Now that spring is here, I wanted to celebrate by reviewing a spring themed movie. There are several options that I could have gone with for this particular post. However, I decided to review The Sweetest Heart because I haven’t reviewed a Hallmark movie since last month. Hallmark has made several good spring themed movies over the years, from last year’s The Perfect Catch to one of my favorites, Hearts of Spring. But ever since Hallmark started their “Spring Fever” line-up in 2016 (originally called “Spring Fling”), the first movie to start off the line-up has been, in my opinion, very mixed. I really liked All Yours, but I thought Love at First Bark was just decent. Where does The Sweetest Heart rank? Find out in my review of this movie!

Things I liked about the film:

• The acting: In The Sweetest Heart, the acting from the cast was good. But there are two actors that were the stand-outs: Julie Gonzalo and Andrea Brooks. Julie has shined on the Hallmark Channel since her debut in Pumpkin Pie Wars! Even when a movie isn’t that good (Falling for Vermont, in my opinion), Julie still pulls off a great performance. Her performance in The Sweetest Heart did not disappoint as it was one of the highlights of this film! Andrea becoming a regular cast member on When Calls the Heart is one of the best things to happen to that show. Since she guest starred on When Calls the Heart in 2015, she has also appeared in several movies for the Hallmark Channel. Andrea’s acting talents have impressed me every time I’ve seen her films. It makes me wish that she would get a lead role in a Hallmark movie.

 

• The on-screen chemistry: I really liked the on-screen chemistry between Julie Gonzalo and Chris McNally! In fact, their on-screen chemistry was better than Julie’s and Victor Zinck Jr.’s on-screen chemistry. The relationship between Maddie and Nate seemed real as well as believable. Their interactions were well written and well-acted! From humorous to endearing, watching Maddie and Nate’s story was very entertaining.

 

• Focus on the cupcakes: The last time we got a Hallmark movie that was either centered around cupcakes or a business that creates cupcakes is Operation Cupcake from 2012. I really liked how Hallmark took a story element that hasn’t been told in a while and incorporated it into one of their newer films. This allows for more stories to be shared as well as more creativity to be adopted by Hallmark. As a fan of Hallmark, I always get excited when Hallmark brings new ideas to the table. While the concept of a cupcake bakery is not new, it is a story point that is getting re-purposed.

What I didn’t like about the film:

• A pace that was inconsistent: Though this didn’t happen throughout the entire movie, there were a few times when scenes felt longer than they were originally intended. Also, there were a few scenes that seemed a little too fast-paced.

 

• Too many storylines: The Sweetest Heart had six plots during the course of two hours. However, two of these plots, the story of Maddie and Alex’s relationship and the community center fundraiser, were simply pointless. In fact, if these two plots were excluded from this movie, it wouldn’t have any impact. Also, the story of Tammy Gillis’s and Clayton Chitty’s characters, Sarah and Luke, could have been made into its own movie.

 

• Too many characters: Because there were too many storylines, it lead to there being too many characters. Two examples of what I’m talking about are the characters of Charley and Emma Beabot. Catherine Lough Haggquist and Jordan Burtchett pulled off a good performance in The Sweetest Heart, but I felt that their respective characters were just there for the sake of being there. Their stories didn’t really add anything to the movie overall.

  

My overall impression:

The Sweetest Heart was a decent film. While there were good things about the movie, there were also not-so-good things about it. Looking back on this movie, I noticed a pattern. I’ve now seen all three of the Hallmark movies that started off each Hallmark movie line-up (Love on the Slopes, My Secret Valentine, and The Sweetest Heart) and, in my opinion, they all have been decent. It’ll be interesting to see how I feel about the rest of the starting films in the upcoming movie line-ups, especially for Christmas. I also wonder which movie from the “Spring Fever” line-up will end up being my favorite. Until then, I will watch each movie with an open mind and I might review some of them for 18 Cinema Lane!

 

Overall score: 7 out of 10

 

Have you seen The Sweetest Heart? What did you think about the film? Please let me know in the comment section!

 

Have fun at the movies!

Sally Silverscreen