Friend Request (2014 TV Movie) User Reviews

Typical Hallmark movie. You could certainly do worse.

[d-snake1 · 6/10 · 7 May 2018]

A girl who's bad at romance. A troubled guy who's still living in a past relationship. A meddlesome child with a host of "helpers" who tries to make the two fall in love.

The ingredients aren't much of a variation from one of the Hallmark Channel's typical archetypes of movies. The execution really isn't either.

We don't see much in the way of twists and turns. The girl who can't date well dates a bunch of overly exaggerated guys and has a pushy sister who is always trying to bring her back to earth.

After locking eyes with the handsome artist at a show, the girl, Sam, reaches out to said artist on his website. Here comes a twist that isn't much of a twist if you've ever seen a Hallmark movie with these ingredients. It turns out the artist's son actually runs his website and initiates a relationship with girls who his dad.

This is only half as creepy as it sounds. The son is doing this so his dad, Heath, can meet someone who is compatible with him. Of course, this leads to Sam getting on a train and coming to the family home.

Heath has no idea who Sam is, Sam is embarrassed, and the movie progresses as expected. The writers do throw in another "twist". Heath has a manager who appears to really like him, although he's fairly oblivious to her intentions.

After the two spend some time together out in the woods, the two fall in love (within the scope of a few days). Heath bumbles his way into hurting Sam, of course, and she leaves in a fit of tears. He literally shows up on a white horse to whisk her away to London.

If you're looking for a movie that makes you think, pick something else. If you're looking for a fun way to kill an hour and a half and you're in the mood for a cheesy romance flick, you could do worse than this.

Cute, predictable, no surprises

[jml1988 · 6/10 · 14 February 2020]

Cute enough movie. typical female villain trying to steal the guy away. It was worth a watch.

The best romantic TV movie after all these years!

[boyshyshy · 7/10 · 4 February 2016]

I have seen this film occasionally in YouTube. With a big surprise it is a real nice sweet romantic TV movie. Much better than those Hallmark movies which one has seen along all these years. The casting is really a winner. The lead actress is beautiful and the lead actor is incredible handsome. The two together form the right chemistry for such type of movie. That is exactly most of the other Hallmark fail to achieve. The weak point is that the story plot is a bit too simple, if the script writer has spent more time to enrich the plot lines, it will be much better. I am surprised that no one has left an review before. Perhaps it is not a direct Hallmark production (although shown in Hallmark channel), there is not much promotion and not much people know about it. Even now in 2016 no DVD available at all.

This is a sweet little film, full of outdoor natural scenes. The actor and actress have a lot of smiles in the movie, watching it make one feeling love is in air and love is all around, and life is full of hopes. I really hope that someday a studio will appreciate this TV film and release it on DVD ..... with a reasonable price!

Friend Request aka Chance at Romance

[allmoviesfan · 7/10 · 7 January 2023]

Notable for being Erin Krakow's first film for Hallmark and now, of course, via When Calls the Heart, she is one of the channel's biggest stars.

In Chance at Romance aka Friend Request, Krakow plays Sam, who thinks she is communicating online with Heath, a popular widowed photographer played by Ryan McPartlin, only to discover after she travels to visit him that she had actually been corresponding with Heath's young son, Donny, which everyone in the small town knows other than Heath. Embarassed and wanting to flee, turns out the local inn is completely full, so Sam must stay with Heath, Donny and Heath's mother (played by Patricia Richardson of Home Improvement fame) until she can leave the next morning, But the next morning they find out that the road is closed due to a flood, so Heath and Sam spent all this time together and - naturally - sparks start to fly. Heath also finds his inspiration for photography again, thanks to Sam.

A predictable movie, but the two leads make it entertaining. Always enjoy watching Erin Krakow - that smile!! But I should remove a star for the disastrous English accent Kaitlan Doubleday attempted in her role as Celeste Jeffers-Johnson, Heath's agent who wishes she was much more.

Friend request

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 15 August 2023]

The best known name here, or at least the most familiar name, in 'Chance at Romance' is Erin Krakow. She isn't great in every film she's in but when she has characters that are written at least decently, likw in the 'Father Christmas' film series, she is very appealing. Ryan McPartlin is more take and leave and has never really properly stood out to me. The premise did sound quite cute, though was a bit unsure about everything with the son on paper, and this reviewer has a thing for good premises.

After a shaky start to Hallmark's 2014 output with 'Love in January', there is significant improvement seen with 'Chance at Romance'. Krakow and McPartlin both come over well as does most of the elements, even if it is pretty much exactly as one expect. What was making me a little apprehensive, something that would have made or broken the film if not done well, came over a good deal better than expected. When it comes to Hallmark's 2014 output, 'Chance at Romance' is one of the better faring ones.

'Chance at Romance' is not flawless. The final act is too rushed with the conflict forced and the prematurely easily foreseeable ending too neat. It is true that the film is very predictable, with many typical elements not done much new with.

Did feel as well that the usually watchable Kaitlyn Doubleday overdid her very stereotypical, one dimensional character horribly and came over as annoying.

However, 'Chance at Romance' looks good, especially the scenery. The scenery really does entrance and the photography doesn't cheapen it at all. The music at least fits tonally and in placement and has presence without being over-loud. The dialogue is sharp enough and flows naturally, while also having the right amount of sentiment (not too much in quality and quantity). The story is predictable, but also light hearted and charming with a good deal of heart.

Krakow and McPartlin are both immensely charming in their roles, with their characters also not being too perfect or with overdone flaws, and have a very sweet natural chemistry. Was expecting to hate the son from reading the synopsis, which makes him come over as bratty, but while not agreeing with what he did it is easy to see why he dislikes his father's manager so much (really did not see whatsoever what McPartlin's character saw in her). Most of the supporting cast are solid, with Patricia Richardson a class act.

Overall, nice film even with faults. 7/10.

Cute

[blackwidowis7cool · 10/10 · 18 July 2019]

Sam (Erin Krakow) is a hopeful romantic who keeps going on bad date after bad date in hopes of finding her knight on a white horse. Then she sees a handsome photographer called Heath Madison (Ryan McPartlin) and starts emailing him. An online relationship is started and Madison invites her over to his ranch. Upon arrival, she discovers that Heath has no idea who she is and that Heath's ten-year-old son and Heath's house keeper were the ones sending the email in a big love heist. Unable to leave due to a roadblock, will the love heist work, especially with Heath's work associate Celeste Jeffers-Johnson (Kaitlin Doubleday) in the way. Yes, it's predictable. Yes, it's utterly cliched. But it's also heartwarming and hilarious. It's one of those cliched romantic movies that you just can't help but love.

Lovely RomCom!

[kz917-1 · 7/10 · 16 February 2019]

Hearties! aka fans of When Calls the Heart will eat this up as it stars Erin Krakow as the damsel looking for love.

Cute premise and story. Watch out for the paint!

A Fabulous FAMROMCOM!, Best movie I've seen on Hallmark yet! NO SPOILERS EITHER!

[huggibear · 10/10 · 19 March 2017]

I gave this movie at 10 for obvious reasons, it's adorable! In my opinion, it is the epitome of Hallmark's old television slogan, 'because you care enough to send your very best'. For anyone who's got a heart for romantic comedies for the entire family, this would be the movie! Don't miss it if you can watch it. It's that good! The actors and actresses are great! The lead female actress is beautiful, and those eyes are to die for! My family said she plays in Hallmark's series 'When Calls The Heart'. I should check it out. The lead actor is also very handsome.

Formulaic, yes, but I enjoyed it

[laramia-garcia · 7/10 · 21 August 2019]

First things first, I love the cast. From PATRICIA RICHARDSON, ERIN KRAKOW, JEAN LOUISA KELLY, ABRAHAM BENRUBI, ALBERT MALAFRONTE, and yes, even KAITLIN DOUBLEDAY(Celeste)

As for RYAN MCPARTLIN, well, he's handsome, but is it just me, or is he trying to sound like Ryan Paevey. Well, maybe I'm imagining things, or it's just a coincidence.

IAN ANDREW, who plays Donny, although a good actor, is not so adorable here. His character is actually very annoying. Donny wasted petrol/gasoline so that his dad and Samantha would have more time together. Who wastes gas?

As for the story, it's sort of predictable, but the DOBROFSKY couple is very creative. I know some of the viewers might not agree with me, because they think they made Samantha stupid by believing Celeste, but she did come back because she doubted her. Unfortunately, she had to see that kiss between them. Hmm...Yes, it's kind of an overused "conflict" scene, and between the two leads, they had lots of chances, especially when they were alone overnight, to kiss. When they do get the chance one morning, not even caring about morning breath and all(maybe they both use SCOPE---or breath tabs), there were some disruptions...the kids(Donny and friends). I hate that about most hallmark G rated flicks.

Enough of the spoilers, and I better cut this "short". :-p I've said enough already, but I must reiterate that I did enjoy this movie, flaws and all.

Predictable and pleasant

[phd_travel · 5/10 · 5 November 2019]

Average predictable story and an alright if not memorable romance. The cast is nice. Ryan Mcpartlin and Erin Krakow make a nice looking pair who are matched by his son via email. When they meet up they eventually fall in love. Little silly speed bump along the way.

Great movie

[jamanich · 10/10 · 17 June 2018]

Between the young actor playing Heaths unrelenting scheming son and Erin Krakow makes this movie with her amazing talent and beauty. This movie is a family must see. Any of the character are quite relatable to...yes even that superficial with character that kept being a thorn in Samantha's side.

This woman does not exist

[Jackbv123 · 6/10 · 23 January 2018]

The character Sam is impossible. Number one on the list is she is incredibly forgiving. She is kind, hard-working, positive, laid-back, basically the perfect woman, too perfect. She is played by Erin Krakow who, as Heath remarks in the movie, "the camera loves her". On the other hand, she seems to have terrible luck dating. And the beginning of this movie captures her encounter with Heath as the absolutely worst date (sort of) in history.

The story is pretty ridiculous in so many ways. I already described Sam plus her ridiculous first encounter with Heath. The pie thing is silly. I won't spoil the last half of the movie, but it is just as ridiculous. (Did the writers of this movie ever hear of a release?)

The acting isn't great. As much as I love Erin Krakow, she is basically one dimensional in this movie. Also, some of her reactions in this movie are totally unrealistic at best. The movie relies heavily on shots of her with a caring look on her face. Kaitlin Doubleday as Celeste is a total cliché. Ryan McPartlin, as Heath. isn't terrible, but not great either. And what's with torturing us with terrible Karaoke.

My star rating is way to generous, but I can't resist Erin Krakow. If you like this genre, most movies have many of these faults so it's not hard to watch.

Same old stuff

[LtlHippo · 2/10 · 23 January 2019]

The almost kiss where kids interrupt. The woman seeing the man kissing or hugging another woman and gets it all wrong. Quit making women look stupid. Then the ending where there is just a kiss. Getting so old. Didn't even like the kid much.

Cute and funny movie

[mjpatterson-20085 · 10/10 · 22 January 2020]

Kept me laughing the entire movie. Good story. Good actors.

Good all-age movie about creative and hard-working people

[SunnyDaise · 10/10 · 14 January 2023]

This movie ticks all the boxes for my household - 3 generations, feel good/nothing horrible, reminds kids to work hard and play hard, community-based, artistically shot with some beautiful locations. Watch this if you want to re-start your photography/art/cookery skills, but maybe not if you're on a diet as it could well make you super-hungry. For all the drama of the plot line, there is a sense of calm and peace about this movie. If you're in a funk / bit of a dead end, it will probably give you hope that something better is around the corner, whether you want a new business or a Chance At Romance.

OMG slow doesn't even begin to describe it....

[dpowelldwp · 1/10 · 11 October 2018]

Ok, let's start with the basics. I generally like most of the Hallmark movies - my bar is low. I don't blame the actors in this one - they are plenty good enough - attractive and likable. But, holy smoke....it's like nothing happens in the entire movie and it is drawn out and boring. Seeing the other reviews makes me shake my head, it looks like their bar is light years lower than mine or I didn't have enough white wine when I viewed this one.

I'm a guy and I like hallmark

[wblum524-881-262052 · 10/10 · 15 September 2019]

Nice movie. I love Erin Krakow. Girl next door that one would want to marry and take home to show off to your family. Great figure.

Tedious and predictable

[securiphlop · 1/10 · 3 July 2022]

Right from the start I found this totally predictable. I watched it through to see if it got better but it didn't other than curing my insomnia. Totally unrealistic, having two very attractive lead role actors who I am meant to believe can't get partners. As for the part with the necklace, I could have made a bet that would happen. Just silly overall.