Diving, Shipwreck, and Romance
For a couple of years, I resisted Hallmark’s movies other than their mystery movies. But seeing the ads has slowly worn me down, and I have started watching a few of the others. I was drawn to Love in the Maldives due to the tropical setting. It’s hard to resist a couple of hours of beach time, right? It’s also hard to resist the charms of this movie.
Rae (Jocelyn Hudon) is a travel writer who writes a monthly column about the thrills of traveling solo. And thrills is the name of the game since she seeks out exotic and heart pounding trips to write about. So when her editor, Shelley (Patricia McKenzie), sends her to Maldives to an underwater resort, Rae is less than enthused since it seems more relaxing than she normally write about. But she sets about finding her usual dangerous activities like trekking through the nearby jungle or searching for a shipwreck.
While there, Rae meets Jared (Jake Manley), the recreation director of the resort who is more interested in teaching yoga than in helping Rae find her next thrill. He was planning to take his program international, but that seems to have stalled. While he tries to convince Rae to try to relax a bit more, he also begins to show her some of the more exciting things in the island. What will happen next?
No, there aren’t really any surprises along the way. I will admit to being impressed with how some of the obstacles Jared and Rae faced were dealt with. Yes, there was a bit of assuming happening, but it was dealt with fairly quickly. Considering some of the things I’ve read or watched where a simple misunderstand drags on forever, I found this refreshing and mature.
And the location? Absolutely beautiful. I’m ready to book a trip myself, especially to the resort. As a lover of water, I absolutely want to stay in a place like that.
There is a sub-plot with a fellow guest that Rae befriends that I really enjoyed. She also acts as a confidante for Rae, which I found fun. The two of them were pushing each other to accept change.
Yes, this is a Hallmark production, so it has a bit of that low budget element to it. I found this most obvious in some of the diving scenes – some looked good and some looked fake. That might be equipment issues more than anything else.
A couple of the supporting players weren’t the best actors, but the majority of the cast were great. They really helped pull me into the story. And the chemistry between the stars is outstanding. It helps that they are married in real life.
If you’re looking for a cute, light romantic comedy, Love in the Maldives will fit the bill. Along the way, you’ll get to enjoy some gorgeous scenery.
I started watching all of the Hallmark premieres this year, but over the past couple of weeks I have fallen behind. I haven't watched any of the Spring into Love ones yet. I'll be catching up next week. I find that the ones that are filmed on location somewhere exotic have the best scenery, but the weakest plots. This one sounds good, though. I'm looking forward to seeing what it's all about. :)
ReplyDeleteFor some reason i didn't like that movie. Too shallow i think
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