Hallmark Channel
It’s February, the month of love, or as the Hallmark Channel has dubbed it — ‘Loveuary’. Hallmark, as a company, thrives on Christmas but the Valentine’s season is also a major time to buy cards and gifts … and produce the most romantic movies of the year. ‘Loveuary’ kicks off this year with the Queen of Hallmark, Lacey Chabert, starring in the romantic adventure An Unexpected Valentine, with leading man Robert Buckley.
An Unexpected Valentine sets up its story by introducing us to two individuals, Hannah and Finn. Hannah works for a chocolate company (even though her aversion to chocolate is revealed later in the story) developing innovative products and flavors, and this year’s big ticket is the ‘What’s In Your Purse?’ campaign with chocolate purses, which her boss loves but Hannah is now expected to talk up the product at an industry event. Not something she wants to do on Valentine’s Day. Not that she has any plans as she is currently single, but curling up at home in her pajamas is the only thing on her mind. Her boss persists and she agrees. On the other side of the story is Finn, a photographer known for his landscapes who is branching out to portraiture and his new show is set for the same night at the same time, and the gallery owner is insisting Finn be there to talk up his work, not something he’s keen on doing but relents. Hannah needs a ride to her event and when the rideshare shows up, Finn is the driver … and his car is packed with a young woman named Gabby (Jess Brown) and a couple out for date night, Nadine (Princess Davis) and Nate (Anthony Timpano). It is a large vehicle with another row of seats in the back, but after just a couple of blocks Hannah begins to get car sick. The couple offer to swap places, but Gabby is in the front passenger seat and she swaps with Hannah. Finn drops Gabby at her destination, and the couple at theirs, leaving Hannah as his last fare for the night. But he also delivers things as well as people and has a few more stops before getting Hannah to her event.
During one stop, Hannah discovers a small box on the floor in the back and finds that it is a ring, most likely an engagement ring. Finn tells her he’ll call it in and drop it off at the company’s headquarters the next morning but Hannah insists that this ring is meant for an engagement on Valentine’s Day, and if they don’t find the rightful owner their evening will be ruined, no ring, no engagement. Because who wants to get engaged the day AFTER Valentine’s Day? Finn tries to resist, but Hannah is persistent and he finally agrees to backtrack the route to Gabby and the young couple, with some other deliveries on the way (Hannah agrees to be his courier), but they have no luck finding the ring’s owner. Finn remembers one other encounter he had that morning and Hannah is certain that is who the ring belongs to, but can they find the person in time before the scheduled proposal timed to a spectacular fireworks display? And will the pair — Hannah loves love while Finn thiks Valentine’s Day is just an obligatory holiday — discover their own romantic feelings by the end of the ride?
Hallmark Channel
An Unexpected Valentine is another charming romantic movie with the always enjoyable Lacey Chabert. She gives each of her characters such a down-to-earth quality that it’s hard not to fall in love with her, and Hannah is no different. Hannah is intelligent but relatable, she’s easy to talk to, she’s very open, and she is driven to do the right thing, no matter how out of the way it takes her from her destination. Chabert just makes it all feel so easy and natural. And she has a great partner in Robert Buckley. Buckley has a great ability to be charming and adventurous, but he also has some great comic timing, and he can toss off one liners and be goofy as well, like playing along when someone mistakes Hannah showing Finn the ring as a proposal. He has a serious side too, but not too serious making him the complete package. Chabert and Buckley work great together, and the actors makes us feel that Hannah and Finn are developing an attraction even during the short time they are together.
The film also has a great supporting cast with brief but notable turns by Jess Brown, Princess Davis and Anthony Timpano as the passengers, as well as Caitlin Stryker as Hannah’s boss Annalisa and Vincent Tong as gallery owner Levi. These actors and the other supporting cast members all do wonderful jobs in their roles, with some of them specifically written to help further along the developing romance between Hannah and Finn.
The script by Nicole Baxter and Jennifer Barrow is lighthearted and charming, and even the most anti-Valentine’s Day person might feel their hearts swell a bit. There’s also just enough comedic bits for Buckley to sink his teeth into without going too far over the top. Director Michael Robison does a nice job of mixing stock footage of New York City with his Vancouver locations to sell the illusion although there is a bit of magical realism in effect here as Finn never has an problem finding a parking spot. But with a wonderful cast and story, everything comes together to make this a lovely, funny, heart-warming Valentine’s Day romance.
An Unexpected Valentine has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.
Preview – An Unexpected Valentine
Hallmark Channel