Sara Rue

(On Cable TV, June 2021) As far as premises go for Hallmark movie romances, All for Love doesn’t do too badly: Everything gets going once our lonely romance writer is convinced by her editor to go do some field training in anticipation of her next novel about a Navy SEAL. Before long, she finds herself in a bootcamp, falling for the sexy instructor who’s making her life hell. It’s a cute premise, with both Sara Rue and Steve Bacic being adequate in the lead roles. The film does get a bit of comedic mileage out of throwing a woefully unprepared novelist into a situation where mental effort and discipline are required, but don’t go in the film expecting anything like depth of characterization — All for Love is to be evaluated strictly against Hallmark romantic comedy standards, all the way to the meaningless obstacles that the film throws in the way of its protagonists in lieu of a real third act. Also don’t expect too much from the low-end production values — the bootcamp will never be convincing on-screen. Still, the opposites-attracts thing is handled relatively well, and the entire film makes no major faux-pas that would make it less than likable. All for Love is not great cinema, but it’s an acceptable made-for-TV romantic comedy according to the usual formula.