I really do wish that they had half scores here, such as 7 1/2 or 8 1/2. As I wrote in the title, this movie started out very middle of the road. I felt the lead actress came across as though she just got the script and was "acting" rather than being true to the character. Slowly, but surely, as the movie went on, I found myself becoming involved and caring about the characters. As in most romcoms, you know who is going to end up with whom, but it was not until the last half of the movie that you could see the reasons. The script became more specific, as well as the acting becoming more believable. I really liked the fact that her parent's marriage, without being a spoiler here, ended up the way it did. Things like this portion of the movie, and the details in delving deeper into characters, made it worth watching until the end.
6 Reviews
Pretty good rom-com with Indian twist
herrcarter-9216130 April 2024
Warning: Spoilers
This was a fairly decent rom-com and, basically Hallmark's love letter to the Indian-American community. Was it predictable? Of course. We've seen a few of these stories where a matchmaker attempts to set a person up with multiple people, only to have the person wind up with the matchmaker themselves (or the matchmaker's son, in this case). But it was still fairly fun to watch. The multiple peeks into the fascinating Indian culture were icing on the cake for this story.
Eva Bourne gave a good performance as our dating app employee and matchmaking guinea pig Vivi. She was cute, fun and very relatable. Rushi Kota's performance as Boom, the matchmaker's son, was also good. He's a good looking guy, but he also came across as down-to-earth and likable. Did they have chemistry? Yeah, somewhat. It could've been better, but honestly, Hallmark is rarely able to get chemistry just right in its rom-coms. I don't know if it's the actors or the script, but let's just give them an A (or a B+) for effort here. I also really liked some of the supporting actors, particularly Rehha Sharma as the matchmaker mom. She was great.
The screenplay was decent, but it had a few rough spots. Sometimes the dialog was good, but sometimes it was a little unnatural. I didn't buy Vivi's attitude toward the end, where she was ready to give up on love because it didn't work out with Tristan, the only man left standing of the 3 guys she had been matched with. There just wasn't enough development of any kind of a relationship between Vivi and Tristan to make me even believe that she liked him, let alone that she would be devastated about things not working out with him. I also didn't like that they had Vivi's parents get divorced at the end. Here they were, getting along better. Marriage therapy was working. And then they decide to get a divorce? Why? It seemed so unnecessary to the plot.
One other elephant in the room that this movie totally glossed over was the fact that Indian matchmakers are specifically trying to match Indians with other Indians, so they can preserve their culture and religion. It's beyond unbelievable that Boom's mom would be cool with him marrying Vivi, a non-Indian. For a movie that seemed to be pretty clued into the Indian culture, this was one plot point that seemed really inauthentic. Or did she convert to Hinduism? If so, maybe they should have mentioned that. Or they could have had her be Indian as well -- perhaps really Americanized and detached from the traditions of her culture, but still Indian.
Otherwise, this movie was a pleasant enough diversion and a fun immersion in the Indian culture. It could've been better, but it's still worthy of a watch.
Eva Bourne gave a good performance as our dating app employee and matchmaking guinea pig Vivi. She was cute, fun and very relatable. Rushi Kota's performance as Boom, the matchmaker's son, was also good. He's a good looking guy, but he also came across as down-to-earth and likable. Did they have chemistry? Yeah, somewhat. It could've been better, but honestly, Hallmark is rarely able to get chemistry just right in its rom-coms. I don't know if it's the actors or the script, but let's just give them an A (or a B+) for effort here. I also really liked some of the supporting actors, particularly Rehha Sharma as the matchmaker mom. She was great.
The screenplay was decent, but it had a few rough spots. Sometimes the dialog was good, but sometimes it was a little unnatural. I didn't buy Vivi's attitude toward the end, where she was ready to give up on love because it didn't work out with Tristan, the only man left standing of the 3 guys she had been matched with. There just wasn't enough development of any kind of a relationship between Vivi and Tristan to make me even believe that she liked him, let alone that she would be devastated about things not working out with him. I also didn't like that they had Vivi's parents get divorced at the end. Here they were, getting along better. Marriage therapy was working. And then they decide to get a divorce? Why? It seemed so unnecessary to the plot.
One other elephant in the room that this movie totally glossed over was the fact that Indian matchmakers are specifically trying to match Indians with other Indians, so they can preserve their culture and religion. It's beyond unbelievable that Boom's mom would be cool with him marrying Vivi, a non-Indian. For a movie that seemed to be pretty clued into the Indian culture, this was one plot point that seemed really inauthentic. Or did she convert to Hinduism? If so, maybe they should have mentioned that. Or they could have had her be Indian as well -- perhaps really Americanized and detached from the traditions of her culture, but still Indian.
Otherwise, this movie was a pleasant enough diversion and a fun immersion in the Indian culture. It could've been better, but it's still worthy of a watch.
Good matchup
MickyG33310 September 2023
7.4 stars.
I was pleasantly surprised by the presentation of this film, the actors are all ready to shine, the male lead is a come-from-behind guy who really starts to step us as time goes on. I like his laid back approach. The lead female is very endearing. There are some glaring inconsistencies, but that's fine. One of them is the fact that Indian friends and other people are sprinkled throughout the story and that's not convincing to me. There is no Indian culture in her life at all save the main female matchmaker and her son who runs the business. That makes for an unconvincing story somewhat, nevertheless it's enjoyable.
I was pleasantly surprised by the presentation of this film, the actors are all ready to shine, the male lead is a come-from-behind guy who really starts to step us as time goes on. I like his laid back approach. The lead female is very endearing. There are some glaring inconsistencies, but that's fine. One of them is the fact that Indian friends and other people are sprinkled throughout the story and that's not convincing to me. There is no Indian culture in her life at all save the main female matchmaker and her son who runs the business. That makes for an unconvincing story somewhat, nevertheless it's enjoyable.
Love and how to find it...
jlbsword28 June 2023
I enjoyed this movie on several levels. First, it was so nice to see Eva in an adult role, after seeing her as Jennifer Shannon's teen daughter in the Garage Sale mysteries. It was also nice to see a new leading man, handsome and likeable and a good match for Eva's character. But the real star of this story is Raina, a lovely, caring woman that has had a great love in her life and now wants to help others find that same future. We learn and appreciate the customs and ceremonies of the Indian culture and see the joyful engagement and wedding events. Some realism is also included with the breakdown of Vivi's parents' marriage and the acceptance of the idea that love sometimes comes to an end. There was much to enjoy in this move. Very well done.
When a dating app doesn't get the job done, Vivi puts herself in the hands of an Indian-American matchmaker in this colorful Hallmark romance.
cgvsluis26 June 2023
Hallmark has been making films recently that share dating and marriage traditions of differing religious and ethnic groups. So far, I think they have been tasteful done and this film is no exception. I actually loved it. The lead actors had great chemistry and I appreciated all of the cultural sharing with someone who was open and receptive. It did remind me a bit of the film What's Love Got To Fo With it...so if you liked this film, you should check that one out.
This tells the story of Vivi a young woman who not only works for an internet dating app, but was used as a success story in their advertisements...that is until she finds out that the guy she was dating for just over a year was cheating on her. Back to square one, she and her friend Neela first seek out the data guys in the analytics department only to discover the app had a less than ten percent success rate. Then they see an advertisement for an Indian matchmaker who has a greater than 90% success rate. They hatch a plan to secrete shop Raina's matchmaking process and try to incorporate part of her process into their dating app. Raina's son and business partner, Boom, is also on board as he thinks it will help move his mom's matchmaking into more modern times and garner them more business in the long term. Raina reluctantly agrees, but only on the condition that it's Vivi herself who goes through the process and that she takes it seriously. This begins a journey in which Boom is the concierge or liaison for the process...bringing the two closer.
I thought the traditions were lovingly shared, including the steps of the matchmaker's process. I appreciated how open and willing Vivi was to learn. I also appreciated that she was never treated like a dumb American or outsider. This is a big recommendation to all the romantics out there it was colorful and fun. I was worried that the divorce storyline might sour me for the film, but I think the rest was romantic enough to overcome the sad side note.
This tells the story of Vivi a young woman who not only works for an internet dating app, but was used as a success story in their advertisements...that is until she finds out that the guy she was dating for just over a year was cheating on her. Back to square one, she and her friend Neela first seek out the data guys in the analytics department only to discover the app had a less than ten percent success rate. Then they see an advertisement for an Indian matchmaker who has a greater than 90% success rate. They hatch a plan to secrete shop Raina's matchmaking process and try to incorporate part of her process into their dating app. Raina's son and business partner, Boom, is also on board as he thinks it will help move his mom's matchmaking into more modern times and garner them more business in the long term. Raina reluctantly agrees, but only on the condition that it's Vivi herself who goes through the process and that she takes it seriously. This begins a journey in which Boom is the concierge or liaison for the process...bringing the two closer.
I thought the traditions were lovingly shared, including the steps of the matchmaker's process. I appreciated how open and willing Vivi was to learn. I also appreciated that she was never treated like a dumb American or outsider. This is a big recommendation to all the romantics out there it was colorful and fun. I was worried that the divorce storyline might sour me for the film, but I think the rest was romantic enough to overcome the sad side note.
Indian matchmaker
hallmarkmov28 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Clearly hallmark writers are fans of Indian match maker! I was so surprised by this movie. It seemed gimmicky and I wasn't sure how good it will be as the other dating app movies are very subpar. This was actually good! I loved the openness of the main characters and how it showed not everything works out and that okay. Her parents seemed to get along after counselling and seemed like all their problems will be gone but then it turns out they get a divorce! But this is a good thing, they focused on communication and happiness and not just the pressures of looking like a good family. I hope the matchmaking mom continues to be in other hallmark movies. The wedding was beautiful, the engagement, and even though it didn't go veryyyy deeply into culture or tradition,the focus on family as very relatable. As they said, marriage is between the two families and not just the individuals and they showed different dates that just didn't get along. I had hoped the friend would have done match making too and gone on dates but maybe that would take away from the main storyline. Compared to the number of ads for other movies that really sucked, I am surprised more promo wasn't give to this movie. I'll be rewatching this one! Maybe there will be a Diwali hallmark movie coming too?!!
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