“Right in Front of Me” is the last movie to air as part of Hallmark Channel’s 2021 Spring Fling. It starred Janel Parrish (“Holly & Ivy”) and Marco Grazzini with the screenplay provided by Julie Sherman Wolfe (One Royal Holiday and Taking a Shot at Love) and film direction by Linda-Lisa Hayter (Cranberry Christmas). It was filmed throughout the Vancouver, Canada region.
Music: The opening credits song was Feel So Good (affiliate link) by Janet & the Planets. The song at the end when they were outside the restaurant was Love Came Easy (affiliate link) by Anelda.
In a nutshell
The movie was slow-paced, but I liked it. I know some people may give it grief for the pacing, but I didn’t mind it one bit. It allowed the characters to breathe and gave me the chance to get to know them while they got to know each other. It’s the same reason I liked Christmas in Montana, also written by Sherman Wolfe. The result of the pacing meant the movie had characters versus caricatures, which Hallmark sometimes gives us in their movies.
Plot of “Right in Front of Me”
Carly has a second chance at romance with her college crush, Matt, but is unable to impress him until her new friend Nick starts giving her advice. Soon she learns who the right man for her really is.
Actors & Chemistry
I didn’t care much for “Holly & Ivy,” the first Hallmark movie that Janel Parrish made. There were a multitude of reasons for my displeasure, but Parrish was NOT one of them. I’m so glad Hallmark gave her another movie, and this time I thought she was a nice choice to play Carly. Carly was bubbly without being annoying, awkward without being cloying, and smart without making dumb decisions.
And I can’t tell you how happy I am that Hallmark finally put Marco Grazzini in a lead role. The minute I saw him screen as a secondary character in The Story of Us, I knew I wanted to see more of him. Lifetime Channel beat them to the punch by having him be the lead in one of the two Christmas movies I liked from 2020, “Christmas Unwrapped.” But they caught up with “Right” and he was worth the wait. I really like the character of Nick and how Grazzini portrayed him. Funny but not obnoxious, talented but humble, and charming but not smarmy. All good things for romantic leads!
Together Parrish and Grazzini were great. I thought they had really good chemistry together. It was not a smoking type of chemistry but more of a slow comfortable simmer. It was nice considering through half the movie she thought she actually was attracted to Matt.
Tropes
The movie opened with the big city drone shot. And in the second shot of the movie, she’s carrying a tray with empty coffee cups. She has an ex-boyfriend but we only got a brief scene with him so we don’t know if he’s Workaholic Bad Boyfriend or something else. Janel Parrish wore a circle necklace, as did one of the bridemaids later in the movie.
Did I Hear/See That Right?
There were not many things that had me scratching my head other than a few of the food choices that Nick made.
I also don’t know how Carly was able to make edits to the black dress when she was only visiting for a long weekend. Does she travel to vacation spots with a sewing machine and a bag of random fabrics and thread?
Feelgoods
I really enjoyed the humor in the script. Parrish and Grazzini played flirty friendship very well but Parrish also nailed the whole “nervous around Matt” stuff, too.
The “lodge” is the house from Just My Type. I recognized the fireplace, the ceiling beams and the 2nd floor library immediately. I LOVE that house. That house is quickly becoming the new “Hallmark Lobby” that I keep track of.
The little fork preference for eating dessert was cute, mainly because after a party my husband and I threw a couple years ago we had about 50-100 small spoons leftover and my daughter began using them exclusively.
Re-watchability
I liked Parrish and Grazzini together enough that I would probably watch this one again if I saw it was re-airing.
The Ranking
“Right in Front of Me” took over the fourth spot from last week’s movie. Three of the four spring movies were very strong (I yet to watch “One Perfect Wedding,” which aired while I was on vacation).
- It Was Always You (air date: Feb 27) – 668 pts – weighted score: 114.2 (80.1%)
- Taking a Shot at Love (air date: Jan 2) – 641 pts – weighted score: 108.9 (76.4%)
- Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (air date: Mar 27) – 636 pts – weighted score: 108.5 (76.1%)
- Right in Front of Me (air date: Apr 18) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
- As Luck Would Have It (air date: Apr 10) – 638 pts – weighted score: 107.7 (75.5%)
- A Winter Getaway (air date: Jan 23) – 620 pts – weighted score: 104.4 (73.3%)
- Mix Up in the Mediterranean (air date: Feb 20) – 590 pts – weighted score: 102.5 (71.9%)
- Two For The Win (air date: Jan 16) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
- Chasing Waterfalls (air date: Mar 20) – 570 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
- Fit for a Prince (air date: Mar 6) – 546 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
- 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 “Right in Front of Me”? Comment below and let me know!
Hi, I’m curious if anyone knows the song when she’s sewing on the turquoise sewing machine The Right Time?
Dee, sadly I had no luck finding the song that played while she was working with the turquoise sewing machine. It’s a very cute song, but apparently one that was created by a shop that specific makes generic tunes for movies.
Had I been able to identify that song I’d have put it in my synopsis, but that one did not come up. The movie doesn’t re-air until August, but I’ll re-record it and see if I can figure it out.
What brand is the turquoise sewing machine and where can I get one?
Susan, I have no idea who made the one featured in the movie, but I found a Janome “Arctic Crystal” sewing machine on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2ZXvtMx (affiliate link). I’ve not heard of that brand, but it appears to have good reviews and seems reasonably priced.