Classic movie fans will immediately recognize the plot of this movie as a takeoff on Barbara Stanwyck's "Christmas in Connecticut". Oh well, most of Hallmark's plots are copied from some other movie, and this one is more original than most of their offerings.
The romance in this one was just okay. The chemistry between the leads wasn't great. I wish they'd had some good solid scenes that demonstrated growing attraction between the two of them, rather than the cheesy, forced kiss under the mistletoe. Brant Daugherty was much more convincing than Clare Bowen at acting like he was in love. They were both competent actors, and I've liked Brant in other movies I've seen him in, where, as in this case, he's typically risen above the mostly mediocre material given him.
I liked that this movie made lead character Jen more of a complex character. Despite being beautiful and talented, she was a woman full of insecurities and self doubt, and she clearly had issues from her childhood that made it difficult for her to love. At some point, though, it got a bit tedious, and you just wanted to slap her upside the head and tell her to get over herself. Yeah, her mom was a bit annoying, and had made some mistakes while Jen was a child, but the animosity and bitterness that Jen had toward her was just over the top. Likewise, her unwillingness to let down her guard and give into her feelings for Max, who was clearly her best friend. They just overdid the whole, "I feel so worthless, I had such a horrible childhood, I can't think about getting married" thing.
The whole premise of Jen creating a fake video and lying about a fake husband and baby was, of course, ridiculous. If I'd been the screenwriter, instead of intentionally lying, I would have had Jen and Max film the video of their "family" as a joke, specifically to make fun of the show, with no intention of submitting it, and then have Jen's sister Ali submit it, also as a joke, but then have things spiral out of control. Equally unbelievable was the way Jen spilled her guts about the whole fake family thing on a live stream. I, as a screenwriter, would've had the information somehow leak out without Jen's consent. Then, she could've done the heartfelt "real" video at the end, and fans could've responded to the authenticity of that.
I wanted to like this movie. I thought the actors gave good performances. It wasn't a bad movie per se. It just wasn't a great movie. The script definitely needed polishing and the romance definitely needed to be developed much more than it was. With a few tweaks, it could've risen from passable movie to a really good one.
The romance in this one was just okay. The chemistry between the leads wasn't great. I wish they'd had some good solid scenes that demonstrated growing attraction between the two of them, rather than the cheesy, forced kiss under the mistletoe. Brant Daugherty was much more convincing than Clare Bowen at acting like he was in love. They were both competent actors, and I've liked Brant in other movies I've seen him in, where, as in this case, he's typically risen above the mostly mediocre material given him.
I liked that this movie made lead character Jen more of a complex character. Despite being beautiful and talented, she was a woman full of insecurities and self doubt, and she clearly had issues from her childhood that made it difficult for her to love. At some point, though, it got a bit tedious, and you just wanted to slap her upside the head and tell her to get over herself. Yeah, her mom was a bit annoying, and had made some mistakes while Jen was a child, but the animosity and bitterness that Jen had toward her was just over the top. Likewise, her unwillingness to let down her guard and give into her feelings for Max, who was clearly her best friend. They just overdid the whole, "I feel so worthless, I had such a horrible childhood, I can't think about getting married" thing.
The whole premise of Jen creating a fake video and lying about a fake husband and baby was, of course, ridiculous. If I'd been the screenwriter, instead of intentionally lying, I would have had Jen and Max film the video of their "family" as a joke, specifically to make fun of the show, with no intention of submitting it, and then have Jen's sister Ali submit it, also as a joke, but then have things spiral out of control. Equally unbelievable was the way Jen spilled her guts about the whole fake family thing on a live stream. I, as a screenwriter, would've had the information somehow leak out without Jen's consent. Then, she could've done the heartfelt "real" video at the end, and fans could've responded to the authenticity of that.
I wanted to like this movie. I thought the actors gave good performances. It wasn't a bad movie per se. It just wasn't a great movie. The script definitely needed polishing and the romance definitely needed to be developed much more than it was. With a few tweaks, it could've risen from passable movie to a really good one.