Una pizca de amor

What a terrific time! After a long, tough day, I sat down in front of the television daring something to entertain me. I'm so glad I stumbled on A Dash of Love on the Hallmark Channel. The whole setup was really engaging, the performances were spot on, and the story hooked us in from start to finish. I thought I knew where the whole thing was going, but the screenplay, by Judith and Sandra Berg, kept me guessing. Don't let this gem pass you by.

OK, maybe I intended to make a pun and it backfire. What do I have to say? I LOVED this movie. I expected this to be a classic Hallmark movie that I enjoy for half and hour, and maybe pause three or four times to check twitter, but let me tell your something: I didn't paused it, not even once! And that's when I know it's going into my Hallmark's favorite movies list.

First of all. The plot was good. The acting was good, even the secondary characters were good. I swear 30 minutes into the movie and I was smiling life a fool.

Brendan Penny - and here I thought he had chemistry with Rachel Leigh Cook - may be one of my favorite Hallmark guys (along with Andrew W.Walker) and even though I enjoyed what he has done, he had me here smiling like an idiot. I saw Jen Lilley in "The spirit of Christmas" just yesterday and she did a good job, but in this movie, she was great, she played the adorable girl who is trying to get her dream come true. The most important thing is that...

What had me smiling for an hour straight is the chemistry between the two leads, OH MY GOD, I'm still smiling while I write this. I really hope they get to make another movie together. I'll be the first in line to watch it.

I really enjoyed A Dash of Love, but there were a few things that slightly interfered with the obligatory "Hallmark Channel suspension-of-disbelief". Jen Lilley was really beautiful (and those HUGE eyes!) in the role of Nikki, but for a hard-working chef, she was almost too glamorous. There are a number of scenes where she's over a stove with full make-up, her hair down, manicured nails, and wearing high heels. I'm not in the food service industry, but does this seem right? Even when she's outside of the kitchen, she was always fully made-up and seemingly wore 15 different shades of lipstick throughout the movie. While Lilley did a good job of making the character sympathetic for the audience, this might have been a better opportunity for someone a little more "plain Jane".

And about this "pop-up" restaurant idea. Is it really that easy to procure permits and insurance for just a few days? This may actually be possible, taking into account the number of food trucks out there, but I don't know for sure.

Also, would 100% of their reservations really cancel based on one bad review? In spite of these things, I still enjoyed the movie. What will make it unforgettable for me is the usage of Sinatra's version of "The Way You Look Tonight". Priceless!

I initially tuned in to watch the movie without much hope it would be anything more than the usual Valentine's Day drivel. I was pleasantly surprised, especially by the very solid performance by Jen Lilley. This was her best performance to date, in my opinion. Other performances by other actors was acceptable but nothing outstanding. Nevertheless, I found the movie quite pleasing and fun to watch.

The story line is pretty ordinary and Brendan Penny, who has the male lead, is nothing special but Jen Lilley is both charming and delightful, making this movie a worthwhile watch.

So many Hallmark movies have vapid, often too loud background music. This one has an Original soundtrack that was SO posiitive(and Noticeable!) to this movie. (Not to mention Sinatra singing "The Way You Look Tonight") Really enjoyed this one, and I'd give personal accolades to the musician that was creative enough to make this one stand out from the usual Hallmark Movies, but if I try & go back to get his name, I'll never find my way back to this comment. Hah!