Coincidenza d'amore

There is an old decision-making story about a group of people in Texas who went to Abilene on a hot summer day to eat lunch at a greasy spoon restaurant that no one really liked, but they all went because they thought the others wanted to go. It is story to illustrate how easy it is to make a bad decision because no one wants to speak up.

And that is a big part of the theme here, the decision to have all family and friends travel to a resort in Hawaii for a wedding that might turn out to be a bad decision. Because neither the bride nor the groom wanted to speak up.

The story starts in New York on a commuter train platform, where Meggan Kaiser (with that Mandy Moore look about her) as artist Vickie is taking her folder with her to a job interview. She drops everything and Alex Trumble (with his Rufus Sewell mannerisms) as photographer Max is pleasant to her, helps her pick up her things, and fails to get her phone number because the train is on time and she is running late. She then quickly moves to Duluth.

Cut to five years later, they have an encounter at an airport check-in, they seem to realize they have met but can't place it. Turns out they are now both off to Hawaii, to the same destination, where she is getting married and he has been hired to be the wedding photographer.

So most of the movie is at the resort in wedding preparations as the groom is delayed for job duties. So Vickie and Max gradually get to know each other by virtue of his job as they both ponder if her getting married is the right thing for her.

My wife and I watched it at home, streaming on Prime. It is a pleasant movie for light entertainment and for passing an hour and a half before bedtime. No guns, no sex, no foul language, basically put together like a typical Hallmark movie.

Firstly, this is low budget production and features a C and D list actors. While this is not a great movie, it's also not bad. Especially for a rom com. It (refreshingly) has few of the usual rom-com cringe worthy moments. The script is not bad and not completely predictable. Mostly predictable, but not completely. The acting is barely adequate and at times stiff or campy. The camera work is okay, but the overall general production seams cheap or perhaps, basic no frills. The lighting gives the movie a made for tv vibe. The music soundtrack is minimalist and generic but does not get in the way. Ultimately, it is watchable.

Sometimes low budget movies can be great. And sometimes, as is the case with this movie, they can really suck. The plot is actually okay, and a couple of actors really stood out. The male lead was adorable and funny, and somehow managed to make the horrible dialogue sound believable. The bride's grandma Gigi was wonderful. Sassy and full of personality. However... The female lead was just awful. Flat, monotone delivery, no personality, no chemistry with either guy. Very difficult to understand what one of these guys saw in her, much less both. Horrible writing, no flow to the story, generic music. Just ugh. I do plan to follow the lead actor though. Maybe Hallmark will snap him up.

Also, the kissing at the end was hella awkward.

A Missed Connection was pretty much what I thought it would be: a predictable romantic comedy. It's a low-budget production that doesn't have well-known actors and actresses. Having written all that, I thought the film was sweet and entertaining.

Sometimes predictable, sweet, highly entertaining, and something devoid of expensive VFX is nice to take in for 90 minutes. Sometimes, watching a film that doesn't have hundreds of millions of dollars in its budget is a breath of fresh air to moviegoers.

That's how it was for this moviegoer! I walked away from this flick with a good feeling in my heart, and any writer or film production that can accomplish that feat in this day and age of films made with murder and violence deserves a perfect 10, in my opinion.

Well, while I had indeed never heard about this 2024 romantic comedy titled "A Missed Connection", I have to admit that I harbored very little expectations to the movie as I sat down to watch it. Yeah, it just oozed of being a very generic romantic comedy. But still, since I hadn't already seen the movie, of course I opted to give it a fair chance.

And true enough, as expected, writer Emily Duncan delivered a very generic and stereotypical romantic comedy. Yup, it is a sappy type of romantic comedy. But don't get me wrong here, because it actually proved entertaining enough, despite it being a script and storyline written step by step from the how-to-write-a-romantic-comedy-script blueprint. So, while writer Emily Duncan definitely didn't reinvent the wheel here, it was still an okay enough watchable movie.

I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but leading actress Meggan Kaiser and leading actor Alex Trumble, playing Victoria and Max respectively, definitely carried the movie well. They had good on-screen chemistry and they performed well on the screen. Actually, I will say that the entire cast ensemble acted quite well throughout the course of the movie.

Now, if you enjoy sugar-coated and sappy formulaic romantic comedies, then you definitely will also enjoy this 2024 movie.

My rating of director Damián Romay's 2024 movie "A Missed Connection" lands on a five out of ten stars.