A Time to Dance

One of the best from Hallmark movies. Rekindling a romance is one of my favorite plots both in books and movies and Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite romance authors. the story is very emotional and a lot of couples could relate to. The two leading actors were great, Jennie Garth was so convincing, and Dan Payne is one of a few Hallmark stars that have the needed chemistry for his roles. Hallmark doesn't always get it right, but this was one of these few times they did. I watched it more than once.

7.6 stars.

Marriage is hard and that's what I learn from this story. What a sad tale of a couple who've been married for over 20 years and have two kids going to college and now the marriage has failed. But the daughter has just gotten engaged, so they can't announce their looming divorce anytime soon. There are a lot of tears shed feeling sad for two people who just don't know how to get into the marriage zone like they used to. This happens to almost every marriage that I'm aware of. Let's not forget the percentage of couples that get divorced, then you have all the single people who never get married, and then the ones who almost get divorced, but they stay together for appearances only. How many HAPPY people have I just described? None. The only happy ones are married for life and they've discovered the secret. One such gem of knowledge is to ask the question: what is marriage? The answer: It's a job. You have to treat it like your job. You have to show up on time, do the work right, get the work done, get along with your co-workers, improve and excel and promote until you are the boss. If we remember to treat a marriage like our life depends on it, something that creates a livelihood, supports family and children, puts food on the table, and its first and foremost ahead of everything else - including the "day job", maybe, just maybe, it will succeed. I bet almost every person reading this has experienced divorce, separation, or never got married. If you are still married, good for you, but don't continue taking your spouse for granted. If you aren't certain whether you are taking them for granted, then YOU ARE! If you aren't bleeding, sweating, and crying every day to save your marriage, to love your spouse with all the energy you have, wearing yourself down to the bone, then you aren't doing it right. Don't let your current successful marriage fail because you think you've got it right. If you're not working tirelessly to maintain love for your spouse and to do and be all you can for them, then you will fail (luck runs out eventually). Take from someone, one of the many billions of humans in earth's history, who has experienced a failed marriage.

Had a nice storyline, but REALLY BAD ACTING, except for John Reynolds (Dan Payne) and Pops (Corbin Bernsen).

They showed emotions whereas the others, especially Abby Reynolds (Jennie Garth, who I've never been a fan of).

They sounded like they were just reading a bland script and told, "Don't show any emotion" and they didn't.

Yes, the script was predictable. It's a Hallmark movie, but they couldn't have gotten some better actors/actresses to play the parts.

Glad I didn't spend any $$$ to watch this movie. I got it from my local library.

Okay so Jennie Garth is so so unhappy being married to a wonderful man who is handsome and bright but wears sweatpants and sweatshirts... Poor. This woman is so annoying. If she smiled once in the first hour her face would have cracked. Miserable to be around and if I were her daughter I'd say HEY MOM for goodness sake smile. What is with those kids anyway? They can't see misery in that woman's face and the attitude she's throwing off? Give me a break. The doom and gloom of mom is enough to turn the channel. I felt bad for the husband John who didn't have a clue . He's better off divorcing that sour puss and hooking up with the red head.

This movie is more real than most Hallmark movies. It is about what real people do in weak moments or when they have given and given but felt like they were betrayed. These are not perfect people, and some might argue (reviewers have argued) that they are not very nice people. That's the point. The point is not to criticize their flaws but to see what could be, what might be, maybe what should be.

There's a scene late in the movie where Abby makes a mistake that really isn't all her fault. All the repairing of the relationship seems to fall apart and that's reality too.

This isn't the most entertaining Hallmark movie I've seen, but the story is totally unlike 99% of their stories. The subject matter makes it worth watching through to the end.

Karen Kingsbury writes a lot of Christian stories and there are references to God in this movie but they are not overpowering or particularly preachy at least in terms of religion. There is some preaching in terms of fidelity and family.