break a Hallmark Movie.

First, are the lead roles good characters with depth and well acted. Second, does the romance seem to be real or contrived. Third, are the comedy portions of the movie actually funny. (I would say this is an oft neglected factor for Halmark) Fourth, are there a few nice quirks to the story line to add some drama. All four are true here to one degree to another. Here too the actual dialogue was of better quality than most Hallmarks. Meaning you don't have characters constantly saying thingsthat no human being would ever say to another.

The negative to this movie is that there were no neat subplots or side characters to round out the story. On the positive side it was consistently well acted, paced, with a nice twist at the end that make it a movie to see next Fall.

When the story begins, Faye and Lydia go from long-time friends to bitter enemies. They soon open up rival bakeries and insist that their families honor their stupid feud. The husbands don't like this, because they are friends and Faye and Lydia even insist that their children follow along with their ridiculous arguments. And, for years, the pair compete against each other in a local pumpkin pie cooking contest. But this year is different. Faye is injured and needs her daughter Casey to compete for her...which is a problem since Casey is not a brilliant baker. At the same time, Lydia has decided to step aside and let her son Sam compete. Problems develop when Casey and Sam realize that they actually LIKE each other...and in fact, they are falling in love! But their mothers insist that the feud be continued....period. So what's next? See the film.

I'll be the first to admit that this Hallmark movie is formulaic and mostly predictable. BUT, it's made so well that I didn't mind at all...and I had a nice time watching it. Unless you are a curmudgeon, you, too, will likely enjoy this sweet tale.

Hallmark movies that bring back actors/actresses from other favorite films of mine, immediately a winner for me! Christmas with the Kranks is a holiday favorite of mine and seeing one of the main actresses (the daughter) be cast in this Hallmark movie was a great surprise for me. I was excited to watch this as soon as she was introduced!

Right away, I thought the plot of this movie was great and I love how this family feud is being passed down from the moms and onto their grown children. As all of these films have cheesy plots or storylines, I thought this one was a good balance of corny & good storytelling.

I love a good love story with a sappy ending and I'm glad this movie included romance and friendship into its focus.

I would watch this again, sweet movie!

5/10 - this fluffy romance wore out its welcome with me

This was a great autumn feel good film as everything about the film was amazing, especially the main characters, Casey and Sam. I loved everything about this film, the characters were funny, sweet, cute and dare I say adorable to watch. However, the true highlight of the entire film was the love story between Casey and Sam, watching them competing, working together, helping each other and along the way fell in love, became a couple, all while trying to keep it a secret from their mothers. Plus I though the ending was one of the sweetest and most happiest endings EVER. This was definitely one of the most entertaining and sweetest Hallmark Autumn films and one of my personal favourites.