I really did enjoy this movie, but sadly, I had to rewatch/restart it because it required more focus than my usual efforts. I wanted to blame the fact that I was distracted, but after reading the reviews, I do think that there were some incongruencies or irrelevant aspects that didn't add to the plot or help much.
First: props to whoever thought of mentioning those "The Shining" References! They are well done, but you have to pay close attention.
One Winter Wedding is I think formally titled One Perfect Wedding, but the title had to be modified, so that's one thing that is kind of odd. Many comments are discussing Ben's new shaved look, which is so strange to discuss. I think it's just another style, and that is all there is to the matter. If he were ill, trust me, we'd know and he'd NOT be in this movie. Having COVID doesn't make us lose our hair, although it can definitely be fatal, so yes, if he'd have had a fatal case, we'd also not be seeing him here. Many men who are losing their hair or just want to be less bothered with their hair go for the shaved head. He looks amazing, has a great face, and the facial hair adds edge. I don't think he needs to do anything else to look great.
The movie itself had a lot of extra details that muddied the plot. I think the Goldie character needed more definition, and the part of Ben's sister was completely random. She didn't add to the plot at all, and I could see the dress mishap being in the story without her help at all. If you watch the scene, Megan pretty much takes responsibility, even though his sister completely reversed the names. (Yes, she tried to tell Megan with texts, but it would have been too late, to me, and the deal was sealed when she reversed the color names/dresses.) Megan was in full-on Megan-esque mode, and I love her and still can find her a little grating. The DIY controlling scenes were starting to wear thin (boring).
Cara was beautiful in the dress she actually wore; I think they purposefully chose an ugly bridal dress in the salon knowing that they'd have this story morph into wearing Mom's dress. That dress she ordered was completely hideous. So boring and so unflattering.
My only concern that took away from the movie was the overall weirdness of Cara thinking Ben had secrets, as if he weren't trustworthy. If she's already having these reservations, it's not going to bode well when they reach year 10 of marriage and he's possibly not as amorous or as accessible or a dozen other things that happen IRL. It was somewhat anti-HAllmark to have her be THAT worried and mad.
I didn't love that she was mad at him for pre-arranging Clara Lake Lodge for their wedding venue; she felt it was isolating toward her, but in reality, he did something so incredibly kind and sweet.
The Dewshane character (Sean) is so lovable, along with Megan. I hope that they have their own movie ASAP.
This movie gets points from me for:
The big nope: take out the freaking story about her writing. Please make it go away. It was so boring, and there was just nothing about it that added or helped the storyline of the movie. From the start of the photos showing the "stoic" man with his back to the artist, I thought "how can Cara just infer that he lost his wife or is miserable?" Does no one else pensively look out over a beautiful scene? Maybe he lost someone in the war. There are thousands of options.... The writing career can still be incorporated but these details of the photos and the going-back-to-the-bench (so unrealistic to believe that it's THAT bench) - it's just all too much for a little movie.
But, I still enjoyed this overall.
First: props to whoever thought of mentioning those "The Shining" References! They are well done, but you have to pay close attention.
One Winter Wedding is I think formally titled One Perfect Wedding, but the title had to be modified, so that's one thing that is kind of odd. Many comments are discussing Ben's new shaved look, which is so strange to discuss. I think it's just another style, and that is all there is to the matter. If he were ill, trust me, we'd know and he'd NOT be in this movie. Having COVID doesn't make us lose our hair, although it can definitely be fatal, so yes, if he'd have had a fatal case, we'd also not be seeing him here. Many men who are losing their hair or just want to be less bothered with their hair go for the shaved head. He looks amazing, has a great face, and the facial hair adds edge. I don't think he needs to do anything else to look great.
The movie itself had a lot of extra details that muddied the plot. I think the Goldie character needed more definition, and the part of Ben's sister was completely random. She didn't add to the plot at all, and I could see the dress mishap being in the story without her help at all. If you watch the scene, Megan pretty much takes responsibility, even though his sister completely reversed the names. (Yes, she tried to tell Megan with texts, but it would have been too late, to me, and the deal was sealed when she reversed the color names/dresses.) Megan was in full-on Megan-esque mode, and I love her and still can find her a little grating. The DIY controlling scenes were starting to wear thin (boring).
Cara was beautiful in the dress she actually wore; I think they purposefully chose an ugly bridal dress in the salon knowing that they'd have this story morph into wearing Mom's dress. That dress she ordered was completely hideous. So boring and so unflattering.
My only concern that took away from the movie was the overall weirdness of Cara thinking Ben had secrets, as if he weren't trustworthy. If she's already having these reservations, it's not going to bode well when they reach year 10 of marriage and he's possibly not as amorous or as accessible or a dozen other things that happen IRL. It was somewhat anti-HAllmark to have her be THAT worried and mad.
I didn't love that she was mad at him for pre-arranging Clara Lake Lodge for their wedding venue; she felt it was isolating toward her, but in reality, he did something so incredibly kind and sweet.
The Dewshane character (Sean) is so lovable, along with Megan. I hope that they have their own movie ASAP.
This movie gets points from me for:
- beautiful cozy settings
- generally likeable characters
- the best-friendships
- an effort to incorporate real life, like COVID, even though they didn't mention the word. I think this remote-proposal idea was more of a reality than most of us would care to remember, and seeing this on screen may make it easier for some couples to not feel so badly that they had "abnormal" things like remote weddings or remote proposals, etc.
The big nope: take out the freaking story about her writing. Please make it go away. It was so boring, and there was just nothing about it that added or helped the storyline of the movie. From the start of the photos showing the "stoic" man with his back to the artist, I thought "how can Cara just infer that he lost his wife or is miserable?" Does no one else pensively look out over a beautiful scene? Maybe he lost someone in the war. There are thousands of options.... The writing career can still be incorporated but these details of the photos and the going-back-to-the-bench (so unrealistic to believe that it's THAT bench) - it's just all too much for a little movie.
But, I still enjoyed this overall.