Go ahead, roll your eyes.  I watched Falling Inn Love on Valentine’s Day.  People never seem to want to recall that the Catholic saint who gave his name to this . . . holiday(?) was celibate and beheaded on his feast day.  Think about that as you are staring longingly across the dinner table at your significant other.  I do not mean to sound bitter.  As I am currently single, I thought that since I will not be doing any of the typical things people do today, I might as well watch a romantic comedy.  As has been documented here on The Legionnaire, they are among the more predictable film genres.  If you have seen as many as I have, you will see every plot point before it comes.  Today’s example is no different.  As such, one has to look for reasons to watch one.  This one is set in New Zealand, a land that looks increasingly attractive given some of the things going on in the world.  Yet, you can forget about all those things for a moment as we follow Gabriela Diaz (Christina Milian) as she wins a bed and breakfast in the land of the Kiwi.

I hope you understand by know that Falling Inn Love is a play on words, though you would not get it based on the opening scenes.  Gabriela is far from a quaint New Zealand retreat, working at a San Francisco real estate development firm, and about to give a presentation on her passion project, environmentally friendly homes.  It is derailed at the last moment by Chad (Daniel Watterson), her irresponsible boss who has better things to do in his opinion.  That night Gabriela has dinner with her boyfriend, Dean Conner (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman), who balks at any suggestion of firm commitment, like her adding a shelf in her closet for his things.  They clearly do not have a Catholic relationship, but we will give her a pass on this one.  Speaking of not following Christian principles, her best friend, Sage (Simone Walker), tells Gabriela while they do yoga that she needs to give Dean an ultimatum after over two years of dating.  It is at this point in these stories that things begin to go wrong, and the first problem arises when Gabriela goes to work the next morning to find her company has folded.  That evening while out with Dean, she puts forward the idea that her loss of employment gives her the opportunity to move in with him.  Again, not the most Catholic course of action, but it serves the purpose of showing her that he is not the one for her.  Despite the rightness of this decision, she spends days moping over the loss of employment and love life.  In the midst of a near ice cream/wine induced coma, on a whim she enters a contest to win an inn in New Zealand.  When she finally stirs the next day, she is thrilled to discover a message telling her that she won.  Hey, anything is possible in the cutaway.  Of course, it is in one of the most remote parts of the country, requiring three separate bus rides after the trans-Pacific flight to get to Bellbird Valley Farm, her prize.  Before stepping foot on her property, she has a chance encounter with our hunk of the film, local contractor Jake Taylor (Adam Demos).  If there is one thing I could not understand about this movie, it is her initial disgust with him, wanting nothing from him, including refusing a ride into town.  I guess it has something to do with just getting out of a relationship?  Anyway, it should also not be shocking to learn that Bellbird’s actual condition does not match the images from the contest.  It is what one would call a “fixer-upper,” complete with a goat that randomly appears in her bedroom.  Instead of being daunted, she sees it as an opportunity to construct the ecologically friendly building she had been dreaming about while working for Chad.  She does not have any construction skills, but remains stubborn in not wanting any help from Jake.  Another person who offers assistance is Charlotte Wadsworth (Anna Jullienne), the owner of the other bed and breakfast across town.  Charlotte is not keen on competition, offering to buy Bellbird despite claiming that it had once been promised to her.  While Gabriela ponders this offer, she finally relents to asking Jake for assistance, a decision helped along by various townsfolks who want to see the two together.  In order to give herself at least some separation, and because she is running out of money to pay him or for anything else, she makes him an equal partner in the enterprise.  Inevitably, the time they spend together results in them growing emotionally closer.  As their relationship develops, it factors into Gabriela leaning more towards staying and running her inn herself.  This is not good news for Charlotte, who overhears Gabriela talking about this potential plan with the owner of the local plant nursery, Shelley (Claire Chitham).  In order to upset this potential outcome, Charlotte steals Gabriela’s phone and sends a text to Dean, telling him to come to New Zealand if he wants to make another go at being with Gabriela.  At the same time, Chad offers Gabriela a new job back in the United States, and Jake is vocal about wondering why anyone like her would take such a job.  Hence, Jake thinks Gabriela is just in this for a business transaction.  The situation sours more when at Bellbird’s grand opening, Dean arrives with a buyer from Australia to purchase the bed and breakfast.  Before the deal can be finalized, a fire breaks out at Charlotte’s establishment, and Jake as chief of the volunteer fire department goes to fight the blaze and save Charlotte’s husband.  With this, she finally admits to meddling in Gabriela’s affairs, which is what Gabriela needs to ultimately decide not to sell.  There is the obligatory make-up with Jake and the film ends.

I know that Falling Inn Love is a romantic comedy, and Gabriela and Jake are supposed to end up together as the credits roll.  I suppose one might expect for me to tie this into Valentine’s Day, too, even if this is not published on the appropriate day.  I would have been more inclined to comment on these aspects if not for one slightly irritating aspect of the story.  Throughout the movie, Gabriela talks about the “universe” bringing her what she needs.  I note this because the universe does not bring anyone anything.  As vast and varied as it is, it is still an inanimate object.  What gives it animation is God.  Read the first few chapters of Genesis, or the opening lines to the Gospel of John.  God literally spoke the universe and everything in it into creation.  Gabriela is by no means unique in using these kinds of expressions.  I would also put lines like “manifesting” something into reality as being part of the same bit of nonsense.  Neither the universe or ourselves have any power to make anything happen beyond that which God imparts on any of it.  If I am being generous, and I should be more so, it is a bland and uninspiring way of talking about the things God does for us.  He wants for our good, but also allows us to experience the bad, and it is all an opportunity to draw closer to Him.  My prayer is that people would see God at the center of this universe to which they randomly appeal, and to be satisfied with the results.  It is in this last attitude, so to speak, that Gabriela does deserve some credit.  She is patient with her circumstances, discerns her course of action, and acts according to her reflection on these matters.  The film does not use Christian vocabulary to describe this process, but I would be happy with any of my spiritual directees for following a similar path in their prayer life.

And with this review you have the process of Falling Inn Love.  My apologies, but I could not resist one last pun.  It is mainly an inoffensive movie, aside from what I indicated above, but unoriginal.  However, if you are looking for some Kiwi charm, then at least it has that going for it.