La nostra storia

Jamie Vaughn (Maggie Lawson) runs a small bookstore in Waterford. Her store and the business district is threatened with redevelopment. The developer sends in architect Sawyer O'Dell (Sam Page) who came from the town. He also happens to be Jamie's former love.

This is a standard Hallmark romance movie. The premise is standard. The romance is standard. The problem is the limited heat in the relationship. They should try harder to be enemies for at least the first half of the movie. They need to heat up the connection with more combustible fuel. The second half would be Sawyer's redemption arc. I thought that the development would be the perfect vehicle for their fighting. The movie has the standard Hallmark light touch and that is its major flaw. It keeps the connection at a low simmer until the flame goes out for good. The love triangle comes too late to generate any spark. Jamie is better off dumping both guys. The secondary romance has more heat.

No butchers, bakers, or candlestickmakers but an earnest small-town bookstore owner who discovers that her beloved store is under threat from corporate property developers. Much like the durability a generic plastic chair, Hallmark's success/ubiquity is undeniably down to their dogmatic adherence to formula. Not always compelling, often anodyne, but modestly appealing if you are in the right mood for sugary, treacle-thick sentiment. The Story of Us is genuinely sweet, with amiable protagonists, agressively small-town charm, and the erstwhile lovers O'Dell Sawyer (Sam Page) and Maggie Lawson's (Jamie Vaughn) inexorable romance feels far less contrived than usual.

It's the reason I like Hallmark movies! What I liked best in this was Maggie Lawson and her interaction with the rest of cast. I agree with one of the reviews that the chemistry between Sam Page and Maggie's character lacked the dreamy stuff, but he's a sweet guy and his a little bit stiffness did not annoy me. Sure hope we see a lot more of Maggie Lawson. But I do get tired of many of the "same old faces". This was refreshing for me.

6.4 stars.

There are a couple good scenes having to do with the romance between the supporting cast. They have the chemistry that our leads could learn a lesson from.

Let's see, we have a chef, a real estate developer, a bookstore owner, bookstore owner's assistant, a parent, the leads parted ways when they went to college, he stayed in the big city, she stayed at home and bought the bookstore, he now works for the big real estate developer and is part of the process of buying out the whole block to replace it with condos and tear down the bookstore and historical buildings. Did I miss anything? "The Story of Us" is just way too cookie cutter to ignore. There is absolutely nothing original in this movie. Even the dialogue is the same, with an absence of extraordinary or unique. The leads are too civil with each other, there is no indication of any previous attraction between them, no flare at all. High school sweethearts, I don't buy it. There is an interrupted kiss which did not belong in the first place, so yay for the interruption.

I'm starting to realize how difficult it must be to produce a really good film. "The Story of Us" could have been great, it's not easy to figure out what exactly makes for the magic in a story. I'm thinking it's in the editing, to be honest. Get the music just perfect with the pacing and change a few lines, intonations and expressions maybe? Good luck.

It's just a copycat film of a dozen other copycat films which copied something way back probably 20 years ago that is rarely aired anymore. At least they were able to produce a near average film with no major mistakes.

Not the most original story, but it just works. If you expect an enjoyable movie, you can go no wrong with this one.

The 2 main characters create a nice base for the entire movie, Jamie (Maggie Lawson) delightful as always sets up the tone and Sawyer (Sam Page) compliments her perfectly. Their chemistry is not outstanding, but it just gives us an easy feeling thought the movie.

The rest of the cast compliments the same pleasant atmosphere that gives the viewer a warm feeling without doing too much.

I recommend this one, to anyone who wants a nice movie without expecting a lot.

6.6 out of 10 stars.