La ricetta segreta del Natale

I lost count. They must have said Hot Chocolate 60 or 70 times in this lame movie. Very irritating. Absurd premise. The usual empty cup syndrome. The cups are clearly empty and every time, they tilt the cup 2/3 of the way back for their 1st sip of a very hot drink. Do none of these people have common sense??? Didn't care for for the lead actress.

A harmless movie but an absurd one.

The actors and actresses are not regulars in this genre, but they give a decent performance. The script is not bad, it's not full of sickly sweet dialog and boring talk of traditions. The leads have chemistry and the plot isn't full of supernatural twists. In the end it's believable, not full of fake contrivances.

There are very few really original ideas that come from the Romance TV movie genre and that's fine, don't feed us the same plot every movie and we're okay; but chemistry is quite important in romance, and the ability to act would help.

Ho-hum movie about a hot chocolate shop owner who is accusing another hot chocolate shop owner of stealing her grandma's special recipe. The writers of these shows must be all utilizing the same brain cell. They certainly are NOT using the one about new, inventive ideas. I do not care for Aubrey Reynolds in anything. Her acting is wooden and stiff. I get the idea that she is just "playing herself" in each role. The only thing that salvages this film is Jonny Swenson's megawatt smile. It lights up any space he is in. On the bright spot, to help you plod through this slow-moving quagmire, turn it into a drinking game and every time they say "hot chocolate" take a drink. You will be snockered by the end of the film. Talk about hammering something home.

Also, what is it with these Hallmark/Lifetime/GAC movies and the hot drinks? The cups are obviously ALWAYS EMPTY. You don't take a hot cocoa from someone, throw your head back and gulp it down. Not unless you want a scalded throat. Even THAT you can't make believable? A hint: it's the little minutiae that drives viewers nuts.

Until 30 minutes of the movie is past, Collete is picking a fight with her new neighbor Marcus because she thinks he stole her Grandma's hot chocolate recipe. Then like so many of these movies, her animosity just goes away and for the rest of the movie she is bending over backwards for him in several ways. It's true that at about the halfway point something unexpected happens which would explain some of her change in attitude if she hadn't already started softening. Actually, one unexpected thing and then soon after a twist which some viewers might have seen coming.

It looks like one of the most common sources of conflict in these movies is about to happen, but it doesn't, so after the initial animosity, there is almost no tension between the leads. The chemistry is so-so. As a result of all this, the last part of the movie is flat, both the story and the romance.

Realism is not expected in Christmas rom/coms so I won't even go into the myriads of ridiculous things that happen but just a hint on some - health codes.