Hearts Around the Table: Kiki's Fourth Ingredient

Another installment of Hearts Around The Table. There's plenty of trouble brewing as it's Jenna's wedding, she's reflecting on her biological parents and feeling despair over a lack of a family history and traditions. She asked why hasn't her father ever tried to find her. In addition, there's a conflict with the mother of Andrew the groom who tries to take over some of the wedding plans despite Andrew's protests. Kiki is catering the wedding and is overwhelmed and everything is going wrong. Clay, is Andrew's best man and also a Chef who owns his own restaurant. He gives Kiki advice and also tells her don't forget to take time to enjoy the wedding, but she keeps insisting she doesn't need any help.

It's an overmelodramatic mess, the whole story just drags in the middle, and becomes a boring movie. There needed to be a bit more of a feeling of a real romance between Kiki and Clay, they are more like friends. Angie's meddling turns into a disaster for Jenna and Clay's lack of support hurts Kiki. But regular Hallmark viewers know how it will all pan out. This entire series has been too much of the same.

They really missed the mark not calling this "The Jenna Show"-because, let's be honest, she's the only one the camera (and the script) remotely cares about. The rest of the cast could've been swapped out with mannequins wearing wigs and I'm not convinced the emotional range would've suffered.

I don't understand the praise these movies get unless "soulless emotional void" is suddenly trending. The whole thing limps along like a high school play with a Netflix budget. Chemistry? Nonexistent. It's like watching two paper towels fall in love.

Kiki and Clay's story was somehow even more dead on arrival. Kiki's permanently cranked-up-to-11 drama queen act was exhausting. And Clay was just beige wallpaper pretending to be a man. Yes, he's from The Tudors-which makes it even more depressing watching him wrestle with an American accent like it's a cursed object he can't get rid of.

And then we get the random plot lottery prize: Jenna's long-lost biological father showing up like a weird fever dream no one asked for. Right in the middle of Kiki's latest melodramatic walk-off. It was like the writers threw darts at a soap opera plot board while blindfolded.

Final verdict: this series is a snooze-fest dipped in glitter. A one-time watch at best, and only if your remote is broken and you've already stared at your ceiling too long.

Of the four Hearts Around The Table movies, Kiki's Fourth Ingredient is the one I enjoyed the most because it adequately brought things full circle from the first installment in the series, Jenna's First Love.

This time, the focus is on Kiki's love life, or lack thereof (at least in the beginning) and the fact that she has agreed to cater sister Jenna's wedding. Lone wolf chef Kiki doesn't realize that she's bitten off more than she can chew (no pun intended) until fellow chef Clay (the best man in the wedding) points it out to her. In fact, he points it out several times, which in real life I'd probably find a bit annoying if it came from someone I barely knew, but his sincerity is clear and, hey, he's right. His ultimate suggestion proves very important to Kiki, and it's more practical, not predictable, which is a welcome change. While all this is going on, the wedding storyline more quietly plays out in the background. It was a good balance of main story and secondary story, complete with the appearance of one of the main character's biological parent and, of course, the wonderful Mindy Cohn (Angie).

Kathryn Davis and Torrance Coombs had very good chemistry together. Their characters' personalities complemented each other well, and I liked that the development of their relationship highlighted that. For me, this was the most enjoyable of the four "Hearts" movies and I'd recommend it.

7.3 stars.

The 4th of the saga begins with a stubborn and sensitive Kiki, who has a full plate of responsibility to cater Jenna's wedding. Kiki literally runs into Clay (the best man) while at a bakery. Major coincidence and that's a signature Hallmark move.

Clay is not acquainted with any of the main characters, so he's basically a stranger and new on the scene. Soon Kiki and Clay have a slight confrontation-her fault. He inadvertently makes a benign comment, she misinterprets. The next several minutes we are watching Kiki fall into a stress induced funk.

Fortunately for the audience, the stubbornness doesn't last, Kiki eats a bit of crow, and the two of them start getting along nicely.

The rest of the story is about them collaborating on making Kiki's catering experience a smooth one. There is a lot of interaction between them, some nice chemistry is formed.

While this episode is neat and romantic, there lacks a deeper emotional intensity. The overall feeling is very subdued, easy to follow, quite mild, and entertaining enough for me to enjoy it. On the other hand, the colorful drama we saw from the prior episode is absent. The focus is more about food and easy going romance, less about wittiness, drama or fun. But, it's still a comfortable and warm presentation.

There is a bit of family drama towards the end, which fills in some gaps and provides closure.

Not quite as entertaining as the third installment, but overall is okay, but insufficient for another viewing anytime soon. Perhaps I will revisit this one in 5 to 10 years.

I've liked the Kiki character throughout the series but this romantic pairing is so bad. He is too old-in manner, if not age. Kiki is bubbly and positive. His character is stiff and patronizing. Zero chemistry between them. I am going to skip to the end to see the resolution of the other plot line but can't take any more of this awkward couple. Really too bad because Kiki deserves more! The scene when he tries to kind of dance along with the tunes in the car was cringe. Disappointing after the other three movies in the series were pretty good. And last, can someone please fix Angie's bangs?!!!