I've been working through a bunch of romantic comedies recently as I clear out my Netflix queue. As I often mention in my reviews, I enjoy them because the humor, cleverness, and romance are qualities that I try to incorporate into my own writing. Because of this, I tend to be more lenient when rating rom-coms compared to genres with different aims. That being said, this is the first romantic comedy in a while that has left me feeling genuinely disappointed. Part of it stems from the exaggerated and stereotypical portrayal of how people speak in Minnesota—even more so than what was shown in *Fargo*. Also, the way religion was awkwardly forced into the storyline felt unnecessary. I'm not religious myself, but one character’s faith seemed like a superficial attempt to provide – well, I won’t go into details – just some background information about her. Mostly, though, I was let down by the quality of the writing. It makes sense that I would notice this, given that I write too. The whole thing felt uninspired and careless. The plot revolves around a polished, driven corporate executive traveling to a small town to shut down a local factory or at least reduce its workforce. Really, have we seen that trope before? It’s right up there with the familiar story of a community putting on a play to raise money and save their beloved theater from demolition. There also wasn't much spark between some of the characters, which sometimes can be enough to redeem a film. And the ending—which I won't spoil—came out of nowhere, relying on a convenient *deus ex machina*, an unexplained resolution that didn’t build up organically after Lucy Hill vanished from the plot. It’s surprising I even bothered writing this review, because I usually don’t write about movies I haven’t finished watching. A quick “I quit after ten minutes—don’t waste your time!” isn't a proper review; it’s just venting frustration. Just give it a rating and move on, folks. But I persevered through this one (though I was doing other things at the same time) because of Renée Zellweger. I still appreciate her work, of course, but perhaps she should have passed on this role to someone less established. It’s nowhere near as good as “Judy.” There are a few amusing moments and everyone seems to be trying their best, so maybe it's worth watching with friends while not paying too much attention.

Source on TMDB