In the movie, "The Sweetest Heart", a strong and independent bakery owner turns needy and helpless once her ex-boyfriend comes back to town.
Plot summary and other info
"Maddie is doing everything she can to save her cupcake business. With the help of a handsome investment banker, Maddie’s luck begins to turn around in all aspects of her life. However, when her first love Nate unexpectedly returns home after 14 years, she will have to choose between a new romance and the man she never stopped loving."
Released in 2018 as part of Hallmark Channels Spring Fever programming, "The Sweetest Heart" stars Julie Gonzalo and Chris McNally. The movie was filmed mostly in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
Fun fact: Julie Gonzalo and Chris McNally fell in love while filming, "The Sweetest Heart" and now have a family together!
Warning, spoilers ahead!
My thoughts
This was a typical, middle of the road Hallmark movie. It was cliche, with no real "meat" to the story and unfortunately not even the chemistry between the two main characters could salvage it.
The movie begins with a young Nick about to depart for four years to school. He and Maddie promise to make long distance work and he'll come back to their small town once he's finished with school.
Fast forward 14 years and adult Maddie is strong, independent and owns a cupcake bakery that's on the verge of closing if she can't find an investor.
She works with Alex, a handsome investment banker who eventually asks her out on a date once he's secured her an investor.
Maddie tells everyone she knows that she's too busy saving her bakery to think about dating, but then her ex, Nick shows up in town and Maddie decides to take Alex up on his offer.
Why? It's clear from the start that she's not really interested in Alex, having her start dating him to prove some sort of point that she's "over" her ex-boyfriend shows a real character flaw. There's no need to string someone along like that.
Over the course of the film Maddie slowly becomes dependent on Nick, as if he's the only one who can help her save the bakery.
During Nick's first interaction with Maddie at the bakery, he decided to order 3 dozen cupcakes on the spot to "help her out".
He then orders a few dozen more cupcakes and has her personally deliver and pass them out at the hospital (he's a cardiologist doing a lecture series there) to help her drum up business.
Some people might find it admirable, I found it to be condescending that this man who hasn't talked to her in 10 years pops back up in her life and immediately goes into Superman mode.
There's more of course. Maddie is apparently terrible with technology, but never fear, Nick knows how to get a professional website going for her. He's also a great photographer. Oh, and did I mention that he's also the only one who can help her bake dozens of cupcakes when her first batch burn in the oven.
Throughout the movie, we never really get an explanation as to why their relationship ended 10 years ago. The closest thing we get is, "I guess work took over.".
Final rating
"The Sweetest Heart", left me with nothing but a sour taste in my mouth. I didn't find either of the characters all that likeable and I definitely had an issue with the female lead going from strong and independent to needy and helpless. I'll be happy to never see this one again!
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 1
What did you think of "The Sweetest Heart"? Let me know in the comments below.
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