Love, Romance & Chocolate

I gave the movie 8 stars because they did a great job capturing Bruges on film. How beautiful. I'd love to go there after watching this movie. The story featured a chocolate competition which added to the dramatic tension...but Will was so dour and overly serious. He looked handsome but not much fun. The scene when the prince and princess told how they met was so charming. The script could've used the same touch in scenes with Will and Lacey.

An on location shoot in Europe helps to elevate this Hallmark romance above the average. Bruges is overpriced and beautiful and this movie captures it. A silly chocolate theme is the plot.

Will Kemp and Lace Chabert are well paired.

Anyone who watches Hallmark romance movies knows that Lacey Chabert is usually perfect in every role. This one is no exception! She is charming as Emma and the male actor does a decent job as Luc, as well. Sometimes he is a bit stiff and reserved, but it was part of the character's personality. If you're not naturally a certain way, it's probably hard to pretend to be. He was definitely believable as a by the books, take no chances kind of guy. And while Luc worked with Emma to create the perfect chocolate, he loosened up and became open to new ideas.

The romance of it was more natural than other movies and they had pretty good chemistry, especially during the last third. There were a couple misunderstandings, just like other tv romances. And there was a lack of communication or being brave enough to just say what they felt. Again, Just like almost every tv romance. But I do like how Emma and Luc resolved them problems without much incident. This is definitely one of my new favorites and I'm sure I'll watch it again.

There were three big reasons to see 'Love, Romance and Chocolate'. One is that it was part of my Hallmark film completest quest started with their Christmas output in 2019, which expanded with their other seasonal films just recently. Two is the city of Bruges, which is absolutely beautiful as a place and more films should be filmed there. Three is that Lacey Chabert has always been watchable, even if she tends to be typecast she does it very charmingly more often than not. She is a Hallmark regular for good reason.

'Love, Romance and Chocolate' is not my definition of a great film, but after being underwhelmed by the previous Countdown to Valentine's Day film 'The Story of Us' this was an improvement. New territory it is not and one knows exactly what to expect, but it is fun, cute and charming and Bruges and Chabert don't disappoint. While not great, 'Love, Romance and Chocolate' is worth watching and is one of the better faring 2019 Countdown to Valentine's Day films.

Sure it is a long way from perfect. The story is full of familiar Hallmark tropes which makes it lacking in freshness, so to me momentum was lost towards the end and the conflict is forced. Will agree that the transitions were not always smooth, tending to be jumpy, and that the ending was too unrealistically neat.

Also thought that Will Kemp had times where he was too reserved and his and Chabert's chemistry took time to get off the ground.

Chabert however is a bubbly charmer and luckily her chemistry with Kemp does grow and is genuine and sweet. He also gets better and more animated when his character relaxes. Do agree that Brittany Bristow's accent is not good at all to put it lightly, but she does bring a lot of energy and vim to the film. The whole cast do well. Bruges is absolutely stunning and is like its own character, it is filmed in a picturesque way too. Wouldn't have said no though to more exploration of the culture and having less of a travelogue feel.

Furthermore, the script flows quite well and is light-hearted and smile-worthy, its sweetness too not being too saccharine. The story has a very warm heart and the romantic element when it grows is charming. It's all enough to make me book a trip to Bruges and also to crave chocolate, as somebody who's on a diet at the moment that was not the best thing to crave about.

In summary, likeable enough even if it didn't wow me. 6/10.

Lacey Chabert and Will Kemp are two of my favourite Hallmark regulars, so it was lovely to see them teamed here.

I thought this was a great Hallmark, with a lovely story being told, and two good performances from the leads. Chabert is always warm and charming, with I enjoy Kemp's dry delivery.

I was a bit sceptical about the premise initially, but it won me over, proving very enjoyable.