Romance in Hawaii

I loved this movie. Not a typical Hallmark movie type. A real good story ececellent acting and beautiful scenery. I like the way the leads played off each other. The Hawaiian customs were interesting and extremely informative. In addition I appreciated no politics no hidden agenda just a very nice entertaining movie. I often wonder why more movies are done like this without the politics or hidden agenda. The story was original with good substance and very realistic Hackle the lead actress demonstrated very good range and believable. Hackles colleague can't act to save his life. He was comical and not in a good way. His part was ridiculous plus again his acting was forced. All in all a very nice movie with UpTv.

The best thing about this movie is the background setting. Whether or not it is actually Hawaii, it is beautiful. The actors do a decent job of.pushing the story forward, though the story is predictable and not particularly realistic. The dialogue wasn't the best, but it was serviceable for this genre of movie.

The key issue I have with the movie is that they overdid it on the cultural explanations. I felt like a cult recruit receiving a sales pitch. A little goes a long way, but the writers filled nearly every scene with another explanation of Hawaiian culture. They should have spent more time on the romance. As it was, they made Hawaii the main character, which meant everything else felt undeveloped.

I love Kelley Jakle, but I wonder about casting an obvious blonde in a role where that would be a definite handicap for the character trying to make inroads in the midst of a community with strong cultural values that border on xenophobic at times. The movie even makes references to that by using pejorative labels for people from outside.

As if xenophobia isn't enough negativity, Leah has a competitor for promotion who plays dirty using sexism against her and a boss who plays into it. "Women have to work twice as hard to get half as far." Unfortunately, at a time when Leah should be focusing on business, she decides to concentrate a lot of effort on socializing and Hula and seems to ignore what she was sent for.

Interestingly neither of these things is the focus of the movie. There is a lot of screentime spent on Hulu dancing. This combines with the romantic plot thread, but it also shortchanges that a bit.

From the minute Leah meets the hotel events coordinator, Ikaika, and then the property owner at least part of the general outcome is predictable. This becomes apparent before the midpoint. Another theme that seems to be universal in this type of movie is that of the Evil Developers who want to destroy everything beautiful putting only buildings in their place. (Are all Developers really that stupid?) I thought there were some rough parts in getting there because not everything made sense. To explain what I mean would be spoilers and I don't want to do that.

I love to hear Jakle sing and she does one song,

Excellent movie, I live on Oahu in Hawaii and know all of the locations that were filmed very well. Im confused why they added the script saying that it was filmed entirely in Los Angeles, totally not true, it was definitely filmed here in Hawaii. It was neat to see all the locations that we see everyday be in the movie. They even had Romy's shrimp on the north shore. Her Hotel looks like it was the Hilton Hawaiian in Honolulu. There were scenes filmed around Kailua and Waimanalo and possibly one by Makaha. If you ever wanted to see what some of Oahu looks like, check this movie out. The story was excellent, we really enjoyed it and highly recommend!

Romance in Hawaii is a sun-soaked gem that blends breezy romance, heartfelt storytelling, and a deep respect for Hawaiian culture. The plot is light and fun, with just the right amount of drama to keep you hooked. The lead who played Ikaika stood out in each scene he was in, loved the charm that he brought to the character and scenes.

I really loved the thoughtful way this portrayed Hawaii, the filmmakers ensured cultural elements, especially hula, are presented with care and authenticity, honoring their history rather than exploiting them as mere backdrop. It's clear they did their homework, and the result is a love letter to the islands as much as it is a love story between its leads.

Beautifully shot, culturally respectful, and full of heart, Romance in Hawaii is a feel-good film perfect for fans of romantic dramas that don't sacrifice substance for scenery. A fresh favorite worth discovering.