“Playing Cupid” aired February 13, on Hallmark Channel as the second Love Ever After movie for 2021. It starred the Laura Vandervoort and Nicholas Gonzalez. Vandervoort hasn’t done a mainstream Hallmark movie, but she did star in 2020’s “A Christmas Exchange,” one of the few Lifetime network movies I liked this past Christmas season. Likewise, this is Gonzalez’s first appearance on Hallmark, but regular viewers of “The Good Doctor” will recognize him, for sure.
Regular Hallmark writer Nina Weinman co-wrote this screenplay with Jennifer Meyerhoff, with David Weaver serving as director. It was filmed in both Vancouver and Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
Music: David and Kerri lip sync’d to the famous Ain’t No Mountain High Enough (affiliate link) by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
In a nutshell
I wanted to like this movie, but given the fact it took me three days to get through it meant that it just couldn’t hold my attention long enough for me to care about the characters or what they were up to.
Plot of “Playing Cupid”
A modern-day Emma finds David Martinez being secretly set up with his daughter’s teacher, Kerri, when the young girl begins a matchmaking business for a school project.
Actors & Chemistry
The actors themselves are great and I’ve enjoyed them in other projects (Gonzalez is GREAT on The Good Doctor), but together in this movie they did zero for me. I could not feel a single ounce of chemistry between them throughout the entire movie. I did enjoy Mia Quaranta de la Rosa as David’s daughter Clara, but even there I struggled to believe that Clara was David’s daughter because they didn’t really have much to work with to show their relationship.
The characters had such great potential, but the low-key tone of the movie let them down. I don’t know whether to blame that on the writer or the director, or how the actors approached their roles. I loved the lip sync/dance scene in the restaurant kitchen, but it was too little too late (it was 1 hr 21 min into the movie).
Tropes
I’m sure there were a couple tropes in the movie, but I’ll be honest and say that about 10 minutes into the movie I gave up on tracking them because I felt such disconnection with the movie. At the beginning I did notice the empty coffee cups that Kerri and Marnie carried as they walked through the school hallways.
Did I Hear/See That Right?
I won’t go into plotholes here (there were a few), but instead will take the time to say that the thing that disappointed me the most was that Jane Austen’s novel Emma is known as being a somewhat lighthearted, mischievous (with spots of sadness (I’m looking at you, poor Ms. Bates)) story of a matchmaker who makes many mistakes out of pride. “Playing Cupid” specifically billed itself as an homage to Emma, and yet the only likeness is that there was an attempt at matchmaking. Plenty of movies due matchmaking but don’t feel the need to bring up Emma. So unless you are doing a specific “based on Emma” type movie (hello “Clueless”) then DON’T MENTION EMMA.
Feelgoods
I appreciated the diversity of the characters AND how it wasn’t even brought up or made to be a big deal. It just WAS. And as I already mentioned, I enjoyed the lip sync scene in the kitchen.
Re-watchability
Sadly, “Playing Cupid” will not be one I seek out in the future.
The Ranking
“Playing Cupid” was extremely disappointing, but not the worst movie I’ve seen this year. Despite a couple shining moments, “Cupid” was a let down.
- Taking a Shot at Love (air date: Jan 2) – 641 pts – weighted score: 108.9 (76.4%)
- A Winter Getaway (air date: Jan 23) – 620 pts – weighted score: 104.4 (73.3%)
- Two For The Win (air date: Jan 16) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
- A New Year’s Resolution (air date: Jan 9) – 516 pts – weighted score: 90.5 (63.5%)
- Playing Cupid (air date: Feb 13) – 466 pts – weighted score: 82.6 (58.0%)
- Beverly Hills Wedding (air date: Feb 6) – 431 pts – weighted score: 80.6 (56.5%)
- Snowkissed (air date: Jan 31) – 402 pts – weighted score: 76.0 (53.3%)
To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!
What did you think of “Playing Cupid”? Comment below and let me know!
It dragged on in the end of the movie. And I always just find these school movies so weird. And I felt like he never worked at the restaurant.
Yes, Brendan! One of my notes was “does the restaurant even need him anymore?” because he was hardly ever there.