Amour et Quiproquos

In the realm of hallmark movies, I rate this one as better than average. Sure, the premise was dumb--in real life it is not controversial to be a man who's a nurse. But if you can get past that then I thought the two leads really did develop some chemistry together and I was convinced that they cared about each other. I'd say the acting was better than average for hallmark too. The female lead had a big role in the show Parenthood, and I think she's a good actor. The ending was a little cringeworthy because hallmark thinks you always have to wrap things up with a big public romantic gesture, which kind of kills a lot of movies, but oh well. You could do worse if you're looking for a film to pass the time with on this station.

8.2 stars.

A female CEO is tired of being in a mediocre relationship with a shallow rich man, and her assistant persuades her to try online dating. A male nurse is likewise tired of his desolate love life and he joins the same dating site. They are matched, however it's under false pretenses as both are feigning to be someone else. Is this couple doomed before they meet?

This is an adventure of two people from different worlds forming an unlikely connection and having a strong mutual attraction. It's a bumpy road and some powerful people are working to sabotage them at every opportunity. Now that they are falling in love, will their relationship be stopped dead in its tracks, or are they destined to be together forever?

This is a wonderful and immensely enjoyable love story between two appealing actors. The chemistry is out of this world, and there is nothing we desire more than for them to be the right fit for each other. "Anything for Love" is a must see romance start to finish, and there is not a dull moment.

This is on my yearly watchlist, although at this point my list is becoming too long.

On the most part, while uneven, the 2016 Countdown to Valentine's Day Hallmark batch was not bad at all. 'Dater's Handbook' was the only real misfire, with 'Valentine Ever After' being particularly good. The premise for 'Anything for Love' didn't really sound that promising, actually it sounded dumb and unrealistic, but still it anyway as a Hallmark completest who saw plenty of good and more 2016 Hallmark films and who likes Paul Greene in most of his work.

'Anything for Love' was not bad at all and actually quite enjoyed it. It is far from perfect and doesn't completely avoid the traps that the premise had, but it surprisingly did not turn out as over silly and unrealistic as it sounded on paper. As far as the 2016 Countdown to Valentine's Day films go, it is not on the same level as 'Valentine Ever After' but it is infinitely better than 'Dater's Handbook' (not that that is particularly hard, a film would have to be near irredeemable to be worse than that).

There are things that don't quite come off. The story is admittedly often very silly and some serious suspension of disbelief is needed. Especially in the contrived final act, where a lot of awkward and forced dialogue can be heard and where some characters are at their most frustrating in their vague and rash decision making.

Did find a few characters annoying and less than subtly played, particularly Reggie, and the ending was unpleasantly syrupy and far too neat (undeserved too). The story can be very predictable and can drag at times.

However, the acting is fine on the whole with very appealing performances from both Greene, amiable and subtly charismatic as ever, and Erika Christensen who isn't robotic or affected. Their characters aren't too perfect or have overblown flaws, and their chemistry is genuine and sweet while not exactly on fire. It is well filmed with lovely scenery, while the music isn't too constant or over-scored.

Enough of the writing is fun and light-hearted as well as charming and heartfelt. The story is very flawed, but doesn't take itself too seriously and doesn't treat the subject as too much of a joke. Did appreciate how it covered some very relevant and important issues, not many Hallmark films tackle prejudice/discrimination but 'Anything for Love' does and more than decently.

Concluding, decent if unexceptional. 6/10.

In Chicago, Katherine Benson (Erika Christensen) is a driven CEO of a successful family property developer company. Everybody is concerned about her dating life. She has been nominally dating Charles Hodges but she figures that he wants to take over the company from her and her father. Jack Cooper (Paul Greene) is a charming honest guy. He's happy to be a nurse but all the girls look down on his job. Kate gets pushed into internet dating by her assistant and switching profiles with her. Jack decides to do the same but his immoral friend changes his profile. They fall for each other but the lies are inevitably uncovered.

It's Hallmark. The leads are beautiful. They would make beautiful babies. The premise comes out of some sort of sitcom misunderstanding and awkward lies. It's not the best. It would help if Kate isn't dating that jerk. At the very least, she needs to break up with him. The attitude about male nurses seems very outdated and oddly universal. Once the father goes to the hospital, there is no reason to not tell the truth except it is needed for story construction reasons. The best friend Reggie Le Duca is annoying and Debbie is completely out of his league. The obvious move is for him to lie about his job and Debbie falls for it. The movie doesn't do that and I hate it even more for it. It could have tied into the original premise. The premise is problematic for many reasons, mostly since either person could have told the truth at any time. His reasoning after discovering the truth is problematic as well. It's all a little problematic although I do like the two lead actors. There are surprisingly deep moments like Kate accidentally sideswipes Debbie with a comment. Even that scene could have done more. Despite liking the actors and the characters, there is lots that need some massaging.

No matter who we are, we all experience prejudice. This movie covers issues I see a lot - sexism, agism, singleism, jobism, statusism and financialism. Yes not all those are proper words, but they should be because, as we see in the film, prejudice has a negative effect on all kinds of people. I really didn't enjoy the start and nearly gave up, but it is necessary in order for the middle to be so warm and the ending to work.