A Pinch of Portugal

I was really looking forward to this as I have just returned from Lisbon and I am a chef!. However this movie was disappointing!! I'm not sure where they get these B-grade actors from - it spoils what is an already average movie. At the very least - they could have given the actress who plays Anna some basic training on how to use a knife and taught her how to chop/slice the vegetables. As soon as I saw how bad she was I knew it was going to be an average movie. The other disappointing fact was that there were hardly any scenes actually shot in Lisbon - it was mainly outside of the city. I suggest you don't waste your time - a predictable film with an even more predictable ending.

source: A Pinch of Portugal

7.2 stars. The whole food theme is overdone, however it's not been done exactly like this one yet, so that's the only fresh thing about this film. The setting of Portugal is cool, but the whole scene is too polished, too much Hallmark, not quite enough foreign feeling to it. I didn't get the full zest of Portugal, it's too Western-Canadian-British-Aussie feeling and not enough of the grit and grime of the actual country they are attempting to capture. The man who runs the market is a sleeze, which was actually off-putting, I wanted to root for him. The lead female has been in several Hallmarks. She has charisma, the only saving grace of this movie.

source: A Pinch of Portugal

For the first time, to my knowledge, Hallmark takes the viewers to Portugal, purportedly Lisboa, for one of their romantic adventures. Anna, an aspiring chef has the opportunity to replace a celebrity in a cooking show, with a friendly crew, including a charming cameraman from Down Under, Russ. What follows is a fairly generic series of events at a local groceries market, in Cascais, and food stores, among tastings of local offerings, and common meals, that highlight Anna's warm people's skills and enthusiasm for good cuisine. Through these activities and minor dramas, she avails of Russ's constant, kind support. There are a few cute or original moments and a little sightseeing, while the story evolves to its predictable ending. Most is done with reasonable subtlety and in credible tones . Arguably, the personalities of Chef Dean and Lucas could have been played with more finesse. Yet, the overall result is less disjointed or offensive than many other recent Hallmark productions. My personal peeve is that the production has lost the unique chance to provide a meaningful glimpse of the location's rich heritage and remarcable attractions. Most of the sequences could have, or have, been filmed in Mexico, Latin America, California, or else and no one would know the difference. There is absolutely nothing of Lisboa, one of the most attractive cities in Europe, very limited views of beautiful Cascais and a couple of shots of Sintra's Pena Palace. Neither it is explained how Anna And Ross could visit places so far away in their only free day. And the music? Shouldn't the soundtrack have included a little "fado", the very soul of Portugal, instead of the rather generic stuff that was selected? Despite my personal regrets, the movie is fairly entertaining and family friendly, hence worth a look.

Anna (Heather Hemmens) is the prep cook working in the background on a TV cooking show. While the arrogant host is away, she leads a team including hot Australian cameraman Russ (Luke Mitchell) to Portugal to prepare for an upcoming episode. She is guided by local grocer Lucas (Duarte Gomes). Normally, Hallmark doesn't do love triangles. They usually go much more simplistic and undramatic. With Portugal as the exotic backdrop, I expected Anna to go off with the exotic man in the European locations. I can honestly say that I wasn't sure about the resolution during the first half of the movie. It does become obvious soon enough. It's not really that much of a triangle after all. Hallmark is still not actually doing dramas.

Another reviewer stole my thunder. It is true, they showed generic shots of Lisbon at the beginning and once in the middle to make you think that they were in Lisbon. As someone who knows Lisbon well, I could tell where they were most of the time-Cascais and Sintra. I was looking forward to something in Lisbon but I was happy to see some other familiar places. The story was typical Hallmark stuff and I thought Lucas' character changed really abruptly. Maybe that was the point. He was always like that and we just discovered it around the midpoint of the movie. I enjoyed it more than anything because it was filmed in Portugal (if not in Lisbon per se) and the nostalgia factor made me give it an 8/10.

Anna is the prep chef for a famous chef's tv cooking show. They are sent to Portugal to shoot a segment for the show. Unfortunately the problematic head chef is negotiating his new contact and playing hardball. Chef Dean doesn't show up in Lisbon and the crew scrambles to try to fill in with some footage. This puts prep chef Anna in the limelight. The local Portuguese market manager, Lucas, is not only providing help but seems interested in Anna. Anna is doing a bang up job filling in for Chef Dean...in fact the whole crew loves her, especially her best friend and camera man Russ. Years ago Anna made a pass at the handsome Australian Russ, but he put her in the friend zone. The actress Heather Hemmens, who plays Anna, is wonderful and a lovely woman. Likewise, Russ played by Luke Mitchell is quite the charmer but the end kiss needed a little bit of work. Overall, I think I can recommend this hallmark romance to fellow romantics...and the gorgeous Portugal backdrop is worth seeing. It was lovely.

This movie is all about Heather Hemmens and her character Anna. I was impressed that Hemmens had incredible chemistry with both the rivals opposite her, Luke Mitchell and Duarte Gomes. And I think that most of what chemistry there was came from Hemmens. Eventually it is cut short with one of them, but the movie was made more interesting by the fact that it wasn't obvious which it would be until shortly before the one was eliminated. And then, the conflict wasn't about the romance. How that developed surprised me. It's true that it was obvious that the shoe was going to drop on Anna somehow, but I didn't see it coming from that direction. The climax and ending are interesting and I found it to be nice. I love underdog stories and that's what this is with Anna at the center. I loved that she wasn't arrogant and that her personality was all about enjoying life and welcoming other people in. Something along the lines of a crowded table is the best. We see some good scenery from Portugal which is a common Hallmark fixture. The acting is good and so is the dialogue. I will definitely watch this again.

I usually enjoy Hallmark movies - yes, I know how that sounds, but they're typically low-stakes, cheesy romcoms where you know what you're getting, and I like it. Sue me. All that really matters is how the writers execute it. That said, this didn't connect with me, and I wouldn't recommend it (the scenery shot in Portugal was beautiful, though!). My biggest gripe with this is that Anna had so much more believable chemistry with Lucas than she did with Russ. I absolutely hated that they tried to convince us that the entire time, Lucas was just using Anna; while this does happen in real life, none of what was shown previously indicated that he was only in it to get a leg up for his restaurant. We didn't even know he wanted to start one until he told Anna. She and Russ talked several times about how they worked better as friends. Even if Russ was jealous, to me, it would've been the perfect love story if she'd been with Lucas in the end, because the idea of her having this new opportunity in a new country AND finding the love of her life, in my view, makes for a far batter and compelling story. TLDR; Hallmark balked on the love triangle and put its charming female lead with someone blander than a piece of driftwood.