Game of Love (2023) User Reviews

Sustad and Darnell

[Jackbv123 · 7/10 · 12 March 2023]

The story is pretty much along common lines for a Hallmark Saturday night. The leads, Audrey and Matthew, must work together for a work project. In this case they are to develop a new board game. The goal of the game is about bringing the players together in love. Audrey and Matthew start out totally at cross purposes. Is it any surprise that the game development and the story seem to parallel each other and that being the case it is likewise not surprising that the whole thing is pretty predictable. I hesitate to call it a subplot because it is embedded in the story, but if you will, a subplot is Audrey learning to accept help from others.

I was a little surprised at how the conflict developed but I can't expand on that without giving a spoiler.

Audrey, at the beginning, is quite the narcissist and I found that difficult to accept in the usually appealing Kimberley Sustad. It's not that Sustad doesn't play the part well, but more that my familiarity with the actor is such that I didn't want her to act that way. It's inevitable that Audrey's personality will undergo a 180 degree change, but I was surprised how long that took. Brooks Darnell did an excellent job across from her and after she lightened up there was good chemistry.

The dialogue and comedy are ok but not sparkling. I was happy that the movie didn't depend on overly exaggerated silly situations for laughs. Both Sustad and Darnell have good delivery and timing. I would definitely say that it was their mutual performance that was the most appealing part of this movie, but I'm not quite sure how much I will want to watch this again.

Better the 2nd time around...

[BitterBitterQueen · 7/10 · 17 March 2023]

Okay, bear with me, as I've actually watched this twice.

The first time -- wasn't impressed at all. It seemed like we watched the leads arguing at work, then while out on a walk, then back at the cubicle, then out on another walk, rinse and repeat. No chemistry.

Then I caught it again tonight, from the very beginning. Maybe I was in a better mood, but whatever -- I had a completely different reaction. Well, maybe not completely, but it was indeed quite well done, there IS genuine chemistry between the leads, and while not exactly Shakespeare, there's more to the story than a couple of people trying to come up with a new board game in a month.

If you watch closely, you'll see the growing attraction and admiration between the characters played by Brooks Darnell and the always reliable Kimberley Sustad. What seemed a little forced on first viewing wasn't that. I think I was probably busy making dinner or whatever, but the chemistry is there.

Their acting is also very natural and believable. The same can't be said for the guy who played the 'love advisor', but that could be the director's fault. The young asian actress was a little overcaffeinated at times, but again...probably instructed to act that way.

And Sustad has the best scene and does the best job, near the end, when she tearfully realizes how her character has pushed people away, leaving her alone, and that teamwork and connecting is a far better option than being alone. That's not a 'subplot' as another reviewer suggested -- it's THE theme -- the lesson -- of the movie.

Oh, and if Darien Martin is reading this? Get a new agent. You're a good actor, and shouldn't be settling for 1-minute walk-ons. :)

Interesting plot, great chemistry

[fergusjan · 7/10 · 12 March 2023]

The premise for this movie was a little goofy but the genius of it became clear in the second half. Kimberly Sustad is great in anything she's in but she was perfect here at showing how an awkward loner could be brought out of her shell by working with others and learning to love. And Brooks Darnell was a pleasant surprise and a perfect counterpoint to Kimberly's character. I also lived the Boardwalk store. This is not the first time that a place where people play board games has appeared in a Hallmark movie, but it works especially well here and is important to the storyline. I wish there were one in my town!

Bizarre omissions in cast listings!

[imdb-22336 · 28 March 2023]

This is not a review of the movie, but rather a comment on the information accompanying the movie.

Notice that the "top cast" and "full cast" listings both have only eight names. There is NO MENTION of (AT LEAST) the actors who portray Patty, the Asian woman on the team, Evie, the older woman who plays the game near the end of the movie and gets a date, and Susie.

What is even weirder is that, in the captions accompanying the pictures, the actresses who play Patty and Evie are not named--complete ignored--while the other actors' names are listed, as usual!

Why the "boycott" of the woman? What is going on here???

Game of Love has some good moments, but the two stars just don't shine as one

[MichaelByTheSea · 6/10 · 21 March 2023]

I'm a big fan of Kimberly Sustad who plays Audrey. But her damaged character is really self absorbed. She's always buried in her phone, wears headphones in public around other people, and wears a hoodie on a date to a fancy restaurant. She's really oblivious. And at one point there's a weird shift in tone when Audrey gets manic at work.

Brooks Darnell is very smooth as Matthew. He has a great line about "brands" in which he describes himself as a "savvy professional" and Audrey as a "stubborn, indie creative". Both descriptions are spot on. Matthew also had a good line about the "thousand years of solitude" that he spent waiting for Audrey. It reminded me of the classic Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel of a similar name.

There's also some good direction and editing. For example, right after Matthew notes that love releases the same endorphins as eating chocolate, there's some fun scenes from the refrigerator POV. And there's an amusing early scene where Audrey tries to think about love:

"Love love, love love love; Love is codependency; Sacrificing one's sense of self, that's for sure; Jealousy, distortion of reality; Loss of control."

There's also a groan funny Dad "Joke of the week" featured on the board at work:

"I want to become a chess player, but I have too much of a checkered past."

The writing may seem cheesy at times to some, but most of us Hallmark fans have a high tolerance for cheesy love lines like this one:

"I kinda like the idea that two different stars can collide and make something so different and beautiful".

I also thought the Indigo seminar was really well done. I expected to be making fun of it but, instead, I found it to be rather insightful and a clever way to reveal things about Matthew and Audrey. But then the movie slogs through an annoying and implausible conflict in the 4th quarter (an all too frequent problem with some Hallmark movies). The initial assignment (to create a market ready board game and submit it to a "tabletop" competition in just 4 weeks) was ridiculous and all too typical of Hallmark's tendency to feature plots driven by artificial and unrealistic deadlines. And there is an equally ridiculous "business" decision by The Board in the 4th quarter that makes no sense (and annoys everybody, including the audience).

It was also unclear to me why the company hired a marketing consultant to help design a board game in the first place. Plus, I never got any kind of idea about what was actually in the board game. I just saw circles on a board with some huge player pieces. We saw Evie (a customer who never leaves) playing it with a stranger and some random people playing it at Boardwalk Café and Games (which is in Abbotsford, British Columbia, not Seattle) but we never hear any of the questions they presumably ask each other or see any interaction whatsoever.

But worst of all, I just didn't buy the love story. At best, this seemed like a movie about colleagues learning to work together (although the eager beaver co-workers seemed like caricatures). They were pleasant together, but I just didn't feel the sparks. And those sparks are kinda the key to making a romance work.

There's a much better "game developers to lovers" story in "On the 12th Date of Christmas" with Mallory Jansen and Tyler Hynes.

A failed attempt at humor

[MickyG333 · 6/10 · 3 April 2023]

6.4 stars.

Imagine a nerdy and uptight board game creater (Sustad) with a predilection for seclusion, who meets a relaxed but sophisticated and personable businessman. These two are total opposites and this story is about how he softens her hard-shelled and crusty exterior and molds her into a more likable and cooperative woman. She eventually learns how to be a collaborator instead of a distance maker. To put it simply: this is about a woman becoming better. While he's helping her improve, unbeknownst to them both, he's falling for her. She tries to push him away more than once, but eventually it all works out and she falls for him too. They have to understand love in order to make a game about love, but the only way to learn of love is to fall in love.

'Game of Love' is mediocre at best because it lacks charismatic personalities. Both of our leads are difficult to familiarize with. They have strange quirks and weird reactions to things they shouldn't; she is stiff and his performance doesn't make up for the writer's failed attempts at comedy.

A Winner

[innerlooper96 · 9/10 · 17 March 2023]

This movie, Game of Love, stars the handsome Brooks Darnell and the well-known Kimberly Sustad, along with several other promising supporting actors. I may not be well-versed in the names, fair warning, but I will do my best to use the character names.

Matthew (Darnell) is a marketing research consultant assigned to create a game that focuses on love connections; this is also true for Audrey (Sustad), who is a game creator in her own right. They - together - start this path of creating a game from scratch. They use the talents of Audrey's staff at the company funding this project, a young woman (Patty) and young man (i am not sure of his name) - along with her friend (Evie?) from the local game cafe, the Boardwalk.

The premise is strong, but the execution isn't riveting - I think this is where the 1 star is lost for me, because while it is somewhat interesting, the game creation process is probably a bit too nuanced to draw in the normal Hallmark viewer. They do some impressive tossing-around of terminology (a funny scene) and then venture into the creative process. All along, Audrey is getting texts from an online friend that she has never met (you can see there is some foreshadowing here). These texts are more of a friendship/'venting buddy' nature, and this element works well to help reinforce whatever point the plot may be trying to make.

I really enjoyed the movie, but found no truly romantic chemistry throughout, until the very end, when Audrey relents and learns to feel her feelings and actually let people inside her heart. The movie could have better developed the 'why' behind her closed-heart status, and they also could have shown a more clear realization on Darnell's part that his texting "online buddy" (spoiler) is Audrey.

I also loved the supporting roles, and am disappointed that none of the cast credits I've seen online (either on Hallmark, IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, and more) will offer proper credit to each supporting role. They spoke and did a great job, so why would we not have that info?

I Digress because I really enjoyed the overall movie; I loved:

• Brooks - he's awesome and super alluring in some way. I'm old enough to be his...older sister...so I just figure he's magnetic to almost everyone.

• Kimberley - while I was not a fan of hers initially, she did a great job of at least giving me a reaction or feeling -- some movies leave me so disinterested, I have no opinion at all on the character.

• the scenery, of course - way to go, as always, HM!

• the lovely relationships abounding -- so much love and inclusion in the entire movie among friends, coworkers, etc. It reminds me a lot of my own life, which is incredibly fortunate/blessed to have good people. I love watching movies that reinforce the goodness still in the world.

I would love to see it again and will.

Thoroughly Enjoyable

[wayfind · 8/10 · 20 March 2023]

I wasn't planning to write a review of "Game of Love," but when I read a couple of lukewarm reviews here, I felt compelled to add my voice.

So many people in our society today are "gamers" of one sort or another. My millennial older son has been a devotee of online role-playing games and card games like Magic, as has his wife. In fact, gaming drew them together. (Sadly, with adult responsibilities, neither of them has much time to enjoy those pursuits.) I, myself, am a lover of traditional board games, plus online Mahjongg, jigsaw puzzles, and so on.

What I'm getting at is: Aren't we glad no one in this movie baked cupcakes or planned weddings for a living? I'm so happy to see Hallmark opening up to horizons beyond baking, chocolate making, and so on!

This movie doesn't stun us with surprises, but I was taken in by the naturalness of the dialogue and of the situations. Kimberley Sustad and Brooks Darnell were beautifully suited to each other as actors, and carried off their roles with sensitivity and sincerity. Brooks D. Is extremely handsome. I looked at the stills from some of his films and at photos from his work as a model - and they don't do him justice! You need to see his expressive face "in action" to get how very appealing he is.

Lest I give the impression that the movie is all calm, sincere dialogue... This movie is fun. I loved that the calm, serious interactions were interspersed with excited, bouncy scenes when the four-person team was working together. Christin Park brought so much verve, sweetness and fun to her role. It was a joy to watch her. She and her team partner, "Marshall," who was acted by the always wonderful Edwin Perez, played off each other beautifully. Their "bouncing with ideas" scenes were accompanied by some great, NOT HEARD BEFORE IN HALLMARK MOVIES, music that truly enhanced the scenes. (I had begun to find hearing the same tunes repeated in movie after movie so annoying.)

All the supporting roles, such as Matthew's (Darnell) brother, and Audrey's (Sustad) friend, Evie, were very well played and added a lot to the movie - especially the Evie character. It's always nice to see Antonio Cupo on the screen. :-)

Nothing in this movie made me laugh out loud, and I didn't expect that. I enjoyed the emotional ups and downs, the colorful, different-from-the-ordinary backgrounds and settings, and the way love between the two leads grew in a thoughtful, gradually opening up sort or way.

Also, something I would never usually say about one of these movies is that I noticed and appreciated the camera work!

Two things I had a problem with: It was clear from the beginning that the secret, casual friend, game partner- texter would turn out to be the male lead. It's a device that has been overused, at this point, and we can always see it coming. The movie wouldn't have suffered any loss without it. The other thing was that - yes, of course, there was the kiss at the end - but I really wanted to see a less restrained, more full-on kiss. Wrap your arms around him, for Heaven's sake!

All in all, I feel this movie richly deserves my "8" rating. It isn't the best Hallmark has ever made, but it's very good!

Audrey (Kimberley Sustad)

[aab874 · 10/10 · 21 March 2023]

Favorite Scene with

Audrey (Kimberley Sustad) - At the Planetarium with Matthew, The Man in the Moon, and Blaming him when Their Game is Suddenly Pulled. Audrey and Kimberley Sustad are So Dang Hilarious!

BTW, I Loved this Movie! I Loved, Loved, Loved Brooks Darnell (Matthew)!!! Brooks Darnell is So Dang Charming and So Dang Hot!!! The Chemistry between Audrey and Matthew is So Very Romantic and So Very Hot!!! I Loved the Big Plot Twist! - Audrey and Matthew are Online Game Buddies. I did not see that coming! Reminds me of one of my Favorite Movies Ever! - "You've Got Mail" with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks.

Set in Washington.