Make Me a Match

7.4 stars.

I was pleasantly surprised by the presentation of this film, the actors are all ready to shine, the male lead is a come-from-behind guy who really starts to step us as time goes on. I like his laid back approach. The lead female is very endearing. There are some glaring inconsistencies, but that's fine. One of them is the fact that Indian friends and other people are sprinkled throughout the story and that's not convincing to me. There is no Indian culture in her life at all save the main female matchmaker and her son who runs the business. That makes for an unconvincing story somewhat, nevertheless it's enjoyable.

Hallmark has been making films recently that share dating and marriage traditions of differing religious and ethnic groups. So far, I think they have been tasteful done and this film is no exception. I actually loved it. The lead actors had great chemistry and I appreciated all of the cultural sharing with someone who was open and receptive. It did remind me a bit of the film What's Love Got To Fo With it...so if you liked this film, you should check that one out.

This tells the story of Vivi a young woman who not only works for an internet dating app, but was used as a success story in their advertisements...that is until she finds out that the guy she was dating for just over a year was cheating on her. Back to square one, she and her friend Neela first seek out the data guys in the analytics department only to discover the app had a less than ten percent success rate. Then they see an advertisement for an Indian matchmaker who has a greater than 90% success rate. They hatch a plan to secrete shop Raina's matchmaking process and try to incorporate part of her process into their dating app. Raina's son and business partner, Boom, is also on board as he thinks it will help move his mom's matchmaking into more modern times and garner them more business in the long term. Raina reluctantly agrees, but only on the condition that it's Vivi herself who goes through the process and that she takes it seriously. This begins a journey in which Boom is the concierge or liaison for the process...bringing the two closer.

I thought the traditions were lovingly shared, including the steps of the matchmaker's process. I appreciated how open and willing Vivi was to learn. I also appreciated that she was never treated like a dumb American or outsider. This is a big recommendation to all the romantics out there it was colorful and fun. I was worried that the divorce storyline might sour me for the film, but I think the rest was romantic enough to overcome the sad side note.

I really do wish that they had half scores here, such as 7 1/2 or 8 1/2. As I wrote in the title, this movie started out very middle of the road. I felt the lead actress came across as though she just got the script and was "acting" rather than being true to the character. Slowly, but surely, as the movie went on, I found myself becoming involved and caring about the characters. As in most romcoms, you know who is going to end up with whom, but it was not until the last half of the movie that you could see the reasons. The script became more specific, as well as the acting becoming more believable. I really liked the fact that her parent's marriage, without being a spoiler here, ended up the way it did. Things like this portion of the movie, and the details in delving deeper into characters, made it worth watching until the end.

I enjoyed this movie on several levels. First, it was so nice to see Eva in an adult role, after seeing her as Jennifer Shannon's teen daughter in the Garage Sale mysteries. It was also nice to see a new leading man, handsome and likeable and a good match for Eva's character. But the real star of this story is Raina, a lovely, caring woman that has had a great love in her life and now wants to help others find that same future. We learn and appreciate the customs and ceremonies of the Indian culture and see the joyful engagement and wedding events. Some realism is also included with the breakdown of Vivi's parents' marriage and the acceptance of the idea that love sometimes comes to an end. There was much to enjoy in this move. Very well done.