7.2 stars.
Run-of-the-mill movie, about a NYC chef named Caroline (Cindy Busby) who inherits a diner in Australia, so she goes down under to see what it's all about. While there, she falls in love with an Aussie cook named Cook and then starts second guessing everything. She decides that the diner must be sold, and Cook presents her with a perfectly good reason to save it, but she declines.
The movie is nice and breezy, and slow, nothing super special about it. I figured because it's in Australia (no idea if it's actually filmed there) maybe there would be something fresh and new. If they give us a rare Australia based Hallmark, at least take advantage of the opportunity to provide an exotic experience. Unfortunately, there is none of that to be had. This is just another monotonous romance with some Ocker strine (had to look it up, and it's probably not the appropriate usage of those terms).
Marla keeps assuming that she and Cook are in on a scheme to save the diner, and the whole charade is a bunch of nonsense. She never listens to him when he protests, and after a few times listening to that shrill tone of hers, I was just about finished with "Romance on the Menu". But I stuck around, because it's Australia, maybe there is a surprise at the end.
Cook (Tim Ross) is the only redeeming quality, although even he is hit and miss. He has some struggles with sincerity and seems a bit robotic. Busby is strange as an actress in this. I've seen her in other roles which I found to be satisfactory, and sometimes above average. I'm not sure what to think about this presentation, but she was definitely off her game. The best part of this film was the arguments between the leads. I think the director must have included additional fights for the sake of the audience.
Surprise, it's the "fiancé" but he's not her fiancé, so what the heck is he doing there? That is really a stretch, I mean really? And so he (the supposed fiancé from America) is a tool, and she's kind of a tool back, and the whole scene is off putting if I'm being honest.
As a whole this is only minutely entertaining, the romance is lopsided, several characters are underdeveloped, and I feel sorry for the poor little puppy. There were few great moments, and some spark, and I choose to leave on a high note, because the final scene was good.
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