Uma Pitada de Amor

Luke MacFarlane never disappoints, he always delivers a stellar performance, Meghan Fahy was new to me, but she did a marvelous job too. Great chemistry.

Very good movie. Worth multiple viewings.

My advice - watch this movie.

Hallmark has made plenty of cooking romances but I truly loved this one. A nice story and good played. I was happily surprised. You should watch it for an evening with your friend.

Carly Benson (Meghann Fahy) and Jason Tucker (Luke Macfarlane) are friendly rivals in cooking class in Chicago. Unbeknownst to each other, they apply for TV cooking competition, Kitchen Showdown. The two resume their combative rivalry until a budding romance get in the way.

They are photogenic. They smile. They simmer but there is no explosive chemistry. This is strictly warmed up leftovers. There are no great turns or big jolts. They are doing the show and there should be cameras constantly following them around. This lacks stuff. This should be ready for some food porn but this doesn't take advantage. Even as a Hallmark romance, this is lacking.

Yet another winner from Hallmark: loved it from beginning to end!

The best thing about Just Add Romance is that it's almost a satire of Food Network's show Chopped, even down to the other contestants being familiar archetypes: one is out of their depth, one is vivacious and positive, one is cynical and jaded, and one is arrogant and self-satisfied. It's a nice touch when the contestants all end up liking and respecting each other in spite of the competition.

Also different from other Hallmark movies is that the two protagonists realize they like each other almost from the beginning, rather than finally figuring it out at the very end. The plot revolves around their efforts to keep the romance going in spite of their different cooking styles and competing against each other.

Go Hallmark Go!

For people who don't have patience to sit through a cooking competition reality show this is a nice shortcut.

Luke MacFarlane and Megann Fahy play rivals in the competition many years after meeting in culinary school. There is a pleasant banter between the two. The romance escalates as the contest moves to a resort. How are the two going to deal with a romance and competing?

The food is not quite in the foreground considering it's a cooking based movie. But the dialog is cute without being annoying. And the characters are likeable. You want to see who wins.

Ok for a watch.