Coup de foudre à la Saint-Valentin

Julia works as a matchmaker (is that really a thing?) and she meets Daniel, an entrepreneur who claims that if you want to succeed, you should stay single. So, Julia's company plans to set him with a date in order to get more clients and advertise.

I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed it. I may be biased, Taylor Cole is one of my favourite leading ladies. The plot was kind of stupid and at times it didn't made sense (changing things without a boss' approval? Nope). I couldn't care less about Ryan's character, Daniel. I don't dislike him, but he always plays his characters in the same way.

The reason I give this 7 stars? (Other than Taylor Cole) A diverse cast and even the hint of a same-sex couple at the end. Which i'm all in for (this is actually funny, because I saw today a trailer for Hallmark movies that does include a same sex couple and people are mad, but I couldn't be happier.)

I'm not gonna watch again, but I'm glad I did.

I know Hallmark movies are supposed to be cheesy and unrealistic, but I loved this film regardless! Taylor Cole and Ryan Paevey have an immense amount of on-screen chemistry together. The way their characters interact and gaze at each other is hard proof. The story was light-hearted and family-friendly. The setting was adorable and made the story even more romantic. Also the dogs are adorable! I would recommend this to everyone. I hope to see more Taylor Cole and Ryan Paevey films!

I enjoy watching Taylor Cole. Her beauty, grace, smile, expressive eyes, and wardrobe are things I look forward to in her Hallmark movies. She carried this most scenes in this movie and I enjoyed it. Her best Hallmark performance in the past year. She especially shined in her scenes with the dogs and in her photographer scenes. On that note, costuming gave her some beautiful dresses. The red dress during the final scenes is a red carpet wonder. Taylor seemed entirely at ease with her male counterpart, Ryan Peavey. Hallmark has been using her with different male leads the last couple years; some of which did not work. The supporting cast did a good job. Her two co-workers provided needed relief and dimension to the story. The female leads parents were convincingly caring and supportive; and, provided some quotable "pearls of wisdom." Ryan's best scenes were when he was in repartee' with Taylor. Their timing was spot on. I don't think Ryan's performance was equal to Taylor's, but that's not entirely his fault. Most of his scenes were close-ups with brief expressions. He did better in the scenes where he could interact with other actors and his environment. Also his script provided little in the way of character development and arc aside from the romance itself. One last thing, I found the closing shot of a possible male couple confusing. We knew all the other couples in the montage of couples. The writers provided no context for this.

The plot of match making has been used before in other Hallmark movies. Taylor Cole (Julia) changing the Valentine's day party without obtaining her boss's permission is done everyday and people don't get fired. Nice to see a diverse cast for a change not just one of each race.

Diva Universal (the successor of Hallmark Channel in Romania) broadcasted Matching Hearts in the evening of St. Valentine's Day and I really enjoyed it. Traditional H.C. recipe, which supported them in having a loyal and increasing audience and fan base (which probably do not regularly watch blockbusters such as Die Hard, Triple X or Poltergeist) and usually making very profitable moves.

Yes, this is the typical Hallmark winter romance movie, with the plot closely following the two lead characters, which "accidentally" meet every 5 minutes, slowly come together, then around min. 70 there is a twist and the two decide to go separate ways, and the long awaited final kiss around min. 85, end credits. Solid performance by both Taylor Cole and Ryan Paevey and pretty decent chemistry between the two of them. Yes, would recommend it even for those which are not fans of this kind of movies.

Special note for Taylor Cole, since she has all the due ingredients (i.e. outstanding beauty, talent, charm, versatility and incredible beautiful eyes) to play in the same league as, say, Amber Heard or Scarlett Johansson. But, who knows, maybe she decided she had enough during her modelling career and thereafter and now only wants to enjoy the beauty of life with her new husband, producer Cameron Larson? BTW, I read that this movie might be inspired by Taylor's real life, as she was repeatedly trying to match old friend Cameron with several of her friends, until the man finally understood that Taylor is the Chosen One. The couple married last June. Nice!

Good to see that, despite ongoing pandemic and worldwide lockdown, Hallmark still managed to come out with a number of decent titles in 2020, and "Matching Hearts" is probably one of the best.