Review: Hallmark’s “Sailing Into Love”

“Sailing Into Love” aired on May 18, 2019 on the Hallmark Channel and starred Leah Renee and Chris McNally.  “Sailing Into Love” was filmed entirely in British Columbia and Vancouver, Canada, while the lighthouse featured in the movie is located in Victoria, Canada (a lovely city I have visited).

In a nutshell

I wanted to love this one, but I couldn’t overlook another lackluster script despite very likable actors and a gorgeous location.

Plot

Biology teacher Claire (Leah Renee) is a bridesmaid and conducts a high school class on nearby Blue Island. When she discovers that the town wants to sell Blue Island to a resort developer (who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend), Claire takes action and finds an ally in Tom Hastings, the boat captain she just met (Chris McNally).

Actors

The actors were fine. Leah Renee has been in a couple other projects, and Chris McNally, despite being in one of my least favorite winter movies (A Winter Princess) was engaging and fun to watch in this movie.  I have absolutely nothing negative to say at all about the actors – both main and supporting. Well, I did think the actor playing the ex-boyfriend seemed a bit stalker-y in some of his scenes.  His attempt at a furtive glance at Claire was more like a creepy stare.  On a side note, I think Leah Renee and Laci Kaye Booth (from this season’s American Idol) could be cousins.  They look very similar.

Chemistry

Renee and McNally definitely had decent chemistry together.  And some of their traditional “isn’t he romantic” scenes were nice (i.e., when she misses out on the bouquet toss and he gives her a flower), but the writing felt a bit disjointed at times, and subsequently made me feel disconnected from the characters in general. More than one my eyes flicked to my phone to see what folks were doing on Instagram.

Chris McNally is obviously only one degree of separation from Kris Polaha, seeing as how they co-starred in 2017’s “Rocky Mountain Christmas” on Hallmark Channel.

Feelgoods

I had one single, solitary moment where a warm feeling washed over me and made me happy, but it was not a traditional scene at all.

At one point Claire asks Tom where he was from.  It was established he had a past in the Navy, and I LOVED his answer.  It was basically, “I’m not really from anywhere.  I was born in __________ but if you mean where I lived the longest, it was ___________.”  That is such a military brat answer because that’s MY answer.  My dad was also in the Navy, and when asked where I’m from, I answer the same way.  “Well, I was born in Washington but my dad retired from the Navy when I was in high school in Virginia, but I moved here from New Jersey and I’ve lived here in South Carolina 12 years.  But I guess I typically say I’m from Virginia since that’s where my parents are, or New Jersey since I lived there last.”  That’s my answer. And the fact that it was Tom’s answer made it clear that the three writers of this movie TOTALLY understand the situation for all military brats.

And it reminded me of this video that was basically my life (with the above comments included):

Tropes

There were a few tropes this time around.  First, they had the meet-cute that featured a liquid being spilled on another person (although this one was particularly bad since it was fish bait).  There was also the jealous ex-boyfriend, the land be developed, and not one, but TWO trip & falls into the hero’s arms.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

I only noted a few notable curiosities this time around.  First of all, who except for old people has their font size so large on their cell phone texts?  Mine only gets that large when I inadvertently try to enlarge a picture my daughter sends me without clicking into the picture first.  Seriously – those font sizes were epicly large.

When Claire and her class come upon the surveyor on Blue Island, he seems to know a lot of information about the fact that the town wants to sell and could use the money for municipal improvements and what not.  When I ask contractors to come to my house to get a quote, I don’t necessarily tell them, “Hey, can you quote how much it will cost to weed and feed my backyard because I’m planning on putting in a pool in 10 years and want to make sure that the weeds are killed off before we get going on that project.”  I submit that I do NOT overshare with random contractors, and I doubt a town council would either.

I also was personally affronted that the high school teacher had to pay for THREE bridesmaids dresses in one month AND buy gifts AND help organize.  What kind of horrible friends does Claire have?  The worst kind, that’s what.

Re-watchability

Sadly, I doubt I’ll be watching repeats of this movie.

The Ranking

So where does it fit in the rankings?  I was a bit surprised at just how low in the rankings it appears – I did not think it would score that low.

1. Winter Love Story (air date: January 19) – 685 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
2. Love to the Rescue (air date: March 23) – 679 points – weighted score: 115.4 (80.9%)
3. Mystery 101 (air date: January 27 (HMM)) – 454 pts – weighted score: 94.2 (80.5%)
4. Love on the Menu (air date: February 23) – 642 pts – weighted score: 113.8 (79.9%)
5. Bottled With Love (air date: April 13) – 649 pts – weighted score: 112.2 (78.7%)
6. Love Takes Flight (air date: April 27) – 670 points – weighted score: 111.0 (77.9%)
7. Love, Romance & Chocolate (air date: February 16) – 627 pts – weighted score: 110.2 (77.3%)
8. Paris, Wine & Romance (air date: May 4) – 638 points – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
9. Flip That Romance (air date: March 16) – 597 points – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
10. True Love Blooms (air date: April 6) – 598 points – weighted score: 103.1 (72.3%)
11. The Story of Us (air date: February 9) – 605 pts – weighted score: 101.3 (71.1%)
12. A Brush with Love (air date: March 30) – 563 points – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
13. Ruby Herring: Silent Witness (air date: January 20 (HMM)) – 357 pts – weighted score: 79.5 (67.9%)
14. Love Under the Rainbow (air date: March 9) – 581 pts – weighted score: 96.0 (67.4%)
15. One Winter Proposal (air date: January 12) – 535 pts – weighted score: 95.8 (67.2%)
16. Just Add Romance (air date: March 2) – 548 points – weighted score: 95.6 (67.1%)
17. Valentine in the Vineyard (air date: February 2) – 503 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
18. Snowcoming (air date: January 26) – 485 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.2%)
19. The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
20. Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 points – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
21. A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
22. A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 points – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)

To see where this movie lands in my entire ranking of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!

What did you think of “Sailing Into Love”?