I'm mad that I've had these three movies on my dvr since January bc both Expectations and Inspiration (Inspiration is better however) do not live up to the wonderfulness of the first three. If Tracy's movie "Journey," does knock it out of the park, then I won't go out of my way to watch any more in this series if they make them.
Emma and Paolo are my second fave couple in this series after Tracy and Nick. Their whirlwind romance in Italy was sweet, they have chemistry, and Italy is one of my favorite places ever so that movie could not lose as far as I was concerned. I love how Paolo teases her about pizza bc honestly, I felt the same way he does after my first visit there =)
I'm really not sure what to make of these couples as married people. As I mentioned in my Expectations review, Avery and Peter weren't that great of a couple and Emma and Paolo are only slightly better. Pardon the pun, but they all seem (so far, still have to watch Tracy and Nick) to expect and idyllic ideas about marriage as if it'll be a permanent honeymoon phase.
I did not understand Emma holding on to that job. It was stressing her out and affecting her marriage. The "twist" of her boss giving her a hard time just so she'd know she didn't want the job was silly even for Hallmark. It was lowkey creating a toxic and hostile workplace even if Emma "wanted" the job. If this was a drama, the boss would have been reported to HR and then what, she'd say "lol j/k?" What if Emma put up with it longer than she did? She couldn't have an honest conversation with Emma about her goals? Would not a true mentor do that? The career storyline was by far the weakest of the movie. She also seemed to clearly enjoy sharing art history at the store than her daily work at the university.
I really didn't like how Paolo essentially moved to Chicago FOR her, but she couldn't understand why he felt the need to be home. Just like Avery, Emma has problems of her own making. I do not agree with those who say she gave up her dreams for a man...she didn't want the job! She couldn't even handle budget cuts which would have been her job no matter how much she liked her colleagues. She wouldn't have been able to fire herself every time. And he's not just a man, he's her husband. Big difference. She also didn't update her life plan even though she had IDK a major life event take place. But even with that, it was pretty obvious that neither Paolo nor Emma really acknowledged that his family lived so far away and how they would handle him needing to go back there for any real period of time. It felt like to Emma, Italy is just family to visit. He was the only son, very involved in the business side of things(thus even being the one to open the Chicago store), I thought it was incredulous that she was frustrated that he was home spending time with a sick elderly father and helping out. And aside from when he first left, I don't recall her even contemplating going to support him. Also, where are her parents? Do her movies mean to make it seem like family isn't as important to her as it is to Paolo and that's why she can't understand? I think Occam's Razor (aka no need to spend the budget on casting her folks) is the simplest explanation, but I don't know.
The other thing for me (and I said this about Expectations), but the other two friends, depending on the movie, that just drop their own lives to travel for one day therapy sessions seemed more plausible when they were all single. Not when they're all in new marriages and one has a less than a year old child. It makes sense for planned events like the opening of the store or such events, but random visits? No. For all intents and purposes, they're all 40-ish and Emma lives across the country...it just gives dependency. If you and your friends can do that, then your problems likely aren't as big as you imagine.
Speaking of and I"m sure it was a budget thing, but I would have really preferred that Emma actually gone to Italy and Paolo actually had been the one packing to come back to the U. S. Flipping that would have said more to me given that he was trying to still work on their marriage while he was away.
By far, the best part of the movie for me was the love story of Lily and Matteo. I just love Carlo Marks, so seeing him was a welcomed surprise. They were sweet, even if Lily was too old to be so awkward. I did like how in the end, he was honest about his feelings and because of that she had to do the same and stop giving mixed signals. The older I get (30s), the more I prefer romances with less beating around the bush. I liked how the veil was involved but not overly so bc I think adding more "veil" relationships takes away from the creativity of how Avery, Emma, and Tracy had the veil work for them. In Expectations, I wasn't a fan of how Avery's MIL was absorbed into the legend of the veil mostly offscreen.
I don't know. I liked the movie ok, but I don't think I'll rewatch. I respect wanting to cash in on the success of the first trilogy...they were some of Hallmark's best ever, but these last two don't really seem like a progression to me. Tracy is my favorite and I find her and Nick's story to be sweet, realistic (even as a fantasy romance) and just an overall better story. I don't know, something about it seems more grounded. Fingers crossed I don't hate that one.
I do think Autumn and Paolo have wonderful chemistry, and I wish they had more scenes in each other's presence in the movie.
Emma and Paolo are my second fave couple in this series after Tracy and Nick. Their whirlwind romance in Italy was sweet, they have chemistry, and Italy is one of my favorite places ever so that movie could not lose as far as I was concerned. I love how Paolo teases her about pizza bc honestly, I felt the same way he does after my first visit there =)
I'm really not sure what to make of these couples as married people. As I mentioned in my Expectations review, Avery and Peter weren't that great of a couple and Emma and Paolo are only slightly better. Pardon the pun, but they all seem (so far, still have to watch Tracy and Nick) to expect and idyllic ideas about marriage as if it'll be a permanent honeymoon phase.
I did not understand Emma holding on to that job. It was stressing her out and affecting her marriage. The "twist" of her boss giving her a hard time just so she'd know she didn't want the job was silly even for Hallmark. It was lowkey creating a toxic and hostile workplace even if Emma "wanted" the job. If this was a drama, the boss would have been reported to HR and then what, she'd say "lol j/k?" What if Emma put up with it longer than she did? She couldn't have an honest conversation with Emma about her goals? Would not a true mentor do that? The career storyline was by far the weakest of the movie. She also seemed to clearly enjoy sharing art history at the store than her daily work at the university.
I really didn't like how Paolo essentially moved to Chicago FOR her, but she couldn't understand why he felt the need to be home. Just like Avery, Emma has problems of her own making. I do not agree with those who say she gave up her dreams for a man...she didn't want the job! She couldn't even handle budget cuts which would have been her job no matter how much she liked her colleagues. She wouldn't have been able to fire herself every time. And he's not just a man, he's her husband. Big difference. She also didn't update her life plan even though she had IDK a major life event take place. But even with that, it was pretty obvious that neither Paolo nor Emma really acknowledged that his family lived so far away and how they would handle him needing to go back there for any real period of time. It felt like to Emma, Italy is just family to visit. He was the only son, very involved in the business side of things(thus even being the one to open the Chicago store), I thought it was incredulous that she was frustrated that he was home spending time with a sick elderly father and helping out. And aside from when he first left, I don't recall her even contemplating going to support him. Also, where are her parents? Do her movies mean to make it seem like family isn't as important to her as it is to Paolo and that's why she can't understand? I think Occam's Razor (aka no need to spend the budget on casting her folks) is the simplest explanation, but I don't know.
The other thing for me (and I said this about Expectations), but the other two friends, depending on the movie, that just drop their own lives to travel for one day therapy sessions seemed more plausible when they were all single. Not when they're all in new marriages and one has a less than a year old child. It makes sense for planned events like the opening of the store or such events, but random visits? No. For all intents and purposes, they're all 40-ish and Emma lives across the country...it just gives dependency. If you and your friends can do that, then your problems likely aren't as big as you imagine.
Speaking of and I"m sure it was a budget thing, but I would have really preferred that Emma actually gone to Italy and Paolo actually had been the one packing to come back to the U. S. Flipping that would have said more to me given that he was trying to still work on their marriage while he was away.
By far, the best part of the movie for me was the love story of Lily and Matteo. I just love Carlo Marks, so seeing him was a welcomed surprise. They were sweet, even if Lily was too old to be so awkward. I did like how in the end, he was honest about his feelings and because of that she had to do the same and stop giving mixed signals. The older I get (30s), the more I prefer romances with less beating around the bush. I liked how the veil was involved but not overly so bc I think adding more "veil" relationships takes away from the creativity of how Avery, Emma, and Tracy had the veil work for them. In Expectations, I wasn't a fan of how Avery's MIL was absorbed into the legend of the veil mostly offscreen.
I don't know. I liked the movie ok, but I don't think I'll rewatch. I respect wanting to cash in on the success of the first trilogy...they were some of Hallmark's best ever, but these last two don't really seem like a progression to me. Tracy is my favorite and I find her and Nick's story to be sweet, realistic (even as a fantasy romance) and just an overall better story. I don't know, something about it seems more grounded. Fingers crossed I don't hate that one.
I do think Autumn and Paolo have wonderful chemistry, and I wish they had more scenes in each other's presence in the movie.