Andrew Walker, along with Hallmark completest sake, was my main reason for seeing 'Appetite for Love'. He is one of the Hallmark regulars for good reason and is one of not many consistently good ones, even with characters that are not always likeable and even in the misfires (luckily he has actually been in more winners than misfires in my view). Taylor Cole has been a lot more variable, when her material is good she is charming but when the material isn't she is too much of an ice queen.
2016's 'Appetite for Love' succeeded more than it failed, though it did have potential to be better considering Walker's talent and how cute the premise was. As far as the hit and miss 2016 Countdown to Valentine's Day Hallmark batch goes, 'Appetite for Love' is closer to the quite good 'All Things Valentine', while not being quite on that level, than the lacklustre and often weak 'Dater's Handbook'. Definitely worth a look in spite of its few though quite big flaws.
Which are going to be mentioned first. It is too heavy on the hostility in the first act particularly, which was not always easy to watch, and the film did go overboard on Cole's character's uncalled for rudeness which made her difficult to warm to.
Not to mention it made a crucial decision, which was pretty much a complete and too neat 180, hard to believe and made the character in question look rather naive. It is predictable, with the outcome never in doubt.
This all sounds that 'Appetite for Love' is bad. It isn't, and that has already been made clear by me. Walker is immensely likeable and charming, never overplaying while not phoning in. Despite starting off too clinical for my liking early on, Cole as she warms into the role and the character relaxes matches Walker's charm rather than being an ice queen. The supporting characters are solid and the characters aren't too much like stereotypical ciphers.
It is well filmed with lovely scenery, while the music isn't too constant or over-scored. Most of the writing is fine and balances playful and witty comedic moments with not too schmaltzy or sugary dramatic ones. The story is predictable with things happening too neatly, but it is also crisply paced and light hearted, not taking itself too seriously while not relying on forced jokiness.
Overall, decent if uneven. 6/10.
