When Love Springs (2023) ‘Hallmark’ Movie Review: “When Love Springs,” the new Hallmark movie starring Rhiannon Fish and James O’Halloran, is a dive into the colorful and saccharine world of seasonal greetings. Directed by Jo-Anne Brechin from a script positively beaming through its pages (written by Ansley Gordon) and with Hallmark card-esque landscape cinematography, “When Love Springs” is not particularly novel. Neither does it promise to be. It serves well in its intended purpose, which is being a fantastical distraction from the seriousness of life.
Rory (Rhiannon Fish) is a hardworking and ambitious junior publicist. Her only goal is to be made a partner in her PR firm. The only hindrance in her way is her unremitting and rude boss. Despite her boss’s demands, Rory takes time out one day to organize a vow-renewal ceremony for her parents. She, along with her sister, books a lakeside Bed and Breakfast. The same place where their parents met. Thus, it provides the perfect opportunity for the film to be set up in a pristine location with a blue lake, lush greens, and a cozy cottage. Everything that screams ‘romantic.’
For Rory, the romance comes in the form of Noah (James O’Halloran). The chiseled owner of the Bed and Breakfast, with great jawline (astutely mentioned in the film as well). Like any good rom-com, attraction is immediate. But obviously not without its caveats. Enters Jason (Callan Colley), Rory’s ex-boyfriend. Jason does not seem to be as perturbed by the chance meeting as Rory is. And that is for a good reason. His latest girlfriend accompanies him. Not to be outdone by Jason, Rory invents a relationship for herself as well. She introduces Noah as her boyfriend, catching him off-guard.
Thus begins the usual rom-com trope of ‘fake boyfriend/girlfriend.’ Noah becomes Rory’s answer to Jason’s girlfriend to hide her jealousy. We have traveled this road enough times to know that the ‘fake’ part of this relationship is not going to last for long. To the credit of “When Love Springs,” they don’t waste time in establishing the’real’ relationship. The connection between Rory and Noah is apparent, and Ansley Gordon’s script avoids too many messy misunderstandings.
“When Love Springs” does not deviate much from what it wanted to cater to its target audience. The rom-com part is mostly a gateway to transport the film’s audiences to a place where longing and happiness provide a fleeting respite from everything that is reality. It would make you long for a vacation. Like the one, the characters you are watching are having. Rory and Noah traverse through their new-found friendship, and we traverse along with them. Knowing where it leads and how it ends. We still persist because it does provide a nice pause.
For a film that propagates as much sweetness as possible, the dialogue writing is crisp and neat. It does not take the cheesy route, thus creating some meaningful conversations. It tries to be romantic and ‘life-affirmingly feel-good.’ Both of which it manages to attain. Director Brechin, and cinematographer Shing-Fung Cheung, knew what they had as a location, and they utilized this perfectly. The ‘picturesque’ environment is recorded in photographs that might eventually be used as the cover picture of the Hallmark greeting cards through a variety of activities that our main duo goes through.
Credit goes to Rhiannon Fish and James O’Halloran too. They make the Rory-Noah chemistry palpable. Fish is endearing as Rory. She manages to portray Rory in the intended way, where meeting Noah changes her life. The change is subtle because the story wanted to portray that the ‘real Rory’ always existed. Fish plays that perfectly without any drastic changes in her portrayal. The transformation of Rory is smooth. O’Halloran plays the perfect catalyst to that.
“When Love Springs” is a Hallmark movie through and through. When you come for a movie like this, you could enjoy this if you have your expectation set accordingly. I had mine set. And it exceeded that. Sometimes, during the long hours, all you need is a film like “When Love Springs,” which would just be an enjoyably forgettable escapist caper, making us appreciate those fleeting moments.
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