The most familiar name to me in 'From Friend to Fiancee' is Ryan Paevey, a Hallmark regular. He is not one of my favourites, there are a number of times where he is good when he has the right material and a good character to work with but he can flounder when with underwritten characters and with the wrong leading lady. This is one of the 2019 Countdown to Summer Hallmark films, a seasonal block which on the most part was pretty unexceptional with most of the films being less than average.

'From Friend to Fiancee' is no exception to this. While Paevey and the production values come off very well, the rest of the acting, the writing and storytelling are severely wanting, which was the case with the previous 2019 Countdown to Summer films. It is not one of the worst 2019 Hallmark films, but expectations were honestly not high for 'From Friend to Fiancee' and the execution did absolutely nothing to change my mind. 2019 did see some above average and more Hallmark films, and Hallmark have been responsible for a lot of very watchable stuff. But also misfires, of which this is one.

Of course there are things that are not done badly. The best thing about 'From Friend to Fiancee' is Paevey who has a subtle easy going charm and natural charisma that he doesn't overdo, while his character is pretty sketchy and typical Paevey really works hard to make much of relatively little.

Also thought that the scenery is absolutely beautiful and often magical, and complemented equally beautifully by the photography which boasts some lovely colour.

Jocelyn Hudon on the other hand tries too hard and overdoes her already overwritten to the point of being cartoonish role. On the other end of the acting extremes, Kelly Kruger goes through the motions. There is absolutely no chemistry whatsoever between any of the actors, all of it so disconnected and under-rehearsed. Especially between Paevey and Kruger. The characters are not interesting and little is done to make them investable, Hudon's character actually got on my nerves and seemed very indecisively written.

Much of the dialogue is very juvenile and repetitive and the story is extremely thin, a lot of it near-non existent, and slow going. The middle drags on and on and then the sudden gear change into something finally having some momentum in the final act comes over as abrupt and contrived. What little there is of the story is very bland on an emotional level and it's basically a mishmash of tried and long tested genre tropes. Also completely agree about one friend being so oblivious to a pretty obvious relationship that went on for so long was one big stretch and with the film revolving a lot around it that alone was enough to spoil it a good deal.

Very mediocre overall. 4/10.

I liked all the characters--the three leads, in particular, but also the older adults that added to the story. Surprising to see so many disappointed reviews. This is Hallmark Movies! They assure me that romance & love is going to win. And the actors were good, the chemistry was right where it needed to be, and it was just nice! I like the "feel good" it gave me!

This is a nice but very slight Hallmark film.

It's engaging enough, but Jess saying over and over that she has no feelings for Ted solidly for 77 mins does grate a little.

If you're in the right mood though this remains nice enough Hallmark fare.