An Unexpected Valentine

There was good chemistry between the leads, Lacey Chabert continues to be the queen of Hallmark movies. But all the driving around New York City, going very fast and always finding a way to pull over to a vacant curb doesn't seem realistic. And we have another Hallmark movie where someone takes a selfie with a camera that has a telephoto lens. That doesn't work. Hard to believe that they made all those stops driving around the city and still got to their events. Timeline does not seem right. That doesn't work either! But the chemistry was good, worth a watch. Supporting cast and scenery was also good.

Hallelujah, a Hallmark movie with a different storyline. Lacey is adorable as always but the story is so unique from the trite, just slightly different than the one before it, movies Hallmark has been making, and remaking again and again.

About the only thing you can predict in this movie is that the two main characters, Hannah and Finn will end up together. The adventure that the two embark on includes a lot of fun, unexpected, and yes, maybe not very realistic moments at times, but hey, what's wrong with a little fantasy? Especially around Valentine's Day. I think the script is well written and the stages and props are quality. I think the only downside is that when you look forward to a Lacey Chabert movie, one always expects enthusiastically I might add, multiple wardrobe changes. Somehow Hallmark managed a complete movie with only one dress lol. Good job Hallmark and the entire cast!

A Hallmark movie that successfully dodges and weaves around the usual tropes that seem to find their way, to one extent or another, into movies from the Crown people.

Lacey Chabert and Robert Buckley are two of the network's most talented stars and they are perfectly cast. Every scene they have together - which is nearly all of them in this imaginative story - are brilliant.

Every now and again, Hallmark gets it right, REALLY right, and this is one of those.

You know how formulate these things can be. A few minutes of heavily expositional dialogue where the characters say things to each other that they already know, strictly for the audience's benefit. A series of contrived events designed to illustrate the quirks of the leads and their apparent incompatibility. Gradual attraction. Then, at 9:35, one of them says something on a phone call that the other one overhears and misunderstands. Followed by reconciliation.

Not this one. This found a fresh path, with reasonable obstacles and a valid payoff. Very pleasant and unexpected. Still, I have one concern: Why did the radio DJ have to pull a 12-hour shift?

The story is not important in this movie. The allure is in the time spent on screen between Lacey Chabert and Robert Buckley. The chemistry is great and the two of them are completely in sync. There are great lines. There are great moments. There is a little physical comedy, but not in a big way.

Mostly it is just two people who never met before on a quest in downtown New York City to find the owner of the engagement ring that was left behind in Finn's car. Along the way, they make a lot of stops. Some are in hopes of finding the owner. There are others involving deliveries. And a couple of rest stops.

If there were any of the usual check-off items for a rom/com, there were barely noticeable. Oh, there were the main character's close friends egging them on to pursue love, but I really didn't notice anything else cliche. Unless you count the inevitable.