A Dog's for Life
When her grandpa Isaac (Lee Majors - Johnny) decides to retire Dr. Carly Monroe (Jen Lilley - Harvest Love) returns to her Minnesota hometown to take over his veterinary practice and that also sees her helping out at Forever Friends Animal Shelter. It leads to her not only catching up with her old friend, Michelle (Lucie Guest), but also Michelle's brother, Dan (Jason Cermak - Moonlight in Vermont), who was her high school sweetheart. Dan has a gift for matching dogs with new owners and quite a dab hand when it comes to matching up people as he introduces the widowed Isaac to Mrs. Gilbert (Lindsay Wagner - The Thanksgiving House). But things become complicated as Carly realises she still has feelings for Dan, thanks to a little manipulation from Michelle, but he is with Kristi (Emily Maddison) a catty presenter for a local TV station who has just got a job in New York and not only insists Dan goes with her but that they get married as well.
"Eat, Play, Love" is the sort of Hallmark romantic comedy which whilst I watched I really wondered whether to bother reviewing. That isn't because it is a bad movie but because it is only a stereotypical Hallmark movie as we have the woman returning to her home town who discovers she has feelings for her former high school sweetheart but of course he is with the completely wrong sort of person for him. I wish I could tell you there was something more substantial to "Eat, Play, Love" than that but this is as simple as they come with some nice scenic shots of a beautiful town as well as some nice characters who are inoffensive.
That brings me to what "Eat, Play, Love" ends up being all about which is the appeal of the cast and yes Jen Lilley and Jason Cermak are certainly pleasant as are Lee Majors and Lindsay Wagner for older Hallmark fans, and yes that does mean we have The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman on screen together in a Hallmark movie. Plus there is Lucie Guest who is equally nice as Dan's sister but these characters are as routine as everything else is in "Eat, Play, Love". Although dog loving fans of Hallmark movies might enjoy seeing Gidget on screen again; the adorable and talented dog who in this movie plays Beasley.
What this all boils down to is that "Eat, Play, Love" is just a routine Hallmark movie, the sort of thing which you can map out in your own mind by the time all the main characters are met. It doesn't make it bad it just makes it the sort of movie which is likely to only appeal to fans of Hallmark movies.
