It’s been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember to go to the Maldives. Now, I am desperately afraid of small planes, wouldn’t want to room in a hotel that I slept in a room under the water, but those two things aside, I feel like I could handle the rest.
Love In the Maldives is definitely making me wish that I loved being in the sun, because wow. The setting.
If we’re being honest, I thought that I would be a little bored with the film, because judging by the synopsis, I thought I was going to be watching a completely different movie. It’s not as simple as, “A travel writer goes to the Maldives and hears about a legendary shipwreck. With the help of her underwater resort’s guest experience expert, she might discover love instead of a buried treasure.”
It’s definitely a lot more complex and the shipwreck plays the smallest part in the film. But then again, so does a jet ski that’s on the key art. I don’t remember seeing that at all.
Rae is an adventurer. She writes a column called Table for One. She basically travels the world for the magazine that she works for, Icons. When she returns from one trip, she heads straight to the office to write her column, when her boss finds her and asks her to come to the office.
Now, when my boss says she wants to speak, I get scared. Rae just starts pitching all the things that she wants to do and actually scoffs that her boss wants to send her to the Maldives. This doesn’t compute with me, because if my boss wants to send me to the Maldives, you’ll only be seeing my dust as I run out of the room to go and pack.
But Rae doesn’t have a choice, she needs to save her career, so she goes. She heads straight to sun and sand, and a beautiful hotel. It’s there that she meets Jared who makes it his mission to get her to take his course.
Jared, is played by Jake Manley, who I do like as an actor. I couldn’t understand why he allowed someone to do that to his hair. It looked like he was a rejected member of S Club 7 and I love S Club 7. But like the hair was so bad that every single time he came on the screen, I was like who punished him? What did he do wrong?
What I will say from the beginning that Rae and Jared meet, you know that it’s going to be good. It’s going to be good because the actors that are playing them are actually married in real life. Jocelyn Hudon and Jake Manley have been married for five years and are absolutely adorable. They have a chemistry that is very hard to deny. It’s almost like you want them in every movie together always.
But that’s beauty of this story. It’s the way that these two are on the screen together that makes you believe in the story of Rae and Jared. It’s the story of the way that they believe in each other and the way they want to protect each other. It’s the way that these two move, the way that these two are, the way that they smile – it’s all of that they entrances you in the movie.
Now, there’s a twist, that does have to do with a treasure, but it almost feels a little whatever, because the story doesn’t end up being about their treasure hunt. It’s more of journey to how Rae and Jared find themselves. It’s more of a journey to how Rae and Jared fall in love. It’s a cute movie, with a lot of heart.
And a lot of love.
Rae gives her boss a great article, one that ends up helping her career. She tells her that she’s ready to be a Table for Two and that’s the best thing to see – the fact that her and Jared are willing to support each other.
Going to need a sequel. Love in Iceland?
OTHER THOUGHTS
- I loved all of the Debra and Rae moments. The way that Rae was going to be there for Deb no matter what, was just everything. Rae has a great heart.
- The oyster diving scene was everything
- Rae realizing that it took her 3 years to read a book – been there.
- Really had an anxiety attack over that small plane
- I thought Deb was a spy for the other magazine at first – well all the way through until the end
- The silent dance party – I would not be wearing someone elses airpods but here we are
