User reviews

I immediately found it interesting to see Eloise Mumford in the role of the magic maker when almost two years ago she starred opposite that person in The Baker's Son.

Two common themes make the premise for this movie. The family store is in trouble due to a huge rent hike so they need publicity. And a reporter is sent to cover the story of the magic chocolates but his default mode is expose. I hate the latter and usually leads to a predictable conflict but not that particular one here. The story follows the usual path of meeting people who tell romantic stories, and this part works. The conflict turns out to be a mixture of small things. And then the ending is spectacular. I usually get turned off by showy public speeches, but this one was done just right. The interview leading up to the ending helped build up to it.

Mumford and Dan Jeannotte have very good chemistry. A lot of that is Mumford's shy flirtation. Overall, the acting is good and the dialogue is decent.

This was a romantic addition to the Hallmark film vault and perfectly timed for Valentine's Day. The general story is about a family run chocolate shop that is going to have difficulty making the 40% rent increase and a local reporter who wants to be an on air anchor but has only done gotcha exposé pieces.

The two end up working together for a mutually beneficial project that gives Lucy Sweet much needed exposure for her Sweet Chocolate Shop and Dean Chase gets to show off a softer side as they interview couple for the sweet shop's wall of love. You see Lucy Sweet's grandfather has a special chocolate called the Cupid, that was not for sale but only for friends and family. When Lucy took over the family business and she found her grandfather's secret recipe, her mom talked her in to selling the Cupids for Valentine's Day. The Cupid chocolates seem to have a magical way of bringing couples together...queue the special interest piece on couples brought together by the Cupid.

This was such a sweet and romantic film that didn't discriminate on the type of love represented on the wall...second chance romances, heterosexual, homosexual...everyone's story is told. Meanwhile our two stars seem to be hitting it off with some amazing chemistry and chocolate making!

These two were romantic gold, Eloise Mumford and Dan Jeannotte.

I highly recommend this film to fellow romantics and chocolate lovers. This is an excellent Valentine's Day film. The romance touch m so much I cried!

This Hallmark romance, like many, is formulaic, which is okay. We expect some of that from their homey homilies on hometown hegemony over metropolitan mores.

In this one, you can expect: A bakery. Check. A smalltown girl. Check. Her initial resistance to his charms. Check. Her gradual softening. Check. A legend about an item bringing true love. Check. Someone longing for a big promotion. Check.

The bakery is run by Lucy Sweet (Eloise Mumford). At the beginning of the story, she is rather sour, despite her name. And her recalcitrance when it comes to love lasts longer than most Hallmark heroines, but the film does have a satisfying ending. Hang in there for the emotional payoff.

I'm a big fan of Eloise Mumford but her character's name, Lucy Sweet, is kinda ridiculous, even for Hallmark (and yeah, we get how reporter Dean Chase is always "chasing" down his next story).

Mumford spends a lot of the movie looking extremely pained and angst ridden- pretty much the opposite of, for example, the always smiling Ashley Williams (I like her too but they have very different styles).

Lucy is apparently very depressed because the rent for her beloved chocolate candy kitchen is going way up. She's also really sad because her dad died. But unless I misunderstood, he didn't just die; I think they said he died 8 years ago. Hey, I get that it's sad to lose a parent. I miss mine every day. But she seemed REALLY upset, like it just happened. And it supposedly made her swear off love because she doesn't want to lose someone she loves.

That's kind of a weird set up, but I was still drawn in by Mumford's engaging presence, and she's surrounded by a strong cast. Her mother Helen is "sweetly" played by Brenda Strong, probably best known for her role in Desperate Housewives. Lucy's love interest is also well played by Dan Jeannotte from The Bold Type. He had kind of a tricky role because, in order to create a kind of mild version of the "enemies to lovers" trope, he's a bit of jerk at the beginning (bad mouthing the business to customers at the business is very uncool).

Fortunately, that only lasts for a few scenes and Lucy actually commends him for being the kind of reporter who "looks out for the little guy" (that scene was one of the best). He added a healthy skepticism about the "magic" chocolate, and ended up doing a really nice job with the story about Lucy's shop. I also really liked Linda Ko, the actress who played his boss. Her character was very capable, strong and no nonsense- without being mean or unpleasant. It was a well written and very well acted role.

I also liked the chemistry between Lucy and Dean. There were lots of smoldering looks and up close heat (especially when they danced and again when they worked together in the kitchen). I was generally pleased with the story but, as usual, Hallmark tends to ignore the real world of business. In most commercial leases, rent increases occur annually based on the Consumer Price Index. Well established reliable businesses have long term leases with 5 year options that include rent increases that are also typically tied to the CPI. When a business' rent is unexpectedly scheduled to go up, it's invariably in connection with a new lease, and these usually get negotiated 6 months before the current lease term term ends.

If the landlord really wants to increase the rent by more than 60% (highly unlikely in the current commercial rental market, especially with a small property) and the tenant can't bring in enough money to absorb that, then they need to either 1) move to a new location, 2) increase their prices, 3) increase their sales, or 4) all three. Here, there was no talk of the first two, and the business was already shown in several scenes as having long lines of people out the door (although those scenes seemed unrealistic).

Remarkably, there was even one scene where Lucy threw good paying customers out of the store. If business was so good, and they were having such a hard time meeting such a high demand, what exactly was the problem other than their inexplicable failure to hire additional help or find a new location?

But I was very happy to see that the inevitable conflict that showed up 3/4 of the way through didn't involve a stupid misunderstanding or some phony anger between the 2 future lovers. Those tropes are getting very old and I'm adding a star just for avoiding them in this movie.

And as part of their commitment to being more diverse, this Hallmark production briefly included 2 different LGBTQ couples. I thought the 2 little old ladies, in particular, were cute and realistic, but I fully expect to see at least 1 or 2 homophobic reviews here by intolerant people who will take pride in switching over to GAC where 7% of the population gets completely ignored.

Overall, this was a pleasant diversion with one of my favorite Hallmark actresses, so thumbs up from me.

8.3 stars.

If you wish to enjoy a character study of a female chocolatier that owns a small shop somewhere in the states, this is the film to watch. Here is an in depth analysis of a woman who claims to be a realist, but is a cynic at the far end of the spectrum when it comes to believing in true love. She believes in the power of chocolate maybe too much. She makes cupid chocolate that when people eat it they quickly fall in love. There are many secrets to this chocolate that you will discover if you choose to see it. I suggest that you do.

What I really treasure about "Sweeter Than Chocolate" is that it portrays the depth of love that many hopeless romantics exhibit in spite of living in a cruel and painful world. Lucy is very hesitant to experience true love because for years after her father died, she and her mother were devastated beyond measure. It is a wonder either one recovered from the fallout of their unutterable loss. It's obvious from their level of pain that he was a most wonderful and beloved man. Lucy claims that that it was her mother who was desolate and damaged with the loss, but you will come to recognize that Lucy was equally as broken, if not more.

Dean is a reporter doing a story about her chocolate shop and the famous cupid magic love chocolate. He is blindsided by more than this completely audacious farce of a fairy tale chocolate as he gets to know Lucy and her history. In the meantime, he has aspirations to do bigger and better stories, but for now he is stuck trudging his way through this story in order to get to the big time. What he didn't expect was to meet this charming and wonderful chocolate maker named Lucy.

This is the tale of their magical love story, about his desire to be an anchorman and the permanent imprint that she leaves on him. His choices are inevitably altered as he is swept up by her irresistible charm. You too will be swept up by the magic of Lucy and Dean's romantic adventure, and then realize it is indeed "Sweeter Than Chocolate".

"Sweeter Than Chocolate" reminds us that we must be willing to love, because it's infinitely worth it. You've heard the famous quote "better to have loved and lost..." So true, but said in a different way, in spite of the anguish of losing your true love, the experience of love itself is worth it. Is love worth the grief? What is love without grief? What is happiness without pain? What is light without darkness? You get the point. This movie reminds of that point, and it's exactly what I needed.

One of the other reviewers called it depressing. I call it hopeful. It's about healing from grief, and overcoming one's fears to take that leap of faith. Eloise Mumford is an excellent actress. She was also great in "The Presence of Love."

I really like that the late conflict of the movie wasn't some forced misunderstanding between the leads, or really any problem between them. It was about her needing to overcome her fear, and him needing to decide what he wants.

The middle of the movie features a lot of couples talking about love. This is a heads-up that two of the couples are gay, and one of them kisses.

"Sweeter Than Chocolate" should be re-titled "Depressing as hell." Ok, I watch Hallmark movies as an escape and to enjoy the romance and love stories. This one sounded good. There's a lot of melancholy and 30 minutes before this movie ends, the main character gets unexpected news that makes her sad and from there, her day keeps getting worse and worse and even worse. And, sure, being Hallmark everything is all good again by the end. But I personally did not want to ride along with the upset, negativity, tears, drama and fears. It was too much. I watched until the end because I had to see it get better. I like the light-hearted and fun ones or the sweet, romantic, tender ones. And don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed other Hallmark movies where the characters are still overcoming a past loss. Most of those, are still positive and uplifting in their own ways. This one was had too many other snags going on that upset the characters. Melodramatic and a downer Hallmark movie in my opinion.

Lucy Sweet (convenient, but it has an explanation) is a soon to be struggling chocolatier who is given an amazing opportunity when journalist Dean wants to make a story about the "Cupids", chocolates that supposedly make you fall in love.

Eloise is a Hallmark favorite of mine and there were moments in this movie when she kind of made me nervous, but I understood where she was coming from. She just wants to take care of her family and their legacy. Meanwhile, Dean is very ambitious and they crash at first but they end up being a great team. Their chemistry was beautiful, it's all in the little gestures.

The final conflict wasn't forced and it developed naturally. Kudos for that. Also my country was mentioned, yay!

This feature reminded me why I love these silly movies. It took me back to when I only started watching them and all of them felt one of a kind.

I tried to watch this (okay, I didn't try very hard).

But in the first minute, the lead character reads a letter that says her rent is increasing 62% every month. "That should be illegal!" she exclaims.

This means she would be going from paying let's say $2,000 in January and then by April she's paying $8,500 and then $13,775 in May.

If we are to believe the writers that this character received this letter, then that means 1 of 2 things about this character is true: 1 - the letter doesn't actually say that and it's probably an annual lease with a 62% increase. That means she's a moron who doesn't know how to read who doesn't know how math works and there's no way she should be running her own business.

OR 2 - the letter does say that. Which means it is illegal. I don't care what fictional town you live in, but any legal group would want to know and she needs to talk to a lawyer and talk to the mayor of the fictional town and fight that absolutely insane unbelievable rent increase. Instead she just accepts it and needs to find a way to keep her business open which again means that she is a moron and should absolutely not be in charge of her own business.

I am so mad when movies try to throw absolutely stupid moronic characters at us, try to tell us they can run a successful business, and expect us to just sit there and take it. And why is the unbelievably stupid moronic business owner always a woman?

IN A NUTSHELL: Just in time for Valentine's Day, this sweet rom-com was directed by David Weaver and based on the novel. It's being aired on the Hallmark movie channel as the first one of four movies in the "Loveuary" lineup. It's the story of a TV reporter who goes to investigate a local bakery that is rumored to have the secret recipe to finding true love on Valentine's Day.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Kids will be bored.

There is a gay couple that talks about how they met. They kiss.

An old lesbian couple talks about how they met.

THINGS I LIKED: I used to teach classes at the famous Le Cordon Bleu Culinary College! Yep, I have the weight gain to prove it too. We had an incredible chocolatier there who now has her own tea house in Las Vegas called Queen of Hearts, featuring some beautiful chocolates and other delights. Check it out! Tell Chef Sweetster that I sent you. Yes! That's her real name! Amazing, right?

The cast of this movie includes mostly new faces unless you're already a Hallmark fan. The one you'll probably recognize is Brenda Strong because she was in Desperate Housewives. Also in the cast are Eloise Mumford, Dan Jeannotte, Christin Park, and Linda Ko.

The two romantic leads DO have chemistry. I thought their romance was believable.

Hallmark always cracks me up with their play on names for their characters. Lucy, the chocolatier, explains how her grandmother changed their family's last name to sweet because it would make a good story in the chocolate business. The male lead is Dean Chase, a reporter who is always "chasing" a story and his dream of becoming a news anchor.

The two bosses in the film are both women.

I loved the reveal of the secret ingredient in "Cupid's Chocolates." Maybe I was feeling extra emotional, but it actually brought tears to my eyes.

Sometimes, romantic movies like this one can paint a very rosy picture of "living happily ever after." One of the elements of the story I thought was great was that it didn't gloss over the hard things about relationships and marriage. There is talk of the death of a loved one and how much pain that brought. Others talk about how hard love can be but that it's worth it. All true.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: At the beginning of the movie, a character reads a letter that explains the rent for the store is going to increase 62% every month. That's insane. Did the writers not understand what that math would mean?

Two characters state that people over 20 years and 40 years don't eat milk chocolate. Why? Weird. I love milk chocolate. Don't you?

It always bugs me that the female protagonists in Hallmark movies are so serious and easily overwhelmed by problems, while the male protagonists are much more playful and entertaining.

I wish there had been more humor.

!

Made it almost made it halfway through before I lost my cookies, uh chocolate. The main male character's boss was unrealistic. She had no real emotion. Seemed as though she read her lines. The male character went from jerk to decent in no time. Love Eloise Mumford in almost everything she is in. This one didn't fit. And then halfway in Hallmark brought in their token character to satisfy their new agenda. Which is not wholesome or family friendly at all. Their movies are reaching an all time low. The writing is bad. The actors and actresses seem to be reading all their lines. Just wasn't worth my time to finish it.

This was sweet story, of course pretty predictable.

I would stop watching it at beginning, but saw something realistic - price increase, what is something happening a lot this years (and yes, plenty of shops, confectionery and similar closed in my town). Some clearly stated that it was because of rent increase.

And then they two met - not under best circumstances - first almost traffic accident, then some disagreements about ... basically ways of advertising .

And then the usual thing - getting along. Yep, romantically. But whole time there was factor of special old family receipt chocolate, the faith chocolate, I would say. And lot of screen time went about it.

And what was in happy finale ? Basically proving that all it is wrong about - because they two were already in love before consuming it. Yeah, self contradiction.

But we learned that for it bravery is needed. And earlier that older people (like over 20 years :-) ) should avoid milk chocolate.

Well, should add 'fantasy' to movie category too.

I clicked on 'no spoilers' - really hard to believe that there is someone who don't expect happy ending. Poster self says it clearly.

Eloise Mumford is a slow actress. Anything she plays in is horrible because she never smiles all her parts she acts like she hates her parts. I despise actors/actresses like this. The movie is slow going, the main actor is as bad as lead actress. Please Hallmark let her go, or give her better roles to play in. If I know she is in a movie no one in my family watches because she is absolutely horrible. We need happier movies these days. These kind are boring and very depressing. We like mystery, suspense, and laughter. Who cares about a piece of candy the maker has never tried since she's been making.

I liked the chemistry between Brenda Strong and Eloise Mumford as mother - daughter. I liked the gay friendly position. And Dan Jeanotte is just the amusing guy.

Each of this - I liked- is real significant for a film who you know, too well, unfortunatelly, the recipe.

Its sin, maybe the not so convincing story of Cupid candies. But it is a Valentine day film, so, a sort of modern fairy tale and the indulgence is just necessary in its case. But the good point can be only the make of chocolate, the reference to paprika and the stories of people together, after years .

So, pretty more than nice. Especially for fair relation mother - daughter.