This movie came out of Candlelight Entertainment, a Utah-based independent studio that's basically a Hallmark wannabe. I've seen other movies from them, and I liked a few. But in most cases, as with this one, the difference between this small studio's productions and those of a major studio are painfully obvious for anyone to see.

The premise of this movie sounded interesting on the surface. Our heroine gets jilted by her fiancee at the wedding, then goes on a medical mission to the Philippines, where she, unbelievable coincidence of all coincidences, runs into her ex-fiancee's twin brother. This premise provides maybe 10-15 minutes of interesting film time, however, and the rest of the movie is basically filler. The whole time I was watching, I kept asking myself, "When is something actually going to happen?" It was pretty boring. They treat lots of patients with mostly mild symptoms, and administer a few vaccines. They travel around the island and have a good time (this looked more like a tropical vacation than a medical mission to me). Their truck broke down once, but they were never in serious danger, and the other guy came and rescued them the next day. I kept waiting in vain for someone to get bitten by a venomous snake in the jungle, or to get attacked by a vicious animal or something. Even the scene where they were treating the boy with the broken leg was not that compelling. He was never in any real danger.

You knew, of course, from the start that Charlotte and Seth would get together, but there was never much chemistry between them. They always seemed very awkward around each other. No witty banter. Not even the initial combativeness that you often see in rom-coms. The lead actors, Shae Robbins and Mason D. Davis, seemed competent enough. But the script gave them very little to work with. "Chemistry" in a romantic movie is as much a product of a good script as anything, and this script just didn't get it done. The final "romantic" scene, where they finally get together, was way too long. It's like they were talking and analyzing everything and there was no passion. Even after they kissed, I still wasn't convinced that there was any feeling there. The other romance between foundation head Henry and the doctor Maya was also pretty much a dud.

I loved the beautiful scenery. It was shot in French Polynesia, though, not the Philippines. Otherwise, this movie was kind of a miss for me. Too slow. Too boring. No chemistry with either couple. And bad writing. Giving it 5 stars is generous, and is grading on the curve, since this movie did come from a small studio. Wish I could recommend it more highly, but I can't.

I love a cheesy rom com. I mean, what are the chances your ex fiancé's identical brother is going to be the dentist in the medical humanitarian trip you volunteer for halfway across the world on a remote island?? Crazy!

What was up with the scene near the end when Charlotte was sitting by the pool all melancholy and a karaoke track starts playing? I thought it was going to turn into a musical with Frankie Avalon appearing in the sky singing "Relationship Dropout." I have to admit I was a little sad Frankie never showed up. Actually, a lot sad.

Best quote. I always thought he was a fool to let you go, but I'm so glad that he did."

This was definitely worth a watch if you have some spare time. I enjoyed the actors enough to IMDB them to see what else they are in worth watching.

I understand the criticism of this movie regarding the unauthentic casting of many characters - but remember this was filmed in the pandemic when travel was restricted.

With that in mind, what matters to me is the plot/content and this is a really original story for this genre. There's quite a bit of sadness, which I always like as it gives these movies more emotional depth. Normally I'm looking for all-age-friendly movies with a cross-generational cast, but although this pretty much just focuses on the four team members, it is still a show all ages can watch, so it suits my household fine. Overall, this is a movie I would watch again because of the good plot and age of the characters - I wouldn't grow out of it like movies that are too age-specific.