Would be better with the sound off

Rating: 3/10 (13 May 2020)

I'm serious. The sets are gorgeous, the cast is attractive, but the dialogue is maddening and the plot defies reality in ways that are brazen even for a rom-com. It is a given that everyone has unlimited amounts of money AND no time commitments. Kate Winslet has a relatively low-level newsroom job, yet she can impulsively get leave time covering both Christmas and New Year's, with no advance notice. She commutes from a spot so distant that there seem to be no two-story buildings within 10 miles. And she manages to get back and forth even though route involves a mile-long stretch of road that is deemed impassable by someone who drives cars for a living.
The most insulting offense accompanies the scene setting up the home exchange. There are numerous shots of people typing text onto computers or reading text on phones - text like "vacation ideas" or "is tomorrow too soon?" And while the screen is showing us nothing but this text, the director chooses to help us by having both characters be the kind of person who pronounces every word out loud as she types or reads it. Viewing with the sound off preserves almost all the enjoyable aspects of the movie while eliminating many of the eye-rolling components.