'Summer Nights' movie review: 'A Summer Romance'

Part fish-out-of-water story and part opposites attract, "A Summer Romance" (airing August 17 as part of the Hallmark Channel's Summer Nights) is a down-home delight that beautifully balances romance and character-driven story.

In short: Samantha (Erin Krakow, "When Calls the Heart") treasures her family's Montana ranch and she's less than enthusiastic when big city developer Richard (Ryan Paevey) offers to buy the ranch - but first he must earn her trust.

"Summer Romance" moves with a laid-back pace that makes you want to escape traffic and noise pollution. And despite it's casual cadence, there's actually a lot going on to keep the movie engaging. Samantha has no intention of selling her family ranch, but she's stuck in a financial hard place that makes it difficult to just say "no" to Richard's offer - and she has her own big plans. Meanwhile Richard has to convince Samantha to sell or his firm's big merger could be threatened.

But the heart of "Summer Romance" is how well it just lets the relationship develop and flourish between country girl Samantha and city slicker Richard. He's cartoonishly out of his element from the moment he lands at the small town airport - and Samantha is just not having it. Yes the two leads slowly fall for each other as they stroll through the summer festival and gaze up at the Montana night sky together - but more importantly, they change each other in ways that grow them in their individual stories.

It's this perfect balance of their respective character arcs and their shared relationship that makes "Summer Romance" one of the best films of this year's "Summer Nights" slate. As Samantha warms to Richard, she sees how the countryside can really transform a city boy into cowboy. Meanwhile, spending time in the small mountain town visibly re-shapes Richard's perspective on small town life, and what he wants from his life in general. This, in turn, genuinely lets the relationship between Samantha and Richard blossom.

Finally, "Summer Nights" makes the most of its uncredited third main character: the Montana lifestyle. It's easy to invoke wanderlust with movies set in some gorgeous European city, but "Summer Nights" makes just getting away from it all so romantic and alluring. It's easy to see why Richard falls in love with the Montana lifestyle because this movie does such a great job of capturing the essence of small town life.

Final verdict: "Summer Nights" will make you want to buy a cowboy hat and sleep under the stars.

Score: 4.5-out-of-5 summer nights

"A Summer Romance" is rated TV-G and has a running time of 90 minutes. The movie premieres on The Hallmark Channel on August 17.