Hallmark have proven many times that they are capable of making something watchable at least and the best of them are actually very good. Some of those being films with very unappealing premises but somehow managing to make something charming out of it. Also watched it as someone who has liked Kristoffer Polaha in a lot of other things. What did dampen my expectations was that the idea of the film did not sound appetising and because of not being a fan of Meghan Markle (here before she became one of the world's most hated people) as an actress.
'Dater's Handbook' didn't do it for me. It does nothing to make an unappetising premise more appealing, in fact what made it so unappealing on paper was exaggerated in the execution. And it certainly does nothing to change my mind on Markle, either as an actress or as a person. Is it a terrible film? No, and it has its redeeming merits. It just does so many things really badly, some of the things done badly didn't surprise me but there were also things that should have worked that has worked elsewhere but doesn't here in 'Dater's Handbook'.
Starting with the good things, Polaha is great. He is as usual subtly charismatic and has an easy going charm that makes his character likeable. Jonathan Scarfe also appeals, though his character is not as interesting.
The production values are attractive, Hallmark nearly always deliver on at least nice scenery (even if they are often not the real locations) and this is no exception. Some of the soundtrack is pleasant and the supporting cast do their best.
Markle however is awful, she has little personality at times that is evident in some wooden line delivery, over-compensates at other points with some very affected facial expressions and comes over as very self absorbed. That her character is so impossible to endear to badly unbalances the film and actually wrecks it, a character with no real redeeming qualities seeemingly and with too many exaggerated negative traits to count (shallow-ness and arrogance being the most frequent). She also has no chemistry with either Polaha or Scarfe (that with Scarfe is a non event).
Also found the story execution very unrealistic, ruined by not only finding it hard to buy what either male lead saw in her that was remotely attractive but also finding it even more difficult to believe how they didn't see through or know what she was up to when it was so obvious. Scarfe's character comes over as naive. Other than Polaha's, almost all the characters are one dimensional and not fleshed out, basically bland typical Hallmark cliches. It is also very predictable, it's an old premise executed conventionally and with nothing new sprinkled with too much of a manipulative streak (with how Markle's character treats everybody else) that is distasteful and overdone.
Dialogue is awkward with the comedy being contrived and the drama being too sentimental. The ending is far too neat and convenient, it was very obvious from the start what the final decision was and it is one that makes one go "why".
Overall, mediocre with an unbearable female lead character. See it for Polaha and Hallmark completest sake. 4/10.
