A Kiss at Midnight - 2008

Charming romantic comedy from Hallmark. Susan Flowers (Faith Ford) runs a matchmaking service but is lonely herself. When a new rival service comes to town, she decides to check out the competition, which unknown to her, includes the CEO himself (Cameron Daddo). Although this light story has a pretty basic outline with few surprises, the enjoyable performances from both Ford and Daddo in the title roles manage to pull it off. It was nice seeing a 40ish couple find romance without the over-the-top slapstick comedy that usually accompanies this type of story. The two daughters give delightful performances (Mavity & Gould) as does Dyan Cannon as Susan’s quirky mom and Hal Linden as her mom’s new husband. Again, without the corny traits that are usually a part of the supporting cast for this type of film! Predictable ending but it does manage to avoid being overly sappy and you’re actually happy to see them end up together. Definitely family friendly.  ***

Mail Order Bride - 2008

Lackluster romantic drama. This very unbelievable story was painfully predictable with plenty of plot holes, and certainly lean on both romance AND drama. Performances were Ok but the chemistry between characters was practically non-existent. Nor were any of them very appealing, even the main characters! Made it hard to care one way or another about the outcome. The film included mild language and violence, which was definitely less than many films but also more than expected from a Hallmark film. Better choices out there. **