- The first 20 minutes of this film were exceptionally sharp. It was funny, relatable and really reels you in. Arguably the best first act of any Hallmark romcom I've ever seen. And I've seen 250+
- The last hour was painful. I will describe this in equally painful detail below:
- Script suddenly became weak. The initial meeting between the romantic leads had so much potential. But the premise for their encounter was eye rolling and poorly written. I can't stress enough how funny the pre-Niagara scenes were...and the complete absence of humor once they landed in Buffalo.
- The romantic lead's relationship was bizarre. He was her travel guide. His boss was totally ok with his romantic gestures to the customer, who obviously was in an emotionally vulnerable position. He also became borderline obsessive towards her in a way that would scare away most women in real life.
- The plot point where the sister was asked to be the photog for people she just met also felt implausible. I get the need to give the romantic leads space...but the way in was written felt ridiculous.
- Except for the romantic leads (and her fiancé) - who all did great in their roles (all things considered) - the acting was super wooden. The secondary character's romantic subplot lacked even in the remotest amount of chemistry. It was so bad that it appears the director just tried to quietly wrap it up with a couple perfunctory lines at the end.
I could go on and on. There was a thread on the hallmark subreddit praising this film, and after watching the film, I've got to wonder if it was written by someone associated with the film.