Amor Vai Bem com Tudo

The commercials didn't seem very exciting and that should have warned me not to bother watching it. No chemistry, boring story, a lot of blah blah blah that went on and on and on. It didn't have a clear storyline. It's over saturated with flash backs and the main characters just didn't capture my attention. There wasn't much cooking, not that much food, a lot of very short overly dramatic problems that were resolved before you even understood the problem! Fine to play in the background while doing other things but not worth watching with your full attention.

I adore Lorraine Bracco but not in this environment. The back and forth between present and past was fine, but the main leads had zero chemistry. Their personalities clashed, and the story was stale. This one fell flat for me, definitely not a rewatch.

Not as good as hallmark's usual offerings it had all the elements, just lacked chemistry with the viewer. The lead actress just felt awkward and it took a while to get the hang of the flashbacks. No experienced manager would have an argument with a member of the staff in front of guests. Background sound/music might've been authentic to a kitchen but was a bit loud for dialogue. Fine for one watch but that's enough.

Films centered around food and the culinary world is not a new thing for Hallmark, but there are plenty of their films that did this setting and concept really well in an entertaining and easy to relate to manner. Despite not being novel, the idea for 'Welcome to Mama's' was a lovely one and had real potential to be light hearted and heart-warming. Which has been the case with most of the previous 2022 Hallmark films (though there have already been stinkers), even with the serious-themed ones.

'Welcome to Mama's' just didn't come together properly for me. It was not the light hearted and heart-warming film it intended to be, or at least certainly to begin with it wasn't, and was a case of having the right ingredients but not using them very well and not doing enough with them. There are good things and it is not the worst 2022 Hallmark film up to this point, that's between 'Cut, Color and Murder' and 'Butlers in Love' with 'Where the Heart Belongs' not far off. But it is no 'North to Home', 'The Wedding Veil' or 'Presence of Love'. Of the three Loveuary films, 'Welcome to Mama's' is the weakest.

Am going to begin with the good. Lorraine Bracco brings some welcome zest whenever she appears and, while not liking his character to begin, Daniel DiTomasso does easy going charm very well and always looked natural.

The production values also look lovely, loved the look of the setting and it is a nicely shot film. The momentum does pick up a little going into the final third and it was nice seeing some Italian culture.

Melanie Scrofano however didn't do it for me, she is very stiff throughout and it didn't look as though her heart was in it. She and DiTomasso agreed do not have any spark together and come over as too antagonistic towards each other and both characters are sketchily developed. While disliking his character at first, coming over as a jerk, his character at least grew and relaxed, but Scrofano's did not making her a lot more difficult to warm to. The cast chemistry is disconnected and the direction feels very routine throughout.

Did find the dialogue very awkward sounding and cheesy throughout and the banter is overused and goes too far on the hostility that it becomes mean spirited. The story is dull (especially the first act which was a slog in almost every way) and predictable and the charm and heart are not there. Also found that it took itself too seriously for any light hearted-ness to come through and the conflict is very contrived and phony. The ending felt too pat.

Overall, lacklustre. 4/10.

A bad script, too much nostalgia for "Mama", her recipes and her way of doing things. Too many flashbacks. Leads that don't have chemistry and the rest of the cast didn't seem to click. It didn't hold my attention, there are other better things on TV.