'Looking for Mr Right' (2014)
Opening thoughts: Expectations were not massively high to be honest. Sarah Lancaster is often very watchable, even though her filmography is very variable (true for many Hallmark regulars). The premise did not sound very promising, not a new one and one that has been very predictably and not always tastefully done many times. 2014 was a hit and miss year for Hallmark (true for all their later years too), with some good efforts like 'A Ring by Spring' and also some major duds like 'My Gal Sunday'.
'Looking for Mr Right' is one of the major duds and one of Hallmark's worst that year. It is not one of their very worst overall, but it is close and is not a good or fair representation of Lancaster. It is also a film that does nothing to change my negative feelings about the premise and if anything is a perfect example of why the premise too often doesn't work well. 'Looking for Mr Right' is not an irredeemably awful film, but there is almost nothing that feels right.
Good things: Only the nice scenery and some nice shots feel right.
Everything else came over as very wrong. Lancaster is well above what she was given here and her performance feels very affected with everything coming over as overdone as a result of being made to act younger than she is. Her character is also dreadfully written, very indecisive and immature and it made me constantly feel frustrated and annoyed towards her rather than rooting for her. None of the rest of the cast shine well either, with them being able to do nothing with so little to work with. The male lead is especially underused in a role that is thankless and could have been left out, which one does not expect considering the title.
Didn't care for any of the characters, who never come over as real people and instead standard Hallmark cliches and underwritten and under-utilised ones at that. Complete with an annoying and unrootable protagonist. Any romance is next to non existent, with it being practically lost amongst everything else. The chemistry between the cast is static and never looks natural or genuine.
The script is very stilted, especially Lancaster's with so many incomplete sounding sentences that come over as gobbledegook. The story is very predictable, has very little charm, heart or lightness, is very forced in conflict and dragged out. Did find it too easily resolved and there is nothing distinctive about the direction. The music is also far too loud and constant.
Concluding thoughts: In conclusion, very bad with only two things not feeling wrong.
2/10.
