The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Surprised by Love
Romance · TV Movie · Comedy · 2015
The story of a young businesswoman who tries to convince her uptight parents to accept her current boyfriend and instead finds herself falling for an old high school flame.
Movie details
Surprised by Love
2015 Romance · TV Movie · Comedy 1h 24m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.4 / 10
Community rating
The story of a young businesswoman who tries to convince her uptight parents to accept her current boyfriend and instead finds herself falling for an old high school flame.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Surprised by Love?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Date with Love
Comedy · 2016
When a boy’s video to a female star goes viral, it scores him a date with his celebrity crush to the prom. Complications arise when the famous starlet falls for the boy’s small-town teacher.
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Thando is perpetually unlucky in love, but when her bestie returns from his travels with a fiancée in tow, she's forced to face a new emotion — jealousy.
Wedding Season
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Pressured by their immigrant parents to find spouses, two Indian-Americans pretend to date in order to survive a summer of weddings – but find themselves falling for each other as they struggle to balance who they are with who their parents want them to be.
Relationship Goals
Romance · 2026
When TV producer Leah Caldwell aims to become the first woman running New York's top morning show, her ex competes for the same role. Leah stays focused on her career, until chemistry with her ex challenges her priorities.
All for Love
Romance · 2017
When a romance novelist is teamed with a Navy SEAL as research for her book, by a mandate from her publisher, she is less than thrilled and he is more than honest. However, as she works with the SEAL, she has a change of heart and learns to look at her life and writing with a different point of view.
Sister of the Bride
Romance · 2019
After only 6 months of dating, Stephanie and Ben get engaged and are delighted to share the news. However, they hit a road bump when Stephanie’s parents show concern that the couple has moved too fast.
Love Is in the Air
Romance · 2023
A fiercely independent pilot fighting to keep her family business afloat starts to fall for the man sent by corporate to ground her operation forever.
Love on Harbor Island
Romance · 2020
Interior designer Lily returns home to help her Aunt Maggie run her marina-side bed and breakfast when she meets Marcus, a handsome seaplane pilot whose work delivering rescue dogs helps Lily discover that home really is where the heart is
As Luck Would Have It
TV Movie · 2021
When Lindsey travels to Ireland to acquire land that is perfect for a resort, she decides to enter the town's matchmaking festival to prove her investment—and win over a handsome local.
What's Love Got to Do with It?
Romance · 2023
Two childhood friends now in their thirties must decide whether to follow their heads or their hearts once the man decides to follow his parents' advice and enter into an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Robert Iscove
Written by
Tippi Dobrofsky · Neal H. Dobrofsky
Hilarie Burton Morgan
Josie Mayfield
Paul Campbell
Maxwell Gridley
Tim Conway
Grandad
Aaron Craven
Richard Wright
M
Malcolm Stewart
Joseph Mayfield
W
Wanda Cannon
Claire Mayfield
Sebastian Stewart
Wade Wilson
Court is in session
Put Surprised by Love on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.