Stream It Or Skip It?

The Hallmark Channel is looking to treat its viewers to a sweet rom-com with its new title, Double Scoop. Taylor Cole and Ryan McPartlin star as top employees from their competing New York City ad agencies who go head-to-head in small-town Wisconsin to seal a deal with a couple who own a rapidly growing ice cream company. But as the two city slickers go head-to-head, their rivalry begins to give way to a whole other kind of tension that could impact the future of their professional and personal lives forever. Keep reading to find out whether this Hallmark movie is as delightful as a good summer confection, or if it’s too saccharine to satisfy your streaming tastebuds.

The Gist: Nora (Taylor Cole) was a rising star at the major New York City advertising agency H Company before taking a leap of faith to jump ship alongside former H Company VP Alexandra (Elisa Donovan) to start their own business, Rankin Advertising Company. Nora is happy at Rankin. She has more work-life balance, less stress, and a better overall workplace environment free of the cutthroat competivie atmosphere at H Company. The only problem is that now, Nora feels pressure to help make this start-up thrive in order to support and reassure all of the employees who bravely left H Company for a fresh start alongside her. And after losing their latest potential account to H Company, Nora is determined to pull out all the stops to get a big win to turn the tides in Rankin’s favor. But a post-work dinner with her best friend, Shannon (Jacklyn Collier), just might be enough to put Nora on the path to success, when she tries an ice cream brand so good that even a certified sugar hater like her can enjoy, giving her an idea of who could be her next client.

Meanwhile at H Company, work-obsessed boss Everett (Patrick Muldoon) stokes the flames of competition and general sleaze by encouraging his workers to do whatever it takes to seal their next deal. This is especially true for his top two employees, longtime successful and dedicated worker, James (Ryan McPartlin), and rising young and hungry up-and-comer, Lavery (Jakeem Hawkins) . The two men are the top candidates to fill Alexandra’s open VP position, and even though Everett personally favors James for the position, he promises to give the job to whoever can seal the next big deal by the upcoming board meeting in two weeks.

With the stakes high for both Nora and James to knock their next project out of the park, the two bump into each other on the street (literally) on the way to work, leading to a little bit of awkward catching up and Nora rushing to work, accidentally leaving a pint of ice cream behind in her wake. Next thing you know, both Nora and James are in the charmin small town of Greenwood, Wisconsin, determined to bee the person who secures Darlington Ice Cream for their respective company.

The owners of Darlington are Ann Marie (Chonda Pierce) and Matthew Darlington (Tim Abell), a kind and lovable older couple who only want to be repped by a company who is truly invested in them and their family values. When they accidentallly schedule Nora and James to come over at the same time, the advertisers are shocked and peeved to come face-to-face, but try to lay ground rules to they can fight for their promising account fair and square. In the process, the two go above and beyond to get to know the Darlington couple, their cow joke-telling granddaughter Josie (Sofia Shakarian), and the lovable people of Greenwood. With the big annual Ice Cream Festival on the horizon and Matthew’s refusal to hear any pitches until it’s over, both Nora and James extend their stay to help prep for the fest, and find new life lessons, friendships, and love on the farmland along the way.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: With rivals to lovers story set to the backdrop of a big bad corporate company trying to dominate a small independently owned business, Double Scoop is kind of like the ice cream version of You’ve Got Mail.

Performance Worth Watching: Both Taylor Cole and Ryan McPartlin do a great job leading this movie with charm and personality. They also have nice chemistry together (feauring plenty of quick banter!), which makes them especially entertainng to see onscreen together.

Memorable Dialogue: Take a shot every time you hear something along the lines of: “You don’t see this in the city!” And if you take another shot every time you hear a corny cow joke (“What do cows do for fun? They go to the moo-vies!”), you just might pass out before you finish the film.

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Double Scoop is an easy and breezy watch from Hallmark to cap off your summertime streaming. This movie has a lot going for it, and it isn’t just the many shots of lush farmland and adorable cows, although those certainly don’t hurt its cause. For one, the pacing is very well done, zooming along at a nice clip that has viewers feeling engaged without ever completely losing them. The tight writing definitely helps with this, keeping everything moving along while also ensuring that nothing feels too unnecessary, out of place, or inessential.

Double Scoop really is just a well-made little movie, from the actually realistic and visually appealing sets, locations, and props (that ice cream seriously looked delicious), to the solid acting across the board. Every single actor in this title came to play, and whether it was twinkly-eyed small town farmer Matthew or underhanded corporate drone Everett, their committment to their character helped add depth and color to the world of Double Scoop, making it a fleshed-out and fun place to spend 90 minutes of your time.

Even though it follows the Hallmark movie beats and formula, Double Scoop still feels like it has the necessary heart, personality, and earnestness to make its predictability more positive and comforting than generic or off-putting. If anything, the only downside is that the movie might cause some major cravings for ice cream, but hey, what’s the summer season without a little bit of fantastic frozen goodness (on-screen and off)?

Our Call: Like any classic ice cream flavor, Double Scoop is simple, sweet, and easy to enjoy (especially on a hot end-of-summer day). STREAM IT!