Movies like this usually come down to the performances of the lead stars and also on the chemistry.Catherine Bell is quietly good and her chemistry with Cameron Mathison works, but also with her screen daughter Samantha MacGillivray. This is a mother and daughter that has a little bit of that teenage tension, but there is obviously deep love between them.The story revolves around Will and Jessica being thrown together often with a bit of backstory based on ex-spouses.The setting is beautiful. Who can argue with Fiji, which is listed as the location.

This was okay. It had nice scenery, but it seemed more like an advertisement for Fiji than a love story. It just didn't hold my interest with a compelling or even interesting boy meets girl story. The actors were just showing up and running through their lines, and there was no real attraction between anyone. It was like an amateur writer had a checklist and hit each one, but did it poorly and without conviction or drama. And come on, the female lead & her daughter head all the way home from exotic Fiji where she met her husband and promised to return one day. This is to see her friend after she's had a baby. Really? I enjoy most Hallmark shows, but this was worse than a snoozer. Rating is a 3 for some nice scenery.

Jessica Tucker, a widow and doctor, is trying to juggle work and family. She takes a vacation to bond with her daughter, Jessica books a stay at a resort in Fiji and strikes up a friendship with Will, the charming owner of the resort. As Jessica and Will spend more time together, she begins to relax and starts to wonder if this island paradise can give her the life - and love - she's always hoped for. I'm not going to remember this movie and you know why? because it was a horrible piece of film that was badly written and directed but also the perfomances were bad.

A Summer to Remember strives to being something new and appealing to the Hallmark audience, but in this viewers opinion, it misses the mark . To its credit, the leading actors are mature and attractive, and present the story of how two people with an emotionally complicated past can find hope and happiness once again. The distraction from this worthy plot, however, is that the leading roles are played by two very attractive, yet poorly matched actors. Cameron Matheson certainly comes across as n appealing and attractive man..mature in years but with a remarkably toned and 'buff' body. Strangely, his high-pitched voice detracts from the seriousness of his role.. His smile is so pervasive, there seems no time for a serious moment between the two stars. Catherine Bell is a lovely actress..physically she is in incredible form. However, what plastic surgery she submitted to in the past has left her face with a seriously limited range of emotional expressions. Her mouth is permanently turned up at the corners, making it impossible for her to look serious. She seems always smiling, no matter what the emotions of the moment might be, rendering her unable to convey some of the sadder, intense moments of the story. She cannot express concern in her role as a doctor, a single mother, a woman of new conflicts about romance and her future. The best acting in the cast is done by her daughter, the teenager who finds herself much more accepted and successful in the setting of the island vacation resort. Her acting stands out among the others in the cast ..and shows some real potential for future roles. One little quirk that Hallmark directors ought to be looking at..that has become almost a Hallmark trait in every romantic movie..is the moment when the two stars are about to have their first kiss..and bingo!! there is always an interruption from some outside source..an unexpected returning old lover, an emergency phone call from home, something that stops the kiss just an inch from happening. Hallmark views almost laugh at this predictable moment in every single movie..Maybe the producers and directors could surprise us with an other way of letting this moment happen..Let the lovers kiss!In all.this is a beautifully filmed movie , in a gorgeous setting, but with very limited emotional range for the 2 leads,and with almost no believable chemistry between them whatsoever.