Welcome to Valentine (2023 TV Movie) User Reviews

Valentine

[jamhendr-72251 · 7/10 · 20 February 2023]

In the commercials, Welcome to Valentine looks like a road trip movie, which morphs into a "let's put on a show" movie. And that's all true. But this movie seems to want to be a lot of different things.

The hero is poised to take over the family business, while the heroine wants her artistic career to begin with the help of an influential gallery owner. Within the first ten minutes, the hero causes the heroine to spill food on that gallery owner. She loses her cater-waiter job and her apartment. (Calgon, take me away!) Oh, if only she had a way to get back to Nebraska. The hero has a car, and we're off.

With all these well-worn tropes, a lot of the plot (and the dialogue) is going to be predictable. Follow your heart. The show must go on.

I liked it. The leads were attractive and they had good chemistry together. Is this the best movie ever? Of course not. But it's cute and sweet and exactly what I expected. I don't think that's a bad thing.

Who is the audience?

[MickyG333 · 6/10 · 17 March 2023]

6.0 stars.

He calls the little boy a "they"? I think I heard that correctly. So I realized at that moment that whatever else they want you to hear, or think, the agenda is for us all to slowly ease our way into woke. Ok, so I guess I'll talk about the film now. I always rate a film primarily on entertainment value, quality of lead actors, chemistry, dialogue, story, cinematography, the usual. "Welcome to Valentine" has zero chemistry between the leads. I'm sorry, the 15 seconds of a "moment", or the last 30 seconds of the film are insufficient to meet the definition. This story is so overdone and boring. The dramatic part about their careers is so understated, it's practically non-existent. Will he measure up to the man his father wants him to be to run the company? Frankly, I don't care. Will she someday attain her dream of being the true artist that everyone knows she can? Actually, no she won't. Her art is pedestrian and amateurish. I've seen teenagers with a flare for that sort of art doing similar paintings with more skill. Waste of time this movie.

I had to wonder...

[wayfind · 5/10 · 13 February 2024]

Boy, I hated to give a movie like this a 5 rating. I'm usually a little more generous. This movie tried hard - too hard! At a certain point, it struck me: "WHY is there so much overacting in this movie?" Except for the fairly appealing male lead (Markian Tarasiuk) most of the actresses need to tone it down a great deal. Gestures too big, facial expressions too big, emotions too big... Then I realized several of them have a lot of stage experience, or maybe they've done a lot of emotion-fraught dramas. Whatever. In a big theatre, an actor HAS to be "big" or the audience can't see what's up. These actresses seemed not have have learned how to "bring it down" for the camera. It got to the point that I had to start skipping through the movie.

Also, the writing was just a little too self-conscious, too "New York," too "Neil Simon-esque" to be enjoyable in a small-town romance Hallmark movie. It sounded unnatural. As I said at the beginning, trying too hard - and it just didn't work. Beautiful faces, for sure, but...no.

My heart was not in this one!

[jlbsword · 3/10 · 20 February 2023]

Those of us that are Hallmark fans and viewers appreciate a good story, decent acting, and likeable characters. Most of the movies fit the bill. But once in a while there is a movie that has a weak story, unlikeable leads, no chemistry, confusing plot points, and not much to like. This movie definitely falls into that category, and it didn't even have some lovely scenery to add to the story. The lead female had such odd facial expressions and way of speaking. She might want to consider a few more acting lessons. I have seen the male lead in other movies and quite liked him, but he missed the mark in this one. The last few minutes wrapped up several story lines, but left us wondering how all of that could happen in such a short time. All in all it was just a disappointing effort from Hallmark. This year has not been their best.

Disappointing

[rann_rushing · 2/10 · 19 February 2023]

Terrible acting, terrible writing and zero chemistry between the main leads. He is a jerk, she is clueless and no amount of Hallmark magic is going to save this. I have been a huge Hallmark fan for years, but this past year or two has been a major disappointment. Hallmark is trying new faces, but the casting crew is doing a poor job of finding compatibility. I appreciate the effort, because it was getting tiresome of 40 year old single gal or guy meeting up with their former lover/high school sweetheart 20+ years later, both still single and stuck in bad relationships. Hallmark has needed fresh faces for years. So here's hoping they can find some who can also act.

Incompetent mechanic destroys expensive car

[hallmarkmov · 2/10 · 6 March 2023]

This story was just everywhere and not in a good way. Starts off with a waitress job that is ruined, her roommate gets a job so is leaving, causing her to be homeless and unemployed and "encouraged" to go home. The road trip was very short and seemed like it would be more of the focus but nope! Then comes all the screaming- hey yahhhhhhhhh! A mechanic shows up and is so incompetent and destroys this super expensive car. The guy freaks out (very justified) yet everyone gets angry at him. For the rest of the movie the mechanic isn't even fixing the car he promised to and it's just this CEO guy who is working away at the car. I don't think it was on purpose but it did seem like people of certain backgrounds got along with similar backgrounds over others. I found this really strange in a world that is trying to promote diversity yet the way the characters were scripted to like or dislike each other was very backwards. Overall the acting was very poor. Nearly everyone overly reacted at some point and their personalities went from hot to cold in a flash- wasn't consistent. The kid was veryyyyy annoying, I would rather see more of the dog than the kid. The main characters are all over the place. The side characters could save this movie either. This movie was a big miss and I can see why it aired in March instead of before Valentine's Day. It really should not have been made!

Sweet, Light-hearted & Natural

[lizzy-80517 · 9/10 · 26 March 2023]

I'll gladly write a positive review amoung the sea of negative ratings. I enjoyed "Welcome to Valentine"! The leads (Katherine and Markian) were refreshingly natural in their performances. In Hallmark films, the actors/actresses can be noticably stiff in their body language, but I didn't sense that with Katherine and Markian. Also, the little boy who played Mickie accurately resembled the nature of a real child in all their energy and humour. His scenes were extremely sweet and funny. Overall, the whole cast had a natural chemistry with each other. When Olivia enters her sister's home by surprise, the way she embraces Mickie and Vanessa seemed genuine and unfiltered, rather than scripted and cookie cutter.

On the other hand, the storyline could have been more focused. I would loved to have SEEN the actual roadtrip. The travel to Valentine could have been used to develop Olivia and George's relationship, since roadtrips confine people to a single space which forces them to interact (for good or for bad).

The plot point that bothered me the most was the repair mistake made by Vanessa's husband. I found this to be unbelievable. Why would a well seasoned mechanic mix up the cables? The writers could have made the car break down any other way.

All in all, despite it's imperfections,"Welcome to Valentine" is a cheery and sweet Hallmark film that I enjoyed watching.

Why?

[Jackbv123 · 4/10 · 19 February 2023]

I'm left with any number of questions.

Why did she fall for him? Even going beyond their early antagonism, which is standard for these movies, I didn't see much to justify her liking him much less love.

Why did his dad think he would make a CEO? His personality was not decisive but it was arrogant. Unlike many movies where the rising star performs many feats that prove their competence, there was nothing in George proving competence in anything besides auto mechanics.

What happened to the float?

What next? But I will say as a positive that this movie didn't feel like it was necessary to have absolutely every little thing turn out HEA.

The acting was fair to terrible. Louise Kerr was the worst, badly overplaying Miss Hackey. I have liked Kathryn Davis in a lot of things, but best I can say about her in this is - fair. And there was no chemistry with Markian Tarasiuk. They barely had any one on one screen time.

The story wandered. It was disjointed.

No Story No Chemistry

[PeterMovie61 · 19 February 2023]

This was flat and dull. Not funny, not romantic, not dramatic...there was nothing to the story line.

Acting was listless and we bailed out on it. As reviews come in, the rating will drop. The father-son interaction was forced. Giving up the CEO position was cliché and not realistic. They only had one "Frankenstein-face" (bad plastic surgery) which is at least consistent but they didn't do any facial close ups, mercifully. Opening seen with two women and a boy rolling on top of each other was cringe worthy. The actors are talented but they deserve good writing. They had nothing to work with.

Maybe new writers?

It can't be fun being stuck in Nowhere, Nebraska in the cold of winter

[MichaelByTheSea · 3/10 · 19 February 2023]

I'm a huge Hallmark movie fan but this movie was too weird and unsatisfying for me. I didn't have a problem with the leads, but their story was uninspiring.

As the movie opens, Olivia is a struggling artist who's been in New York City for two years but is still crashing on her friend's couch (??). She has a job at a catering company with that friend but she's a terrible employee. After being fired (shocker), she finds out that she's losing the couch that she's been crashing on (her friend is suddenly moving and tells her she only has the place for another week).

So she catches a ride home with George, a high flying "40 under 40" golden boy and future Big Company CEO who, bizarrely, is driving an old car 2,800 miles across the country during the winter. Huh? He agrees to drop off Olivia in her hometown of Valentine, Nebraska but his old car breaks down once they get there (shocker). After the town's only mechanic incompetently fried the entire electrical system of his car (by putting the jumper cables on the wrong battery posts), George becomes understandably frustrated and calls the town "Nowhere, Nebraska".

But that town is, in fact, literally located in the middle of nowhere and only has a population of 2,603. I love how Hallmark has become more diverse and inclusive but the real town of Valentine only has one Black person. Just one. And yet virtually everyone featured in the movie (Olivia, her sister Vanessa, Vanessa's son, the restaurant owner, the town's only mechanic, and some random people in the parade) were all people of color. It came across as well intentioned but unrealistic.

When I watched this movie's premiere in February when the movie supposedly takes place, it was literally 24 degrees in Valentine, Nebraska. But some little old lady name Mrs. Hacky spent most of the movie sitting on a little stool outside in the freezing cold, staring at a barn.

Everyone was acting like the annual Valentine's Day parade in this cold tiny town was a huge event. Really?

I hated George's unnecessary lying about Olivia's "success" .

I thought her art was unimpressive.

I thought George's career crisis was poorly set up ("I don't want to spend my time making money for my company, I just want to spend my time giving its money away").

It wasn't as though he had some other clear path or passion that he wanted to follow like Olivia.

Nothing in the movie rang true for me and it was hard to root for anybody in a movie that just didn't make any sense, especially the fantasy ending.

The bickering isn't cute

[EPMD57 · 4/10 · 5 March 2023]

I'm halfway through the movie, but the leads are still bickering with each other. I really want Hallmark movie writers to stop making the leads behave in such an antagonistic way. It doesn't add any drama to the plot since we know how these movies all end. It just makes it hard to buy into the couple and makes several scenes unenjoyable to watch.

It was also tough to cheer for Olivia since she was lazy producing any art, incompetent enough at her other job to get fired, mooching off her friend by sleeping on her couch for months, moving into her sister's place for free, and volunteering to work on a parade instead of actually getting (and keeping) a job to pay her own way through life. What a catch!

Also so many questions

[jamiewest-91005 · 4/10 · 6 January 2024]

Just like many of the other reviews I have many questions as well.

Why does the town's only mechanic not know how to put on jumper cables?

Why is no one freezing in the middle of February?

Who let's someone sleep on their couch for 2 years?

What happened on the road trip?!

How does Olivia become a famous artist?

I also agree that the leads have absolutely no chemistry, and that I expected a whole lot more from the road trip. I felt as though the movie was rushed in certain areas and then dragged out in other aspects. I had to take a break from the movie as well and come back and still just was just as unentertained. It wasn't horrible, but it isn't one I'd watch again.

super cute and loved the humor

[mamapalomalopes · 10/10 · 21 February 2023]

Yes this is a Hallmark movie, and there are rules to Hallmark movies: There is the small town with a big heart, the icy business man who needs a small-town makeover, the parentless protagonist etc, but this movie felt playful. I appreciate the sense of humor throughout- it was very refreshing. Mickey is the cutest child ever- he was so sweet! My heart melted for him and his valentine for his dad! The woman who played Miss Hackey is perfect.

"The parade is nigh" is a hilarious line. There is good dialogue cracking through. I want more movies like this! More funny Hallmark movies! More writing like this!

Heartwarming Fun

[cooperacts · 10/10 · 23 February 2023]

Many of the negative reviews of this movie contain complaints about the general direction of Hallmark as a network, the realism of the temperature in the titular town of Valentine, the quality of the prop artwork, and even one of the actor's plastic surgery.

Choosing to focus on the craftsmanship of the film, and its entertainment value, I can happily say that I genuinely enjoyed Welcome to Valentine! The actors, almost across the board, display a natural chemistry - most of all the leads. In particular, the actor who plays George elevates the story with his performance. The narrative is well-written and perfectly paced, with witty dialogue that I found to be more unique than what is on offer in many other Hallmark originals. Beyond strong writing and performances, the film is directed, shot and edited well, giving the finished product the polished feel of a higher-budget production.

Bottom line: watch and enjoy!

Couldn't even finish it.

[joni-novak1 · 9/10 · 19 February 2023]

Very bad acting. How did they pick the actors, out of a hat?

The story was stupid. I watched an hour and it was more than enough, although I did check back on it and it wasn't any better. Hallmark used to be my favorite channel but not anymore. They did nothing to put Valentine, Nebraska in a good light.

Gone are the days of the good Hallmark movies. They are producing movies of quantity, not quality. Hugely disappointing channel.

I hope to never see any of these actors again, except for .Sophie Bastelle. She did an okay job.

The story made the family appear low class and, frankly, weird.

The two main actors had zero connection or chemistry; a very odd couple.