Love on the Vines

One of the reasons I really enjoyed this one is that there was so much going on. Every subplot and character was well written and engaging. Jack Wagner made a delicious antagonist with his diabolical self interfering in his son's love life and his mission to buy our two main leads smaller but more exclusive organic vineyard. I liked that leads were attractive but normal looking people. Sometimes that actors and actresses are more glamour-pusses than able to give their characters personality and appeal. That said, I didn't care much for the behavior of the hero throughout almost all of this story. He was whiny and kind of a snot until he admitted he needed her help. I liked the girl. She was smart, successful, ethical, hard-working, ambitious, and had a lot of moral character. Even at the end, I got the feeling that she could have done better romance-wise.

Another split inheritance story. In this one, the two beneficiaries are ex's. But there is another romance story going, and the man's dad is trying to break that one up. There's a third even smaller story about the restaurant manager trying to expand her business while her mother, the owner, meddles.

Nothing much is happening in any of the stories. There are a bunch of attempts by the writers to keep putting Seth and Diana together. I saw zero chemistry between Margo Harshman and Steve Talley. It took literally a third of the commercial broadcast time before they stopped sniping at one another. Then the sniping stopped so quickly. After that the actors seemed like they were acting at each other rather than connecting. The dialogue was pedestrian. Even the seductive looks in the vineyard didn't seem real. All in all, this didn't seem like much of a romance which I thought was the point of the movie thanks to the title. They aren't connecting and there's just too much else going on.

It also seemed like Harshman displayed too little emotion.

There is a ridiculous scene toward the end where Diana proves that she is out of her league as a lawyer since she is so naïve. "Does it get easier?" This is another movie where the personality displayed within the story by a character is not consistent with what she would have had to be to get where she was.

Jack Wagner is actually kind of sneaky as the dad, even if he is overly controlling of his son. He's a little more than a one dimensional villain.

I'd say there was a surprise at the end, but it wasn't.

In order for the formulaic Hallmark Dramas to sell, both the Hero and especially, the Heroine needs to have likability - - - we need to WANT to see them succeed. Not happening in this one, I'm afraid. Margo comes across as really negative, and that particular trait is a killjoy for any romantic film. Steve Tally as Seth is passable---but any one of Hallmark's collection of male actors could've played this bland role.

Whenever I saw the interplay between the Leads, it came across as competitive "brother and sister" a lot more than "hope they get together in the end" - - - zero chemistry.

Jack Wagner does a decent job as the heavy, and the effervescent Mary Stuart shines in her role (as always).

I agree 100% with the other poster on this thread, what's with the ANNOYINGLY Loud music for no purpose other than for you to reach the remote (or possibly it's there to distract you from how truly awful this film is?).

Hallmark-Romance-Novels-come-to-life are like a Box of Chocolates---let me spare you the cavities.. PASS on this one!

I'm not sure how I missed this one when it first aired - but now I'm kind of glad I did. Hallmark Drama aired it a week ago - so I set the DVR. BORING. The leads have no chemistry. They are unlikable. Jack Wagner is unlikable. Catherine Mary Stewart is unlikable. The best part if the movie were the ads for Magnum PI (the Tom Selleck one) on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. Skip this one.

Unlike the two previous reviewers, I liked this one. The characters were human enough to get involved with, and the multiple story lines kept it fresh. I didn't notice the music standing out, and I thought it was about average for the genre. The story lines were far from unique, but tied together we'll enough. I'd watch it again if it popped up in the schedule.