L'amour sucré salé

I liked the premise of this Hallmark outing. Something just seemed off to me, and I think it was that there just wasn't any chemistry between Kelly (Ali Liebert) and Stephen (Brett Dalton). Ali is a fine actress but I think she works much better as a supporting character or villain than a romantic lead. I think this movie would have actually been better served by having Kimberly Sustad (Jessica) as the love interest. I would have found her more believable. I also appreciate the light humor she always brings.

Its not an awful movie by any means. Its a good movie for a relaxing rainy afternoon.

Week 7 -- Valentine -- Premiered: 2/11/2018

Hallmark hit a home run pairing kind hearted television producer Kelly (Ali Liebert) a producer for kid cooking show The Little Gourmet with the cocky hot-headed chef Stephen Harris (Brett Dalton). The chemistry between them almost feels real and very believable. What I really liked about this movie is: (1) Kelly and Stephen helped inspire the children chefs to achieve great things; (2) there were no intruding/competing girlfriends or boyfriends; (3) supporting actress Jessica (Kimberly Sustad) is always lovely and delightful; (4) child actor Becca (Aria Birch) won my heart from beginning to end.

Ali Liebert is beautiful and quickly becoming one of my favorite HM leading ladies, I hope we see her in many upcoming movies!

Through the first seven weeks of the Hallmarks 2018 movie season this is by far my favorite HM movie of the year.

Ali Liebert is so solid in this role. She is perfect for Hallmark. Then add a pinch of Brett Dalton. Mix thoroughly. They combine so well in this movie.

The story has a few cliches and you knew what would happen in the final scene, but with these actors it worked.

Kelly is a producer on a cooking show for kids and when the host is injured she needs to find a replacement as soon as possible. She suggests Stephen Harris, a famous chef, with a famous restaurant who lately acquired a bad reputation so this show is the perfect opportunity to improve his image.

I'm not gonna lie: I didn't have a good first impression of this movie. While I thought the theme was original I did find it quite boring and I didn't actually got into it after the first half.

The leading actors deliver an acceptable performance given the characters they had. But I didn't connect with any of them. Chemistry? I'm still not sure. I got the sense that they got along just fine but I didn't sense any romantic chemistry between them. I did find two of their scenes lovely but nothing that makes me melt inside like some Hallmark movies have before.

There were not any jokes, and while the ending was pretty predictable I was surprised there was no pre-ending drama between Kelly and Stephen.

Why is Kimberly Sustad here? She has been in this type of movies as the leading lady and she always delivers.

To sum up, this movie is not disaster, but I felt something was missing and I did not enjoy until the second part of it. Did I regret watching it? No. But Hallmark has provided much better material than this.

After several turns as "the best friend" of the heroine, where she all but out shown the leads, Ali Liebert has finally been getting much deserved leading roles in these Hallmark seasonal romances. This one is the best yet. Kudos to Hallmark for recognizing her appeal and giving her prominent roles. I hope she becomes as ubiquitous as Chabert, Reiser, Boston, Polo, and several others.

This one is also helped by a tightly woven plot, good character development and an attractive leading man who has a real arc into becoming (or being revealed as) a good guy after all. I must quibble at this point over one plot hole. Our hero, a diva chef, has his career almost ruined by a viral video of him throwing food on a restaurant critic in a fit of temper. He reveals later that the the video edited out the fact that prior to the food on the lap incident, the victim had made his waitress cry by being so mean to her. Why didn't he just explain that on facebook or twitter? Instead of needing an image rehabilitation, he becomes a hero. It is also absent some of the overdone stupid gimmicks that most of these Hallmarks seem to hinge on. No angels, City bad, country good, factory shuttings, time travel, nor I hate (just fill in the holiday). What keeps it from getting a higher rating from me is the lack of depth, suspense, pathos, or super hot chemistry between the leads. But it's good. Really good.

Ali has the super nice girl who is maybe a little too nice role down pat. Plus she has the most energetic eyebrows I've ever seen. Very cute, if a bit distracting. Couldn't take my eyes off of them.