This Matter of Marriage

Harlequin romance movies can be a fun escape, and "This Matter of Marriage" is no exception. From 1998, it stars Leslie Hope, Sherry Miller, Michael Nouri, and Rick Peters. Made in Canada.

Hope plays Hallie Mitchell, a 32-year-old with her own architectural design business which she runs with a partner, Donnalee (Sherry Miller, who looks like a blond Mary Tyler Moore). Donnalee wants to get married and have a family and goes the cyberdating route, probably pretty new in 1998, if I recall, and she encourages the independent, strong Hallie to try it.

For someone whom we hear so much about not having any action, Hallie has a lot of men around her. There's her neighbor (Rick Peters), unhappily separated from his wife, who is trying to solve a water pressure problem in the building and cope with an unhappy young daughter. There's her cyberdate. There's her old classmate from high school. In her professional life, she's trying to keep the business afloat while she pulls out all the stops to get a big contract.

This is a nice film, and young women will relate to the problems of a career, meeting crazies, being afraid of hurt, and a little bit of defensiveness.

There's not too much else to say about it. The acting is fine. Pleasant watching.

The acting was excellent but sabotaged by a poorly-written story. Too bad because the basic idea was good but the details stunk.

For example: They went to the well way too many times with the plumbing problem as an excuse to have them drop in on one another. How lame.

And the initial building proposal was absurd. There was nothing original there - just some towers. How did a proposal for an office building suddenly become a proposal for a community? But by far the worst was when the hero showed no interest whatsoever in her career ("So you're an architect. So how's the weather?") until later in the movie, he's basically drooling over her community design. It wasn't bad acting; it was bad writing.

It was apparent these two had nothing in common other than living next door. She had no experience with relationships. He had one experience - and didn't understand why it failed. And there wasn't even a glimmer of sexual passion between them. Prediction: One year max before they get divorced.

What a sad waste of good acting in a terrible movie.

Above-average chick flick.

Please note: the facts in the previous summary had the main female characters mixed up.

Hallie (Leslie Hope) is the main female lead, with Donnalee (Sherry Miller) being the first one who tries video dating, which then spurs Hallie on to give it a try, but with less success.

Also, Hallie is the one who lives next door to the guy with the daughter, who is going through his own personal crisis.

The acting was pretty good, with the two ladies being the strongest. And, for the most part, there was a good deal of character development -- this was not the standard piece of fluff.

Donnalee (Sherry Miller) is an architect with a history of romantic disappointment. Her business partner, Hallie (Leslie Hope) is in the same predicament. When Hallie finds success through a video dating company, Donnalee feels the urge to give it a try as well. Meanwhile, the ladies land a big project for their business and Donnalee has a nice-looking but agitating man and his grumpy daughter move in next door. What does the future hold for these gals, professionally and romantically?

Donnalee and Hallie are job smart and love dummies. Miller and Hope are lovely to look at and portray the frustration of the single woman over 30 very, very well. But, if only they would use their brains! The script is just a tad beyond mediocrity and the costumes or art direction are not noteworthy, either. Yet, the film is still worth watching for those who love romance movies beyond all others. Hold a showing at a gathering of thirty-something women soon, if you can locate a copy.

Big hair!

This is an interesting mix of independent women and Rom/Com. Two women run an architectural firm and deep down they want it all, i.e. marriage and kids. There is nothing wrong with that concept, but in this movie the two concepts kept conflicting with one another. And the attitudes ran deep. Most of the men tended to think more in terms of possessing and the two women leaned toward the idea that they had to succeed totally on their own. It is interesting how it all works out even if it takes a bit of a leap to get there.

Most of the acting was OK with a blatant exception of Hallie's first online matchmaking date. For a bit part like that, can you at least make sure his weeping is a little realistic?

For a movie that was almost tame enough to be Hallmark, the shower scene was a bit out of place and the way it was shot, unnecessary.