'Love Upstream' (2021)
Opening thoughts: 'Love Upstream' is another film, the second in a row after 'Blueprint to the Heart', that was not watched with high expectations. Not though because of the premise as was in the case of that film, though there was little special about this one too. But as someone who has a thing for relating to characters and not caring for those with overwritten character flaws, and reading the summary sounded like the film would be an example of the latter.
Luckily 'Love Upstream' was a little better than anticipated. It is wildly uneven and the second film in a row (after the aforementioned film mentioned in the previous paragraph) to have a very rough start. Actually even rougher than that film's first quarter. Stick with it though, because in my view 'Love Upstream' did get a lot better and most of it was pretty decent while never great.
Bad things: Am going to begin with the bad things first. It does not start off very well at all, very rough actually to the point of bailing being considered. The dialogue is stilted and contrived. Even worse is that the female lead character is truly unlikeable and pretty much unrootable, due to that the film really overdoes her arrogance, her know it all attitude and how quickly and easily she loses her temper.
Didn't like how the conflict was written, that came out of nowhere and came over as ridiculous to implausibility level and over-heated. It is also at this point that after doing so well with making the female protagonist grow and learn that we go back to disliking her almost as much as in the first quarter or so. It is very formulaic, not unexpected but these were all familiar tropes with familiar (overly so later on) execution.
Good things: Kimberly-Sue Murray and Steve Lund give their all in their roles and are one hundred percent committed. Lund's character was a lot easier to like and invest in and is also more subtle, so his performance is marginally better. The supporting cast support them well, especially zesty Nadine Whiteman Roden. The chemistry between Murray and Lund is quite strong.
Did on the whole find the characters not too badly written, finding them a little above Hallmark cliches, and did warm to them. The character flaws are definitely overdone but their good points are also not downplayed and they at least grow. It looks good, particularly the scenery, and is suitably scored and sympathetically directed. As said earlier in the review, 'Love Upstream' does get a lot better, with the script being wittier, more amusing and flowing a lot more naturally and the pacing tighter and more fluid. While very flawed, the story is cohesive and is on the whole light hearted, sweet and charming.
Closing thoughts: Overall, decent and worth sticking with regardless of any temptations to turn off.
6/10.
