Valentine Ever After

source: Valentine Ever After

I had not read any info about this one when it came on so I was happily surprised by the detour the plot took. An unsure engagement leads 1 new fiancée' to escape with her silly best friend on an adventure. The two gal pals have fun banter and land themselves in silly situations. Certain "souvenir photos" made me laugh. They end up on a ranch and of course there is a Hallmark-esque fundraiser. This has more comedy than most and the two lead actresses are believable friends and funny together. Autumn Reeser is perfect in her role as is Vanessa Matsui. Autumn's character has her choice of two very different men and definitely makes the right decision, of course. I enjoyed watching their sweet romance develop and the beautiful scenery.

This is certainly my favorite Hallmark movie. All of the actors are good in this one, especially the leads. Eric Johnson is a hunky cowboy and Autumn Reeser plays a girl with a brain and a heart. The scenery is gorgeous and the love story is not contrived like many. One scene between Julia and her fiancé seems ad libbed and a little awkward, but that is a minor flaw. I have seen both of these actors in other movies, and liked their performances, but they are just plain excellent in these roles. When Ben rides up on his horse to greet the stranded girls, he is a cowboy. I watch a lot of Hallmark movies, but I watch this one over and over.

Autumn Reeser is always charming and cute, she totally had chemistry with Eric Johnson. I loved Autumn in " A Bramble House Christmas, add it to you must see list. This is the first movie I have seen with Eric Johnson he did an outstanding job. Basic plot Julia's boyfriend, Gavin just proposed to her in front of friends and family in a crowded restaurant. Gavin's Mama immediately, as in right after he pops the question, begins planning a wedding with 200 guets and assumes that Julia will work with their family business. By the next day the guest list has grown to 400. Big announcement in the paper. Julia is feeling stressed and decides to go to Montana with her bestie Sydney, superbly played by Vanessa Matsui. So two big city girls in cowboy country, what could possibly go wrong? Well, you could go to check out the local nightlife and accidentally break the treasured statue of the town's founder. The Judge, did I mention the Judge is a descendant of the founder, sentences them to 30 days community service. Sydney, and Jullia try and fail at several different jobs before they land at the hospital, Julia, the more adept and adaptable of the duo takes the cleaning job and Vanessa is assigned to talking to a patient. Julia spies a poster about the hospital needing to raise money. Bright idea!!! Sydney's mama is fundraising dynamo. The Judge agrees that they can do a fundraiser for the as their community service. Syndey goes home to work from that end and Julis stays in Montana. Where she is very attracted to hunky, attractive Ben.. I wpon't spoil it for you, but you know she ends up with Ben. All the predictable twists and turns that we all love. My advice; watch the movie, you won't be sorry.

Gotta admit I like Autumn Reeser in anything but I got a chuckle out of her and Vanessa Matsui bumbling their way through this rom- com. Out of their element in Wyoming, these Chicago girls end up having to do community service for becoming mixed up in a bar fight. Ben is a rancher who puts them up at his place. They fail at several jobs before they finally get it right at a nursing home. The movie moves on quickly from there as the girls scheme up a fundraiser to save the ranch from foreclosure. In the meantime Julia rides a horse like she's been on one all her life but we'll ignore that. It's clear that sparks are flying between Ben and Julia and why not? So we're now approaching 1hr :30 mark and it's time for that plot twist that will ruin everything......at least until the 1hr;55 mark. Sydney, banished to Chicago to sell raffle tickets, video calls Julia with a favorable report. Dancing ensues at a cowboy bar when suddenly Julia's fiancee shows up. This guy is a conceited creep and their 3 year courtship is baffling but he's filthy rich which Ben isn't so will Julia choose Chicago over Wyoming? And will they save the ranch? Complicating things further is when fiancee Gavin mentions that he can help with the failing ranch financials which Julia hadn't even told him about. So now even after Julia has resigned herself to returning to Chicago there's a Valentine's gala for the raffle fundraiser. Julia overhears Gavin talking to someone about his distaste for Julia's charity work. Julia has an epiphany and sends Gavin packing at the 1:53 mark. Ben has no idea what's happened which leads to some tense moments at the charity auction. Thanks to some help from her father and Ben's mom Julia wins a dance with Ben and gets to tell him the good news. Who doesn't love a happy ending? I wish Sydney had been involved more but I'm sure we haven't seen the last of Vanessa Matsui. A solid 6!

With a smart script and some lovely performances this film has a few nice twists on the usual Hallmark film format. Well worth a watch.

There is a lot of humor in this Hallmark formulaic movie. What sets it apart are the supporting characters; I wanted more of them and less if the leads.

Could Contain Spoilers Ahead: What I found most endearing is the family and friends that support the male lead character (Ben Thomas). Of course the boyfriend back home is always 'over the top' in how different he is than the lead woman, but that's to be expected in these kind of movies. But it is sweet, none the less and has some subtle and sweet humor along the way.

This movie is every nature-loving girl's dream. The plot was well-written, down to her connecting with her mother's memories through the horses and nature. It was absolutely beautiful in every way, and Autumn Reeser is one of the best Hallmark actresses out there!

I'm a big Autumn Reeser fan and this was a nice change of character. Usually she plays charming, lovestruck roles but this was a truly comedic role for the most part. Her facial expressions during the various snafus are funny without even speaking. That's good acting when you can express an emotion to the audience without words. I admit the plot is pretty contrived and when the movie moves from comedy to serious romance in the second half it kind of loses something. Her sidekick in crime is also appealing and has a flair for comedy too.