Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Channel is sending viewers around the world in June with its ‘Passport to Love’ movie series, which kicks off with the first part of a two-movie event set in Spain, To Barcelona, With Love starring Hallmark favorites Alison Sweeney and Ashley Williams.
To Barcelona, With Love stars Sweeney as Erica, a sort of ex-pat American who visited Barcelona ten years ago and ended up staying. Her job as a translator of English books into Spanish has kept her busy, but it also keeps her true talents hidden because of the NDAs required, forbidding her to reveal that anyone other than the author wrote their books in Spanish. This little clause to her job brings about a ton of complications when American author Anna (Williams) is booked for a personal appearance at a bookstore in Barcelona to sign books and celebrate the annual Sant Jordi Day holiday (where one person gives someone they love a book, and they get a rose in return). Anna is surprised by the invite because her agent has told her that her book is a massive bomb in the US, already on the 90% Off table in the local bookstore a month after it was released. Her first book was a smash, but readers are complaining that the new book reads like it was written by someone who’s never been to Barcelona (check) or been in love (check again). Anna thought using Trip Advisor and using it to do a virtual walking tour of the city would suffice (it didn’t), so why are the people of Barcelona so taken with her work?
Erica’s friend (and obvious love interest), bookstore owner Nico (Alejandro Tous) is thrilled that Anna is coming to his store because he thinks she has captured the city perfectly and her words are filled with romance. Does Nico have a crush on Anna because of what she’s written? Erica’s other friend, flower shop owner Mateo (Mateo Santos), is aghast that Nico is so in love with those words because they were Erica’s translation, so he should he enamored with her. The only problem is Anna’s book was so bad and so out of touch with what Barcelona is that Erica may have rewritten it a tad — okay, a lot — to make it what it is, never expecting Nico would actually invite the author to his bookstore. Since Erica is American, Nico asks her to attend to Anna once she arrives, and she does her best to make Anna feel welcome. But it gets even more complicated when Nico begins asking Anna questions about the book, about things like the dolphin and various metaphors that Anna has trouble understanding what he’s talking about. Erica just tries to brush it under the rug by telling Anna that things might translate differently into Spanish and she buys it, but the longer Anna is in town, the more questions Nico asks, and the more concerned she grows as Erica has to always be on hand to help her answer Nico’s questions. But Anna also begins to find herself falling for Nico, oblivious to Erica’s obvious feelings for him, and Nico shows her too much attention although he does still watch the futbol matches with Erica, their BFF tradition. Erica doesn’t know that Nico thinks she and Mateo are a couple, but it becomes clear to him that they aren’t when Mateo and his assistant Joseph (Nacho Nugo) begin flirting madly at lunch. As the holiday approaches, Nico asks Anna to write an original short story for the festival, which throws her into a panic and she spends more time trying all of the food in the city and blogging about that, which Erica feels could be her true calling because it allows Anna to be her authentic self. Erica is one to talk, though, because all she wants is to publish her own novel but after failing years earlier, she’s given up on that dream. But the short story is an issue, and Erica has to finally come clean to Anna that what Nico and the whole of Barcelona have been reading were her words, not Anna’s. This causes a rift, but as the big day approaches the two are able to put this behind them to collaborate on a story, with Erica writing the romance and Anna writing about the food. But because of Erica’s contract, she can’t have her name on the story. On the day of the festival, Anna has to make a decision — keep up the charade to protect her and Erica’s reputations, or reveal all and risk what she feels for Nico, if she actually feels anything for him, and ruining (or helping) Erica’s relationship with him as well.
Hallmark Channel
To Barcelona, With Love is undoubtedly one of Hallmark Channel’s most delightful movies in quite some time due to its perfect mix of humor, drama and romance. Ashley Williams is wonderful in the opening scenes as she learns her book is a disaster, trying not to let the news bring her down and then completely delighted — and puzzled — as to why the people of Barcelona love it. She brings a complicated personality to Anna, someone who desperately wants to be a romance author but is obviously not cut out for it, while showing us the complete joy she has strolling around the city and enjoying the delicious food. Whether Williams actually did or didn’t love the food she was eating doesn’t matter because she makes us believe every morsel was the best thing she’d ever put in her mouth. She also brings a lot of emotion to Anna as she realizes her literary dreams, at least not the ones she hoped for, are ever going to come true but she’s also willing to listen to Erica and do the work she is obviously meant to do. She really is a joy to watch and she has great chemistry with Sweeney.
For her part, Alison Sweeney is absolute perfection. Her Erica is a fully fleshed out character and Sweeney manages to speak volumes with just her facial expressions, most of them pained as she tries to help Anna without spilling the beans. It’s hard not to watch Sweeney in scenes where Williams and Alejandro Tous have all the dialogue simply because her expressions are telling us everything Erica is feeling. She has great chemistry with Williams, but she also shows us clearly the relationships she has with Nico and Javier as well. She never has to say a word about her feelings for Nico because they are all clearly on her face, especially as she sees Anna begin to get closer to him. The pain her heart is feeling as they watch the game in a local pub is palpable, and she pours all of her emotions out when she finally gets to tell Nico how she feels. Where Williams has the more comedic role, with some emotion folded in, Sweeney’s Anna is the heart and soul of the story. These two work so well together that it’s a good thing this is the first of two Barcelona movies with the pair. Let’s hope Hallmark can see the chemistry they have and will pair them again in the future.
Alejandro Tous is very good as Nico, showing his adoration for the written word that may actually be misinterpreted as an admiration for the author, wearing his heart on his sleeve, displaying his passion for good literature and futbol. His passion, though, makes it difficult for both Anna and Erica to know how he really feels about them as people, and his inability to see that Javier is gay and not romantically involved with Erica is puzzling. Miguel Brocca is wonderful as Erica’s GBF, her real voice of reason trying to push her into telling Nico the truth, not just about the book translation but about her feelings. He can clearly see Nico has feelings for Erica, so he’s trying to get her to see that as well.
The screenplay by Julie Sherman Wolfe is full of humor, warmth, romance and it actually feels like she has been to Barcelona with the emphasis on the holiday (Hallmark should have aired this in April when Sant Jordi actually took place), the food, and the landmarks around the city. Ron Oliver’s direction makes stunning use of the location and skillfully guides the actors through all of their emotions, and always making sure we can see Sweeney even when she has no dialogue. All in all, To Barcelona, With Love is a complete joy full of warmth, laughter, wonderful performances, and two lead actresses who were absolutely meant to work together.
To Barcelona, With Love has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.
Preview – To Barcelona, With Love
Hallmark Channel