Some Hallmark Memories
Chloe (Meghan Ory - Debbie Macomber's Dashing Through the Snow), a photographer, loves the idea of romance and true love but she comes from a family of failed romances and it has led her to fear the heartbreak which others in her family have felt. It is why when at a swap meet she discovers a photo album detailing the relationship of Jonathan (Art Hindle - Blind Trust) and Sarah (Adrienne Barbeau - Shattered Hearts) she has to buy it as it is everything she expects true love to be. It is why she decides to try to track down this Jonathan and Sarah, with friendly bar tender Gabe Sinclair (Luke Macfarlane - The Mistletoe Promise) taking it upon himself to help. As their journey in to the past deepens they find themselves becoming close, the question is can Chloe stop looking for someone else's love and take the risk on the love which is clearly presenting itself to her.
Some times a move is simply self explanatory and I have found that most "Hallmark" movies are self explanatory with "The Memory Book" being very much a self explanatory Hallmark movie. As such we have a young woman who fears heartbreak but hooked on the concept of romance, falling for a guy but of course keeps him at arms length because of that fear of heartbreak. Along the way they sort of wind each other up across a series of not really dates as they set about finding Jonathan and Sarah. As such it is all incredibly familiar and if romantic Hallmark movies, with their soft music, are your thing then "The Memory Book" will hit the marks you expect in a way you will have probably seen before.
And in truth "The Memory Book" hits the marks because Luke Macfarlane plays the nicest, smoothest, most patient and understanding nice guy you will come across whilst Meghan Ory is just as appealing. And the way their romance plays out with various encounters with some of the nicest people you will ever meet is typical Hallmark wholesome. And yes I should say, whilst it should be plainly obvious, the pleasantness of "The Memory Book" will certainly be too much for those who prefer their romantic drama's to trade on realism than being overly nice. Although I would say that even the most cynical of hearts will be intrigued by the revelations revealed when their quest brings them to a locker belonging to an old key.
What this all boils down to is that "The Memory Book" is for the most a typical Hallmark romantic drama when it focuses upon the main characters of Chloe and Gabe. But after a while and a revelation surrounding the people they are trying to track down it becomes a lot more intriguing.
