Passionflix…. it’s like the Netflix equivalent to the Hallmark Channel, streaming all your romance favorites.
The channel is currently streaming an original work, The Matchmaker’s Playbook, based on the novel by one of my favorite authors, Rachel Van Dyken.
So, yeah. I had to check it out. Now, I know the fledgling channel doesn’t have box office dollars so I was not expecting a great piece of film making. And I didn’t get it. But the movie was fun….ish.
Let’s start with the good: the cast. I have five words for you: Nick Bateman is Ian Hunter. If you’re an Instagram lurker like me, Bateman may be familiar to you. The model/actor’s pictures are shared often, particularly on pages like Hot Dudes with Dogs (he has the cutest dog named Joey and if you’re not following him, you should be).
From the second Bateman broke the fourth wall, turned to the camera and winked, I knew he would perfectly capture all the confidence and sex appeal that our hero Ian Hunter should have. The secondary characters of Lex and Gabi were well cast too, and I would definitely check out their sequel, The Matchmaker’s Replacement. The problem is, I didn’t really like Caitlin Carver as Blake. I didn’t really feel any heat between her and Bateman and that made the movie feel a little silly to me.
So yeah. That’s the bad. I certainly saw why Blake fell for Ian, but not really why Ian fell for Blake….
The flick did successfully capture some of Van Dyken’s humor. And I have already admitted I would check out the sequel, so I can’t completely pan the movie. I just wish it had felt a little more like the sexy novel I enjoyed and less like a TV movie of the week. But, again, it’s a fledgling network. And if this is where they start, they have a bright future ahead of them.
Especially if that rumor that they’re making Colleen Hoover’s Ugly Love is true!
Here’s the film’s trailer so you can decide for yourself.
Passionflix subscriptions are $5.99 a month, but The Matchmaker’s Playbook is also available for rent on Amazon Prime. Watch it here.
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I’ve watched every PassionFlix original and unfortunately haven’t read any of the books they were based on. I was super curious about what a fan of the book felt about this movie. I actually really enjoyed it, even though it had that cheesey Made for TV movie feel. I loved Nick in the movie and agree with you, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Caitlin. Was the character in the book supposed to be super thin? It was almost distracting to me, she looked kind of gaunt and I wasn’t sure if that was how her character was described.
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Bree! We are the same! I didn’t want to sound like a hater but I, too, thought she was too thin. She’s supposed to be this totally kick ass volleyball player. She should be very fit. Caitlin looked more like a ballet dancer than a volleyball player to me.
Maybe I should watch some more passionflix movies?Some where I haven’t already read the books? Like I said, I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t love it either. I wish I’d waited until it was free. But I just couldn’t. Cuz Nick Bateman… 😍😍😍
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Nick Bateman is very yummy… just admiring him for the duration was worth it LOL!
It took me a few minutes to word my comment so that it didn’t sound like I was hating on skinny people, but it has always driven me nuts when Hollywood takes characters that are supposed to be curvy or strong and cast a toothpick actress. There are plenty of curvy/athletic actresses out there. I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed it. It was very distracting to me. I’m used to actresses being thinner than average, but she seemed a bit sickly. And when I saw that she was a volleyball player, I was skeptical.
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Again we are in complete agreement! I think women of all sizes are beautiful and would like to see that celebrated more. Caitlin is lovely, but sh was thin to the point of distraction for me.
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