Worth: $12.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Merritt Patterson, Joshua Sasse, Meg Fraser, Mitchell Bourke, Lynn Gilmartin, Charlotte Chimes, John Harding
Intro:
The story is comfortable in its predictability, delivering exactly what it promises while staying true to its family-friendly sensibilities.
Professional matchmaker Lucy Marks (Merritt Patterson) is outstanding at finding love matches for her clients, even though she herself remains interminably single. A chance meeting with a handsome stranger (Joshua Sasse) teases the possibility that Lucy’s dating life might not be as desolate as she thought, that is until she walks into her office the next morning to find that very same stranger is in fact her newest client, Finn Grayson. Determined not to betray her ethics for a chance at romance, a complicated battle between heart and mind ensues, but how can Lucy’s morals stand a chance against Finn’s charms?
Screened in North America on Great American Family – a network known for its family-oriented entertainment, Australian production company Jaggi Entertainment (Love is in the Air, A Royal in Paradise) delivers another sweet and wholesome feel-good romance to fall in love with. Merritt Patterson, a Hallmark Channel favourite, thrives in a genre she clearly knows well, unafraid of prolonged eye-contact and a swelling score. Joshua Sasse (Galavant, Monarch) steps away from both musicals and his British Accent to take on the role of American heartthrob Finn. The two share a solid chemistry that truly finds its feet during their most awkward and fumbling moments. Sasse is a confident lead, and yet Finn Grayson is at his most endearing when bumbling his way through attempting to woo Lucy into Not-Dating him, exchanging his debonair aloofness for a clumsy sincerity that is far more appealing.
Yet another star of the film is its stunning locale—a Queensland vineyard with sweeping views of native bushland. While set in Seattle, the filming took place in the Brisbane CBD, and surrounding locations in Woolloongabba and Pullenvale. An Australian herself, director Jo-Anne Brechin (Zelos, Paper Champions) manages to make excellent use of the scenery without breaking the illusion of the film’s American setting.
Another dynamic choice is the use of modern technology as part of the everyday communication between characters; a realistic approach given Finn and Lucy’s relationship as client and matchmaker, oftentimes their dialogue appears as a text message or email on the screen, read out via voiceover for greater accessibility. It’s a sweet nod to romance movies of old where characters might communicate via love letters, only without the clunkiness of trying to focus the camera on too-small text or resorting to the character unnaturally reading their missives aloud to an empty office.
Matchmaking stories are a staple of the romance genre, and this one executes the formula perfectly. The story is comfortable in its predictability, delivering exactly what it promises while staying true to its family-friendly sensibilities.
