Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Channel continues the ‘Winter Escape’ theme by taking us to Melbourne — not Florida! — where it’s actually Summer in the Land Down Under. Mallory Jansen stars as columnist Georgie, who writes a ’24 Hours In…’ column for an online publication. With her boss looking at retirement after 30 years, he decides to give her a shot at possibly replacing him, or at least his own more in depth travel pieces by giving her a week-long assignment in Melbourne, Australia, asking that she immerse herself in the culture and find things to highlight that aren’t the usual touristy things. Georgie is thrilled, but her sister is concerned because Georgie isn’t known to take the best care of herself, eating whatever junk food she can grab at an airport and getting very little sleep. The flight to Australia is disorienting enough with the time (and day) change, and to make matters worse she seems to have been stood up by the luxury car service that was hired to take her around the city to hit all of her scheduled spots. Her co-worker Eric gets the company on the phone and while Georgie is waiting for her ride she’s nearly hit by a dirty SUV … because she forgot which was she was supposed to look when crossing the street in Australia. She and the driver have a few terse words and he leaves her to continue to await her ride. Inside the airport, the driver, Zach, sees the woman sitting forlornly on the curb and realizes she is his passenger. Sort of. He goes back and gives her the news, and she learns that he had to fill in for his father, who hurt his back earlier but he should be back on the job the next day. Still a bit out of it and thinking it’s time to go to bed — it’s just 7:30 AM — Zach takes her to his favorite coffee place … which is not on her To Do List. But it’s the best coffee she’s ever had, and after trying several different types, Georgie is buzzing hard, speaking and walking so quickly Zach can hardly keep up. After seeing a few more local sights not on her list, Georgie finally makes it back to her hotel and crashes while talking with her sister. But before she left Zach, she insisted that he be her guide for the week since he’s really helped fulfill her mission already of seeing things only the locals would see.
Zach reluctantly agrees and he shows her things she never would have seen, and he insists she just trust him and not enforce a schedule. All will work out. One odd thing Georgie notices is the way people react to them, or at least to Zach, with some people asking for photos and other just pointing and staring in amazement. Who is Zach? After Zach mentions his home down the coast, Georgie just blurts out that they should go, completely catching herself in disbelief. Who is this person she’s become? Stopping at a beach with Zach and his doggie, the dog runs off and Georgie chases after him, finding the dog stopped at a beach hut where she is shocked to see a poster on the wall of … Zach. A bit stunned, he finally admits to her that he was a football player (Australian rules football, to be exact, a cross between rugby and soccer), pretty much a national treasure, so that explains all the people ogling them. He had to retire after an injury, but the game was his life so he tries not to bring it up too much. But while having lunch, two young boys approach them, huge fans of Zach, and Georgie encourages him to go out and play with the boys for a bit, giving them a moment they will remember forever. It also makes Georgie begin to feel more than just like a tourist and passenger, and again she has to wonder who this spontaneous person is. They get down the coast to Zach’s friends, Scott and Maeve, and Georgie gets to enjoy more of the local culture. They also learn that Maeve is a well-known singer and is giving a small concert for friends, family and locals that night before she gives birth in a few weeks. Georgie again suggests out of the blue that they stay for the concert and they can leave after, but it’s too dangerous to leave at night because that’s when the ‘roos come out, and they have a tendency to jump in the middle of the road while cars are coming. No worries, they’ll just stay and leave first thing. It’s a wonderful night, Zach and Georgie get closer, and Georgie even meets his dad, who tells her he’s glad he was unable to be her driver because he can already see how her presence has changed his son, for the better. Scott and Maeve see it too, and encourage him to not let this moment pass him by. But the next day, Georgie ends up sleeping until 1:00 PM, and she is finally able to get a signal on her phone when Eric calls to ask if she got any of the messages alerting her that she is due to appear on a chat show that night, something their boss arranged as another guest dropped out at the last minute. Panicked and furious that Zach let her sleep so long, they head back to the city, but harsh words are exchanged, putting them back on just a professional level, Zach putting up all of the walls he had let down thinking there was something between them. Georgie is introduced on the chat show, hosted by Dannii Minogue (!), thinking she is there to talk about her article, but Dannii throws her a real curveball, revealing she is there to dish about her relationship with Zach. Not knowing how to deal with the ambush, Georgie finally realizes that what she said the night before was true — she is where she was meant to be. But can she repair the relationship she damaged in her moment of distress, and will Zach be able to open himself up again?
Hallmark Channel
A Melbourne Match is a totally charming Hallmark romance with a winning performance from Mallory Jansen. In fact, Jansen is a triple-threat here as she stars, executive produces and serves as the writer of the movie! Jansen takes the usual Hallmark format, jazzes it up a bit with some Aussie charm, and creates a wonderful character for herself who is career-driven but not so much that she’s unlikable. It’s interesting that the story doesn’t spend a lot of time showing us the culture, just hints of it here and there, but through the skillful writing and direction from Colin Budds, we still feel a bit immersed in it with Georgie. The movie has a nice pace, and even though it takes place over a week’s time — and we never really see anything that Georgie is writing about — it never feels rushed and we see just enough, like her visit to a wildlife refuge where she gets to meet an orphaned baby koala. It all just works so well while the story remains squarely focused on the budding relationship between Georgie and Zach. (Side note: I love that the editor’s last name is Cutting. How appropriate!)
Jansen is wonderful as Georgie, always open to experiencing new things while also being surprised that she’s open to experiencing new things, putting her full trust in this man she barely knows. For a travel writer, though, she seems a tad clueless about some things like … vegemite. Seriously, who has never heard of vegemite in this day and age? Most of us have probably never tasted it, but we certainly know what it is, and we’re not travel experts. Jansen has some wonderful moments such as when she meets the koala and sees some kangaroos emerging at ‘golden hour’, and her chemistry with her co-star is palpable. She even gives herself a quick but funny moment when she finally encounters one of those giant spiders on the wall that we’ve seen in a lot of viral videos. Most importantly, Jansen has to make Georgie relatable, someone the audience can connect with and see things through her eyes, allowing us to experience the culture just as she does. She just makes Georgie someone we’d all like to know and be friends with.
Hallmark Channel
Ryan Corr is also wonderful as Zach, a completely laid back guy who we see coming out of the shell he’s placed himself in after his devastating injury that ended his football career. He simply lights up every time he looks at Georgie, and Corr makes us feel that connection Zach is having. His love for the culture also feels authentic, and that is certainly important for telling this story. Being an Aussie himself, he truly comes across as someone who knows what he’s talking about when he’s showing Georgie the next new thing. The moment they dance together at the concert perfectly displays how Zach feels about Georgie, and Corr is excellent at showing Zach’s hurt when she lashes out the next morning, returning the favor, but clearly regretting everything. The performances of Jansen and Corr in those moments just make us want to see them apologize and figure out how to make that relationship work.
Of the major co-stars, Gyton Grantley and Alinta Chidzey are wonderful as Scott and Maeve, truly feeling like a real couple finally facing the impending parenthood they’ve wanted for so many years. Grantley has a nice moment with Corr as the two are setting up the barn for the concert, being a real friend with the advice to not let this moment slip away because Zach has done that too many times already. Chidzey also has a nice scene with Jansen talking about her long-hoped-for pregnancy, happy that it’s finally happened, sad that she doesn’t and won’t have her own little family band at this point in her life, but also telling her just how much Zach has grown emotionally since he met Georgie. It’s a beautiful bonding moment between these two women who are practically strangers, but through Chidzey’s performance it feels completely natural. Both she and Grantley make Maeve and Scott the kind of friends anyone would want to have.
Overall, A Melbourne Match is just a lovely, delightful, charming romantic story, set in a land most of us have never been to but making it someplace we’d love to visit (although the giant spiders are a bit of a deal-breaker), with two wonderful characters anyone would want to hang out with. It doesn’t break any new ground as far as Hallmark romance movies go, but it’s still something comfortable and warm to slip into on a cold winter’s night.
A Melbourne Match has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, is rated TV-G, and is streaming on Hallmark+.
Preview – A Melbourne Match
Hallmark Channel