This movie is classic Hallmark, very formulaic, and therefore nothing special. The storyline is predictable, the characters undergo all the changes expected of them, and the main relationship never exceeds truly average chemistry.
The plot itself, which features Hope, a dance instructor, teaching Eric, a high society businessman about to be married, is a sweet idea in theory, but fell a little flat during the execution. My main gripe with this movie is that it feels like everyone is underacting; essentially, lots of scenes felt like they were missing emotion. Whether this was a lack in adequate directing, script-writing, or acting, it's unclear, but it feels as if every character is much too reserved to respond properly to the situations they are experiencing. A good example of this is Eric's fiance, Adriana, who speaks aloud every single line of dialogue like she is unbelievably disconnected from her own life. Even when deciding not to get married, Adriana's reaction is extremely dull---amazingly enough, she comes to the realization that she and Eric are not right for each other at exactly the same time, and does not even come across as disappointed or even all that affected, which can be boiled down to sloppy, unrealistic writing. The final scene between Eric and Hope is also missing quite a bit of emotion. Eric flies to London to surprise Hope and declare his love for her, and neither seems all that excited or touched by each other's confessions of love. Quite a bit of this can be blamed on lack of chemistry, but a fair bit of it is also weird acting/directing choices. It makes it hard, as the audience, to connect to a couple that doesn't seem all that persuaded of the strength of their own emotions.
The bad writing goes a bit further, though, because it does feel like every other line was taken straight out of a fortune cookie. The script was full of too many pointless aphorisms that had no real meaning instead of meaty dialogue.
Also, considering it was a movie revolving around dancing, I was a tad disappointed about just how little technique was discussed or the audience got to learn about ballroom dance. The majority of Hope's lessons seemed to teach very little actual technique, and focused instead on relaxation and feeling the emotion of the dance (amusing, considering how little emotion there was to go around). For a dance instructor, Hope sure spends a lot of time just swaying back and forth with Eric, along with the occasional dip. As for the dancing in a pond so he could get the rhythm of the water---what? Wouldn't a public pool, which is cleaner and has more water to move around in, been a better location for this lesson? The movie then continues to show us just how wrong Eric and Adriana are for each other because she, surprisingly, doesn't want to randomly wade into a public pond when he suggests it.
Overall, this movie won't sweep anyone off their feet. It's an under average Hallmark movie because, despite the promising plot, the acting falls short on this one. Both leads have proven themselves over time to be great, versatile actors, but this script/pairing didn't do them any justice.
The plot itself, which features Hope, a dance instructor, teaching Eric, a high society businessman about to be married, is a sweet idea in theory, but fell a little flat during the execution. My main gripe with this movie is that it feels like everyone is underacting; essentially, lots of scenes felt like they were missing emotion. Whether this was a lack in adequate directing, script-writing, or acting, it's unclear, but it feels as if every character is much too reserved to respond properly to the situations they are experiencing. A good example of this is Eric's fiance, Adriana, who speaks aloud every single line of dialogue like she is unbelievably disconnected from her own life. Even when deciding not to get married, Adriana's reaction is extremely dull---amazingly enough, she comes to the realization that she and Eric are not right for each other at exactly the same time, and does not even come across as disappointed or even all that affected, which can be boiled down to sloppy, unrealistic writing. The final scene between Eric and Hope is also missing quite a bit of emotion. Eric flies to London to surprise Hope and declare his love for her, and neither seems all that excited or touched by each other's confessions of love. Quite a bit of this can be blamed on lack of chemistry, but a fair bit of it is also weird acting/directing choices. It makes it hard, as the audience, to connect to a couple that doesn't seem all that persuaded of the strength of their own emotions.
The bad writing goes a bit further, though, because it does feel like every other line was taken straight out of a fortune cookie. The script was full of too many pointless aphorisms that had no real meaning instead of meaty dialogue.
Also, considering it was a movie revolving around dancing, I was a tad disappointed about just how little technique was discussed or the audience got to learn about ballroom dance. The majority of Hope's lessons seemed to teach very little actual technique, and focused instead on relaxation and feeling the emotion of the dance (amusing, considering how little emotion there was to go around). For a dance instructor, Hope sure spends a lot of time just swaying back and forth with Eric, along with the occasional dip. As for the dancing in a pond so he could get the rhythm of the water---what? Wouldn't a public pool, which is cleaner and has more water to move around in, been a better location for this lesson? The movie then continues to show us just how wrong Eric and Adriana are for each other because she, surprisingly, doesn't want to randomly wade into a public pond when he suggests it.
Overall, this movie won't sweep anyone off their feet. It's an under average Hallmark movie because, despite the promising plot, the acting falls short on this one. Both leads have proven themselves over time to be great, versatile actors, but this script/pairing didn't do them any justice.