2020 saw four Love Ever After films from Hallmark, 'A Valentine's Match', 'Matching Hearts', 'The Secret Ingredient' and this. Of the four, the best to me was 'The Secret Ingredient' and the worst 'A Valentine's Match'. 'Love in Store' did intrigue me, as the premise did sound interesting and it was great to see a different setting to usual which did make it sound fresh. Although 2020 was a very variable year for Hallmark, some of the films from that year were quite good and more.
'Love in Store' had potential to be one of those quite good and more films, and with the way it started out it looked as if it was going to be. It is just such a shame that the second half isn't anywhere near as good. Of the four Love Ever After films from 2020, 'Love in Store' is the second weakest, although it is a better film than 'A Valentine's Match' (the only less than average one of the four). It's not an awful film, but it's not great and it turns out uneven.
There are definitely good things here. Alexandra Breckinridge and Robert Buckley are very likeable leads, they look great on camera and although their characters do lack depth they were charming to watch and clearly knew what kind of film they were in. Personally really liked their chemistry, they did seem at ease and it was genuine despite having issues with how the relationship was developed in the writing. Most of the supporting cast did a nice job.
It looks good visually, the scenery is suitably photogenic. The first half was very light-hearted and heart-warming, with a lively enough pace and some playfulness, and despite the characters not being explored enough there's nothing about them that makes them dull or annoying. The music is pleasant enough.
Having said that, 'Love in Store' is a long way from perfect. The second half comes over as bland and also feels too rushed, it also becomes very cheesy and where the writers clearly ran out of any original ideas. Particularly unrealistically rushed is the ending, with a very out of the blue big decision that rang very false. More could have been done with the relationship, which despite the chemistry is not developed enough and becomes too hasty.
Also found too much of the dialogue on the forced side and there was too much of an emphasis on bickering. Despite liking the premise a lot, the execution of it could have been more consistent and more could have been done with it. It also could have been fresher, despite a different setting too many of the plot tropes later on are too standard Hallmark. Jackee Harry's performance is truly laboured too to the point of annoyance.
Summing up, uneven but watchable. 5/10.
