Love is in the Air

William (Joshua Sasse) arrives to check the finances of a flying freight company. They only have one seaplane and Dana (Delta Goodrem) is the pilot. She flies around some of the remote communities of Australia. What nobody at the company knows is that William's only job is to shut them down.

The first meeting is wrong. He's the one who has to fall head over heels for her. Instead, she's the one checking him out. It's backwards. Eventually, the movie gets there. He has to be given a reason to not shut down the company. She's the classic shut-off single gal with relationship issues. On the plus side, the scenery is amazing. Whenever the movie is inside a car or the plane, the outside vista feels fake. The two leads are fine. I've never heard of Delta Goodrem. Apparently, she's a big Australian singing star. All in all, this Netflix romance is average at best.

At least this film looks good. In fact it looks very good and serves as a wonderful tourist promo for Queensland and the Whitsunday's. Even the brief scenes of London look very inviting, though the view out of the office window looks ominously like Brisbane.

This is almost enough to cover a very basic plot line and a script which could have been created by AI. That said, it is all very pleasant and innocent and the sort of film your Granny would approve of.

Aeroplane buffs are already having a ball identifying inaccuracies within the cockpit, but at least this plane does not morph into another type of airliner altogether as is a common practice in other movies.

I dont think anyone is expecting this to be a cinematic masterpiece, its a Hallmark style romcom. But it could have been far far better with some minor adjustments.

Nearly everyone in this is overacting. Like its so over the top its ridiculous! The only convincing actress in this is Lizzie, who actually saves this whole movie from falling into a pit of ridicule. The worst offender is the female lead, she is just AWFUL, just...my god what were they thinking?? You could shove a fence post in the ground and have the guy fall in love with it, and it would be more believable than this girl...jeez. And also, not the actresses fault, but shes always there with her chest out, with flawless make up, including lipstick and jewellery (despite barely sleeping) and not a speck of dirt on her (despite her apparently being hands on)?? Come on movie....throw me a line here!

There are a few genuinely smile moments, exclusively to Lizzie, who is the only decent cast member, which is evident immediately.

So many small tweaks could have made this much better. The actors which were sub par, the shooting - which is very HD - was good for scenery shots but made everything hyper realistic like a nature documentary and made the bad acting stand out more. The awkward and unnatural script. The unrealistic makeup and costume. Like if they'd dialled down every aspect of this and spent more time on the script and actors it would be 10 times better.

This was an effort to watch.

I'm a fan of Delta and a huge fan of Australian movies - but this did not work well at all.

It's lolly water iced with cliches and a predictable plot.

I do not understand why these kinds of movies are made. I understand that no-one forces us to watch - so, there's no need to do so then be all negative about it - but, like I said, I'm a Delta fan and a huge Australian movie fan - so, you just want to give it a shot.

But when the writing lacks depth, edge and light and dark, it ends up being little more than a relatively polished episode of Neighbours or Home and Away.

And , unfortunately then, the acting, directing, even the music, flops to the same low levels. Pity.

Having seen hundreds of romance movies, I feel qualified to comment when I see one that stands out. I liked the central couple and found their chemistry genuine even if it may have been amplified for her because of her limited dating pool and more believable for him because he is looking for passion in his life and is naturally drawn to hers. As far as the other elements needed for success, they are all present: Interesting and humorous supporting characters - check; parents whose actions are affecting the plot - check; and external circumstances that create challenges and are also interesting - check. Surprising bonuses: incredible scenery in a part of the world not often seen in U. S. romance movies and exciting flying sequences. One downside: business factors are not realistic, but who wants to think about work during a romance move.? Give this one a look if you are in the mood for romance.