Un festival pour la Saint-Valentin

I usually enjoy the Hallmark stuff as a distraction, and like Lenz in a lot of other stuff but this one s so trite ..... I couldn't get 15 minutes into this without being TOTALLY annoyed by the incessant background music.

A Valentine's Match was a pleasant surprise after the last few really bad Hallmark movies I have watched. These days it seems like a struggle to be able to even tolerate half of them, especially the newer ones. This movie was well acted and had a few touching scenes. Even though it was the usual done-a-hundred-times-before plot, I really enjoyed all of the characters and thought it was well put together.

There's plenty of the usual Hallmark checklist items in the movie, but a few new twists raise it above many (for example the last two scenes as well as the 'best friend' being a new acquaintance). The plot and characters could easily be built on so they should do a sequel. The young married couple could also have a movie of their own, maybe a prequel. Either way, there's a lot of cross-generational fun to be had.

The actress isn't appealing enough for a romance movie. Luke MacFarlane would look better with longer hair. The buzz cut isn't right. The story is forgettable about old flames in the small town. Nothing new. Why bother?

It seems that this movie takes place in Oregon (we see the plane landing at Portland International Airport when Natalie returns home). But is there a Hudson Valley in Oregon? Many times during the movie we see the sign on the barn that says "Hudson Valley's 25th Annual Valentine's Day Festival". Excuse me, but the Hudson Valley is in New York, just north of New York City.