L'amour dans le pré

Upon seeing the previews of this movie I had high hopes for this movie. While not terrible, this movie did not live up to those hopes.

When looking at a Hallmark film I think four factors make or break it.

First, are the lead actors good in their roles and do the characters have some depth. Here I thought while the acting was fine the characters were stick figures with no depth.

Second, does the romance seem real or contrived. Sorry, never really bought it here that the surgeon would fall for this guy. Yeah, he was nice to her kid, but most people are nice to kids.

Third, is it funny. These movies are billed as romantic comedies. I would say actually being funny is the difference that sets apart any of the Halmark movies. This movie tried to be with the Ronnie character but I don't think ever achieved it.

Fourth, are there a few nice subplots or quirks in the story to add to the drama. I did not see that here.

As a final note, most people don't wear nice, new clothes (I am guessing K-Mart or Target) to bring in the harvest. I have participated in harvests before and neither me or anyone else did so. Mr. Douglas of Green Acres would have been proud of these farmers.

Overall, the movie is okay for this kind of fare and certainly watchable once, but not a classic or one I predict we will see often in the upcoming years.

Jen does not come off as a surgeon very well. Once she gets to the country, the rest of the movie is warm and entertaining.

Did I buy the lead character as a surgeon? No. Why was the kid always tired?

If you can put these elements aside you'll find a fun Hallmark film. The story holds up, the leads have chemistry - those are two big boxes ticked off that make or break this type of film.

It's very much built in the Hallmark formula, but there are enough lovely moments here to make this a pleasant way to spend an afternoon's viewing.

The leads are well matched and have a good chemistry between them. Jen Lilley has a luminous quality and very pretty eyes. She smiles a bit too much as is the case with many Hallmark movies but because she is pretty it's not too annoying. She plays a surgeon and widow who takes her young son to their family pear farm which is about to be sold. She meets a too hot for a small town fruit scientist / farmer looking after the farm played by Ryan Paevey. The farm is bucolic looking and the pears look delicious.

One of the more successfully put together Hallmark romances.

My husband and I enjoy Hallmark movies, especially during the fall and winter holiday seasons. Both of the lead actors have starred in General Hospital (Ryan Peavy still does), and I was looking forward to seeing them in this movie. The plot was very thin and the acting was very bland. There wasn't much chemistry between them. There have been other Hallmark movies with the same theme about saving the family farm, so this one needed some pizazz to make it fresh, but sadly there was none. The only thing that was different was the fruit. Jen Lilley smiled way too much for my taste. She seemed more like a love-struck teenager than an accomplished surgeon. She is very pretty and has big beautiful eyes, but after awhile it was very annoying seeing her doe-eyed smile in every scene.