This Magic Moment

A film extra called Clark Gable ( No not that one ) finds himself falling in love with a famous actress

This is one of those romantic comedies that are churned out by the Hallmark Channel and is a gentle romantic comedy that is too gentle to be of much appeal to middle aged men like myself . The first third revolves around the main male character called Clark Gable with hilarious results . One wonders what this characters parents were thinking of when they named their son but anyone called Theodore has no right to slag off other peoples names . Regardless of that the running joke of " What's his name ? John wayne/Clark Kent etc etc " reminded me of the dire British comedy rancid aluminium a bunch of London geezers try and pronounce the name of character called Kant . I thought I'd never start laughing and I didn't .

As it turns out the story then blossoms in to a budding romance with a bit of rivalry going on and while the results are not entirely predictable and you know where the story is heading . After all mass suicide never happens in these type of movies

THIS MAGIC MOMENT is entirely inoffensive , fairly predictable and inconsequential and will only appeal to women addicted to gentle romantic comedies

When the production crew of THIS MAGIC MOMENT comes to the town of Stone's Throw for location shooting, the life of Clark Gable, a local store owner, is thrown into delicious disorder.

The basic themes of this movie, about the confusion of reality, fiction and desire, are very good ones. The structure of this movie is very promising. Diana Neal, who plays the movie star who becomes friends with Mr. Gable, is very good.

The major problem is the script. Plot points are revealed by having characters say them -- to others who participated in the events. These things should be shown, not told; in the event that time constraints make explication necessary, why tell them to others who know them? The other problem is one that I've noticed in several recent Hallmark Channel movies: the bright, tweedly, intrusive score that Mickey-mouses every emotional shift. I don't know who does these scores, but it would be nice if the producers would find someone who can provide a score that complements the emotional content of a scene instead of telling you how you're supposed to feel.

THIS MAGIC MOMENT makes a stab at some complicated, layered story telling but is handled so poorly that there are no surprises. The movie makers have placed no faith in the ability of their audience to discern subtleties and have made the movie loud, obvious and contemptuous.

I wasn't convinced by the romance between Clark and Emily. Emily definitely settled. All I can say about Clark is that he's extremely fickle. Emily's words to him when he fake declared his love should have been, "Frankly, Clark, I don't give a damn!"

Cheesy romantic movie that even Mr Sheffield can't get better.

Good actors, bad script even for Hallmark.

Good for a Sunday afternoon.