User reviews

The latest theme for rom/coms seems to be about influencers. So, take Mac as an influencer and put her into the role as a wedding planner for her best friend. Mac selfishly hijacks her best friend's "simple" wedding in order to save her career. Then she makes a lot of assumptions about her dad, his farm, and Dylan based on no facts and proceeds to insult everyone. All of this continues until so late in the movie, that as far as I'm concerned, anything she did to try to redeem herself was too little, too late. But wait! This is Hallmark. So, miracles happen.

I feel sorry for Dylan that he still loves this horrible woman. He should run far and fast in the other direction.

This was a disappointing effort and even the amazingly handsome, charming Christopher Russell could not save this one. Jen Lilley can act but why is she constantly given these roles of giggling, silly, insecure women. She was so rude and obnoxious to her best friend and pretty much everyone else in the movie. And a note to Hallmark production staff - hire a tree specialist! You cannot tap a cedar tree and if you could we would be awash with maple syrup here on Van. Island. Ours comes from Quebec. Sugar Maples grow in the East. Also, in many of the Christmas movies they had Douglas fir growing/sold in Eastern towns. This tree grows in the Pacific Northwest. And you cannot just walk through the woods and find a perfectly cultured tree. It takes years of clipping. How hard is it to get this information correct?? The ending was predictable and from reading the other reviews, most of us were quite happy when it was over.

I wanted to like this movie because I like the two leads but the story was soooo bland. I watched all of it which was painful but I was just hoping it would get better.

Unfortunately, it never did. These leads have to learn to turn down bad scripts and save us from these dumb storylines.

Movie was boring, most of acting was horrible, and proves how self absorbed influencers are. The quality of Hallmark movies is really going down hill.

I mean, at least get the geography right? I know it's BC and all (I'm from there), but....you're telling me they couldn't find a single hardwood tree to stand in for a maple? Even a birch or an oak would be more believable than a Western Red Cedar in a forest of other cedars.

Plus, as others have noted, absolutely zero chemistry between the leads, which is basically the bare minimum of what I ask of a Hallmark movie.

I also found the bride character to be really unlikeable (though the actress is part of my favorite scene in Mean Girls) so it was hard to care what happened with her wedding (she and her groom also had zero chemistry).

Also, hard to tell what Jenn Lilley even *actually* looks like, because of the absurd clown's mask of makeup she wears at all times. Caked on foundation, terrible brown-orange eyeshadow, and gobs and gobs of mascara - how did she even keep her eyes open under the weight? She is obviously an attractive woman; why ruin her this way?

I didn't hate this as much as some reviewers (yikes, what were you all expecting?) but it definitely misses the mark in some key areas. Even for Hallmark.

This is my first review, and I have been watching A LOT of Hallmark movies during the pandemic. I understand that certain things can get overlooked when researching a movie; however, if you are making a movie about maple syruping, you might want to tap a maple tree and not a pine tree. Maybe that's why her dad's farm is facing foreclosure.

"Love doesn't always come easily...love your partner for who they are and help them become who they want to be."

Mac is a New York marketing exec who's childhood best friend, Olivia, asks her to help plan her wedding in their small town. Mac has to work with Olivia's super hot cousin...and the chemistry is smokin'. Meanwhile her Dad's maple syrup business has been having trouble coming in to this century, but the cousin Dylan has been trying to help out.

The banter between the main romantic couple is fun, teasing and light and the best friends have some nice natural dialogue.

Light, simple, romantic...if that is your fare, this might be your thing...besides Dylan has a great smile!

What happened! This was a Hallmark movie, but awful! The acting needs help, the script needs help. I left to get my dinner and took my time returning, and exited the room multiple times. Flipped the channel! Hallmark please hire new writers that have a passion for story writing!

5.7 Stars.

I am always honest and realistic with my reviews. First of all, this is not a b-rated film, cut-rate, rudimentary, inferior, or crude. In other words, this film has decent production value as do most Hallmark films. What it lacks is every aspect that makes for an entertaining story. "Where Your Heart Belongs" is full of incessant blather and pointless banter. This is more boring than watching a home video of a bunch of angsty adults trying to fill the void with useless chit chat. What is the plot? There really is no plot. She is home to plan her best friend's wedding, that is it. Is she rude and heartless? I suppose. What I see is a character study of a confused person whose aspirations to be famous are more important than her friends. On the other hand it's inconsistent in its presentation and not quite believable. It's a strange film with strange ideas and no direction whatsoever. I lost sight of the point about half way through. This one seems to be rated lower than most, if not all the Hallmark films I've seen. I've been more disappointed with a few other films that were very poorly made and with bad stories. This film is not poorly made, but it's very plain.

I came to read the reviews on this one because neither my husband nor I liked this film even a little bit and I thought maybe we were just missing something. Nope - our opinion is in line with the other four reviews here.

I'm not sure what happened with this movie. As others stated, Jen Lilly's character is one of the most annoying 'heroines' in any movie I've seen. She has no redeeming qualities and I'm surprised her friend put up with her as long as she did. I normally like Jen Lilly's performances, and perhaps it was a combination of the writing and directing, but she was completely off-putting in this one.

I'm on the fence about Christopher Russell in general, but in this movie there was absolutely zero chemistry between his character and Jen Lilly's.

The writing tried to stay true to Hallmark's formula (someone from the big city comes home to their small hometown, reconnects with a high school sweetheart, gets along well until 20 minutes remaining in the movie, has a major misunderstanding that would have been avoided had the main characters just communicated instead of jumping to conclusions and then with five minutes remaining a magical resolution occurs with no hard feelings on either side and everyone lives happily ever after) and don't get me wrong - I like the formula - it's nice to know you're going to have a happy ending. These movies aren't meant to be anything more than a couple hours of escapism from reality. But the writers here missed the mark and there was conflict/miscommunication all the way through due mostly to Jen Lilly's character's inability to see a topic of conversation through (usually topics she brought up to begin with).

I won't be watching this one more than once. Sorry, Hallmark. Do better.

Is Nelson Wong always someone's assistant?

Either way, not a good portrayal this time.

Not a surprising plot, or ending, but definitely a less-than-stellar production.

Actually seemed like a waste of talent for a couple of usually watchable lead actors.

Somebody at Hallmark has forgotten that cinematography is a form of VISUAL Art in MOTION. The ACTION is supposed to provide real drama and offer the actors the canvas on which to create and project, with expressions and body language, emotions and feelings. When uninspired script writers, directors, and actors are unable to deliver the above, we get these shows with little meaningful action, filled with lengthy dialogs, where the characters tell the viewers what they are expected to believe, perceive, and absorb. Just because they could never get that otherwise. So, families and friends seem to have nothing better to think about, than spending time convincing the main characters they are great and made for each other, while, in reality, they come out as, more or less good looking, empty shells, with no clear merits or endearing qualities that could inspire respect, let alone love. And this, when they are not totally unlikable! In this specific movie, Mackenzie, hammed up by Jen Lilley, is a superficial, inconsiderate, self-centered young woman who creates her own silly dramas by mistreating friends and rushing to judgement. There is no chemistry with Dylan and God knows what reasons he should have to like her at all! Of course, we are supposed to believe it possible, because everybody else in the move tell us so. Absolutely nothing in the movie explain the predictable few-minutes ending.

Last year, Hallmark begun the winter season with a cute production, "Taking a shot at love", which was followed by an entire year of mostly vapid, very forgettable shows. This year they are off with a miserable start. I dread to think at what will follow. Hallmark has taken the road to B,C, an D movies, as in Boring, Cliche', and Disappointing or Dumb. Mass production means messy quality.

Unlikable. Horrible. Ghastly mess. If it isn't bad enough that Hallmark decided Christmas started before Halloween, the first new non-Christmas movie shown in 2022 is dreadful. Unbelievable plot. Other than the bride and groom, basically unlikable characters. I had seen the same preview for this movie countless times earlier, and should have followed my instincts and ignored this irritating offering. Hallmark really needs to make their executives and writers watch the older movies that were made with heart, intelligence, and a desire to present the very best. Quality over quantity.

I stumbled across this movie today. I actually watched it originally early on in 2022. It is right up there with forgettable Hallmark Movies.

Jen Lilley is not one of my fave Hallmark stars. Her character in this tripe is one of the major reasons I do not care for her assorted movies. Not only was her character a selfish, shallow and whiny airhead, she was downright disgustedly boring in this entry.

Her treatment of the rest of characters was deplorable.

Christopher Russell is very pleasing to the eye, but he was seriously dull and less than animated in this presentation. What a waste of his talent. He had a cameo in Supernatural for all of ten minutes and stole the scene from the Winchester boys. He has not been able to stretch his acting for the majority of his Hallmark Movies. It would be nice to see him in a role with some chops. This movie was truly awful.

My wife and I intentionally watch "bad" Hallmark movies, and few recent ones have had worse reviews than this one.

To our surprise...it wasn't bad. Even stranger was that the lead actress (and the character she played) weren't nearly as bad as conveyed in many of these reviews. Sure, the character was somewhat selfish...but it wasn't anything extreme. And we found the actress herself to have been fine. In other words, the role was performed well.

Other positives:

• It was funny. Well, a lot most legitimately funny than we were expecting. There were a few genuine laugh out loud moments.

• Predictable but fun script. Beyond being funny, the story itself was fine. It wasn't that unrealistic, especially compared to other Hallmark films.

• Most acting was good.

Negatives:

• Male lead was very wooden. We've seen him in other things, and he's always stiff/robot like. This film is no exception.

• Ending was abrupt and felt half baked.

But overall...I'd actually recommend this film. I don't really get the hate. And I usually quickly understand the hate.

I am well aware of the Hallmark movie playbook and all the cheesiness that comes along with it. Usually it is good for a mindless 2 hours, but this movie was beyond terrible for one glaring reason: the lead female character. Mac is incredibly unlikable, selfish, self-absorbed and written as a complete moron. She leaves a viewer unable to root for the happy ending. The only reason I was able to finish it, after falling asleep twice during viewing, is my stubbornness to always finish what I start. Don't waste your time on this mess.

I really don't like the direction Hallmark are heading for some of their features. Don't like the Influencer rubbish, the main character is awful and deserves to spend a lifetime alone. I thought the last episode of Mystery 101, which was also completely wrong, was just a bump in the road, but maybe not, unfortunately. Get your game together Hallmark.

The writing stinks, the dialog is just drivel. Two solid leads, Jen Lilley and Christopher Russell and their dialog is embarrassing to listen to. After Lilley and Russell, the caliber of the cast goes down hill. Christopher Russell in tight shirts doesn't make up for a bad script.

Following the maple syrup theme, there is another movie out, "Sweet as Maple Syrup" and that one is better, watch it instead.

I like Lilley in most her movies, but this character is just ... not great. She barely strings together complete sentences, fumbles and bumbles her way through the movie nervous as a Chihuahua, never quite making her point known.

Fortunately, some of Lilleys natural charm comes through but not enough to save the likability of Mac.

Christopher Russell is fine, but not enough to make up for his on screen cousin, Morrisons whiny and close minded Olivia.

Just missed the mark here, whatever they were trying to hit, they missed.