‘Sailing into Love’: A Fairy Tale Romance on the Coast

Late though the reviews for Hallmark films tend to be around here, I never can seem to resist adding them to the archives. The latest to find its way here is Sailing into Love, a romantic comedy that has one of two of my favorite things.

Sailing Into Love (2019) Hallmark Review

Living in the small coastal town where she grew up is where Claire Richards (Leah Renee) feels like she belongs. She’s happy as a high school biology teacher, and being near her father. The one thing that makes her friends nervous is the reappearance of her ex, Jason. With three weddings of mutual friends upcoming, Claire knows that she’ll be seeing Jason quite a lot.

She’s soon distracted when she meets a handsome newcomer named Tom Hastings (Chris McNally). A former active duty Navy man, Tom is now buying a charter boat from one of Claire’s friends. But his intent isn’t to stay put, but rather to travel… or it was until he meets Claire.

Redundant though it is, anything that premieres under the Hallmark Channel banner is forever and always sweet. This film too has the same advantage. When it comes to some of the cues and production aspects, this isn’t a favorite, but the story is darling, which goes a long way in endearing any of these films.

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The cast suit their roles well. It’s nice to see Leah Renee back on TV (she was also in Love by the Book) and I must admit Chris McNally is becoming a favorite leading man from this network. He’s been in a number of their movies, and now can be seen in When Calls the Heart, also on Hallmark Channel. Of course, a large part of the reason why I like his character in this may very well be because he’s a military man. Anytime you want a hero melt my fangirl heart, make him good and a military man, and I’m pretty much all in. This is something I’d like to see more of, and in fact don’t think this is made important enough for this character.

Some of the reaction cues or moments that should be serendipitous don’t work well in this context, but as these are merely minor production issues, they ruin nothing. Instead this has all the right ingredients to be darling, and it uses that to its advantage. I like the scenes on the water, and the way that Claire and Tom get to know one another. Subtle though it may be, I also love (lovelove) that something Tom sees doesn’t turn into the dreaded final minutes misunderstanding. Instead, he makes his case, and the results are worth it.

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Anyone who’s a romantic or Hallmark aficionado will enjoy Sailing Into Love. It’s wonderfully charming and like anything from this network, it puts a smile on your face (including the sweet end). There’s sailboat picnics and sweet first dances, and of course, the kiss that brings the happily-ever-after full circle.

Photos: Hallmark / Crown Media Press