Movie: Groundswell
Starring: Lacey Chabert, Ektor Rivera
Network: Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
Synopsis: On the heels of a personal and professional setback, chef Emma travels to Hawaii, where she meets Ben, a handsome, reclusive surf instructor whose lessons help her to regain her footing.
⚠🛑 Disclaimer: This review may contain movie spoilers
Rating:
❤❤❤🤍🤍
Review:
I was looking forward to a new Lacey Chabert movie and was excited as it was showcased as a Movies & Mysteries movie. Surely it had to be a great story/mystery and something not typical of regular Hallmark Channel movies right? WRONG! Honestly this movie really shouldn't have been with HMM. It was the same cookie cutter movie as many Hallmark movies that have come before it. It was well acted and had good chemistry however it was not an original plot line.
I think if I had seen this movie on the regular channel I would have liked it more. But because it was aired on HMM, I was expecting so much more and didn't get it.
So this movie starts off by showcasing Lacey as a chef working under the shadow of another chef. YAWN! Geez how many movies do we need about a chef or baker working for someone else...who gets looked over or screwed over by someone else...and then runs away, finds a job that showcases her talent and also finds love. Answer? TOO MANY! I am so tired of these plots and this is exactly what we have here. Anyway Lacey (Emma) is a chef who works for her boyfriend and really does all the work while he takes all the glory. The guy is really a douche to be quite honest. Not sure why she would ever date the guy. Needless to say she has enough and then quits and takes off. In this case she heads to Hawaii, takes surf lessons and falls in love with the instructor. She enters a contest with a local man and who is judging the contest? Her ex-boyfriend. Ugh. Still don't like him.
The scenery was nice and there was alot of scenes on the water because they surf alot. I'm not huge into surfing so this didn't really reel me in. It was ok. Honestly the best part of this was when they would just sit and open up to each other. There were a few times this happened and the writing here was well done. Especially well done when Ben breaks the photo frame with his wife's picture and finds a letter from her. I thought Ektor did a splendid job in this scene showcasing his love and disappointment in what could have been. His emotion when reading the letter that was from her and knowing that he was ok to move forward in his life. Honestly this was the best part of the movie for me. Ektor did a really nice job.
Chemistry was ok at some moments albeit I didn't see the relationship develop between the two as quickly as the movie wanted me to see it. I wasn't disturbed by it at all and was happy for them in the end as I could see a connection, however I would have liked to see a little more interest and advancement with their relationship than what I saw.
Lacey Chabert was fun and charming as always. Nice to see her in a different kind of role. I know she had a stunt double but I hope she was able to do some of the surfing or at least try it. Just get out of the comfort zone a little.
Ektor Rivera is someone I had never seen before this movie. As I said earlier, his scene with the photo frame was my favourite scene of the movie. It was well written and well performed. I teared up a little bit.
Honestly this movie was good but just not a homerun for me.
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