Le jardin des coups de foudre

Hallmark churn out these films at such a pace that perhaps it's only natural that the quality is variable.

When a very good one like this comes along though it's a joy.

There's a strong story being told here, the leads have good chemistry - those things alone separate the good from the great where these films are concerned.

Yes, you have to very much suspend your disbelief, but on the whole this was a very good Hallmark film.

Really Love Sarah Rue. This movie is cute, but so many people in it are such poor actors it makes it hard to watch. Sarah and Jordan are good but just not together. They just don't have that much chemistry. I think Hallmark is trying to push out so many movies that they are more interested in quantity and not quality. :(

I've been a Sara Rue fan ever since "Less Than Perfect". Granted she's made better TV moves than this one, such as "All For Love", "Dorfman in Love", and "My Future Boyfriend". But this one holds up pretty well, and has some charms of its own. Certainly worth seeing.

Vikki George (Sara Rue) runs a 20 year old community garden in the city following her late father's footsteps. She's shocked when the garden is sold to condo developer Chace Devine (Jordan Bridges).

Both Sara and Jordan are fun comedic actors. They do their best to inject little bits of fun into this predictable Hallmark romance, especially Sara. Jordan may not really fit the Chace character. He's too soft. Chace should be harder as a business man. Nevertheless, the two leads are fun actors and they do have some fun here. Also I like the pretty flowers. As for the garden, the obvious solution is there from the beginning and predictable for anyone with half a brain.

As with many in this genre, we meet our protagonists early and then chart their individual and, hopefully, cooperative courses. It is always fun to find the crossroads. This one meets the criteria happily.