![]() He is very confused and doesn't understand. She shuts him down when he literally begs her to listen. This is so upsetting to her that she offends a valuable and much needed client and petulantly breaks up with the dog trainer on the spot. She sees his ex give him a smooch in the middle of a crowded party. He has outright told her he no longer has any interest in his ex and why. When she sees her new boyfriend who is obviously and unaccountably in love her being nice to his ex-wife, she goes to pieces. She is very immature about her business and her love life. She stubbornly refuses a handsome and sweet dog-trainer's help in getting her new pooch under control until she finally changes her mind. Usually one can find something to like in these things: a little unexpected twist, appealing actors, some cute lines, an old favorite star in a secondary role, some genuine chemistry between the leads, a villain you love to hate, a heart-tugging moment, etc. It is a very lazy effort with a cookie cutter script and unremarkable leads. Other than some cute dogs and the odd dog-training tutorial, this one has nothing at all to recommend it. Love at First Bark is one of Hallmark's more mediocre offerings. In summary, lacklustre but not a complete miss. The script is banal throughout, forced later on and has too many stilted moments. The charm and heart are really lacking and the film takes itself too seriously generally. The contrived and too easy final act, culminating in a pat ending, is particularly true to this. The story never really came to life for me, it is too slight (especially early on), is dully paced and does nothing new with a familiar scenario. ![]() The others are not developed enough and come over as Hallmark cliche ciphers, while Kramer's suffers from character flaws being exaggerated. When it comes to the characters, only McGarry's (and the dog's if we are including animals) is interesting or likeable. The supporting cast are competent and try their best, but are not particularly memorable and are a bit too subdued. Not to mention what was said above about not finding the appeal of her later on believable and actually a bit of a stretch. She and McGarry have little chemistry together, the relationship is not developed enough and they are not a good match together due to such a big clash in personality and acting styles. Kramer does try and has moments of charm, but to me she did over-compensate. Kramer's character is incredibly unappealing, too snarky and pushy and that McGarry's character saw any appeal in her later on, considering how she treats him, is a mystery. However, a lot doesn't work in 'Love at First Bark'. There generally wasn't enough charm or heart, but there were moments. The best chemistry was also with any interaction with the dog too. Furthermore, the dog is truly adorable and impossible to resist. Another thing that stands out in a good way is McGarry, who is quietly confident and easy going as the one likeable and interesting character. The scenery is beautiful and complemented very nicely by the photography. As said, 'Love at First Bark' has good things. Redeemed by a good male lead performance and the dog, but unbalanced badly by the female lead character being so unappealing and not being particularly interesting. It does have its good things, not many Hallmark films are completely irredeemable, but on the whole it did feel pretty lacklustre and not a particularly good or promising start to the 2017 Spring Fever block. There is not much that is special about the execution for 'Love at First Bark'. The concept didn't excite me massively either. Am more mixed on Jana Kramer, whose performances always depend on how her character is written. As does the always watchable Kevin McGarry, he has been in a fair share of misfires and had roles well beneath him but he is nearly always one of the redeeming merits. Any film that has at least one dog in it already appeals. 'Love at First Bark' is the first 2017 Spring Fever film, a quite brief seasonal blocking that year.
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