The Wedding Veil Inspiration

7.8 stars.

This movie is equally as superb as my favorite wedding veil episode, which coincidentally is the other one that features Reeser as the lead. I have to say that the story is quite original, and the adventure is full of interesting and fun happenings. I can feel the actors are invested in this production. Case in point, sometimes you get the inkling nobody cares about a film, but not this time because there is an energy that is ever present in the performances of Reeser, Chabert, and Sweeney, and with the addition of Marks and Rohl as the side romance.

In retrospect the side romance idea should have been explored in more of the Wedding Veil films because it provides another layer of depth and romantic intrigue. It is doubly fun, entertaining, and captivating. There is much more to the story than the same old couples with a slight iteration of a veil mystery etc... This is a full blown veil inspiration.

What inspires me about this film is how knowledgeable the writers are about the nuances of relationships, about taking risks, the highs and lows, and how we must always continue to move forward. Love is hard work and can be a fickle and fragile mistress, yet as durable as iron if treated properly with finesse and patience. I learned a lot from the interactions and concepts conveyed in this most delectable installment of the Wedding Veil series (nod to the deep dish pizza).

Enjoyed the whole cast of likable characters led by the accomplished and talented Autumn Reeser who is a pro in her profession. Her range of expressing emotions is astonishing and only seems to grow in each of her roles. The location on Victoria Island, BC is perfect and the cinematography clear, rich, and crisp. This is truly a delightful buddy film where three true friends stick together and move the narrative of the Wedding Veil series. Autumn Reeser and her co-star Paolo Bernadini definitely have chemistry and bring out the modern-day issues of a two-career couple. This time the relationship is a really long-distance romance: Chicago and Italy. Hallmark has grown into producing mature stories and has an excellent repertoire of actors and talent to bring intelligent films to their audiences. Bravo.

My wife and I like Hallmark movies, for good clean entertainment that doesn't require lots of "figuring things out." We have been working our way through the series of "Wedding Veil" movies and watched this one at home on DVD from our public library.

In the previous ones each of the three old friends, one after another, get in possession of the old Italian wedding veil and each finds her own true love. In the immediately prior one she meets her love in Italy and they decide to send him to Chicago to open a shop there.

But her job as an Art History professor is going well and she is in line to become department head when her boss retires soon. The conflict arises because she is about to achieve her career-long goal at the same time it seems her husband may need to go back to Italy to run the family business. So the main theme is the two of them deciding what "family" really means and work things out.

But the other story here, the next one to be recipient of the magic of the wedding veil, is Kacey Rohl as art student assistant, Lily. I cannot say too many good things about her and the role she created for this movie. She is such a versatile actress and she brought more life to this story than we find in most of the others. Her character was a real treat.

Overall this is a fine, entertaining movie with good things to say about relationships.

Perhaps it is because I'm worn out from the common Christmas movie plots, but I enjoyed this movie. And it wasn't quite the usual non Christmas plot even though it is predictable and has a very low level of tension. Emma's trials are not that different than anyone who has a demanding boss. There is a small twist at the end and I did wonder if that was the case before it got there.

I really enjoyed Kacey Rohl as Lilly. She had good chemistry with Carlo Marks. I wondered if the age difference was a bit much especially since Lilly is a grad student with Rohl seemingly playing below her real age. Still, Lilly is a very appealing character and keeps Emma going while having her own joy of life. Charlotte adds a little bit of spice also.

I LOVED this particular installment of the Veil series! It made me feel total love once again for Autumn Reeser, and let's completely admit that Kacey Rohl (sp) is an absolute keeper for Hallmark. PLEASE make more movies with her!

This movie is all about the fact that Emma and Paolo are now married and living in Chi-town, although P. Has strong ties with his family back home in Italy. He is struggling with that familiar battle most of us encounter at some point: how to handle aging family members that need us, while we attempt to live the life we've worked hard to achieve. It's not an easy decision, and when siblings are involved, it is both easier and more difficult: easier to share the load, but more difficult because you risk not doing enough to bear your part of the responsibility.

I digress, but I get Paolo's struggle.

Emma is a capable and driven art historian who is working as a prof at the university. She is in it for the right reasons, but her department head/boss bypasses all of Emma's passion in order to neatly fill her own position so she can retire.

Emma's TA and friend, Lily, is so expressive and interesting. She serves as a foil to Emma's own perfectionistic tendencies, and brings a reality to the plot that Hallmark is often criticized for lacking. I love when Lily earnestly admits to disliking Emma's article, and I personally had a death-by-cuteness moment anytime there were 'Charlotte' moments!

I agree that Paolo had a certain insistence about him that could be a bit off-putting. I felt something sad when seeing Emma's face as she said "I thought I was your family". That is actually a familiar line to me in my own personal life, so it hit home. Still, I know that nothing in life is linear/perfect.

My conclusion about Emma's choice to do what she did is that she lives according to her real values and passion. We all have different motivations, and it's unfair to say that women "ought" to feel any specific way about their careers or pursuits. It is possible to reframe your goals, just as the movie astutely illustrated with the "5 year plan": the writers clearly were answering the viewer's future criticisms of Emma 'selling out' when they referred to her 5-year plan. Just because we make a plan doesn't mean that we cannot bend, budge or change those plans. It doesn't make Emma weak, and it doesn't put her at risk of any specific negative outcome.

If the worst happens, and we end up realizing that we sacrificed our own interests to support our partners', we adapt and survive. All is not lost. It's just part of our story, and there is no 'right' way to live.

All the other parts and scenes were excellent to me; I had a little difficulty placing the reasoning behind Lily's sudden 'job' at the lace shop, but I was overthinking. She was simply helping out because she saw a need to step in, and this was addressed when she talked about her parents' store back home.

I loved Carlo Marks - he is pretty adorable and deserves more roles. I also loved Lacey and Alison's appearances, of course.

The title of my review is actually a nod to Emma's true ability to speak her mind. In the scene discussing pizza, Paolo is pretty insistent that his version is the only "real" pizza - but Emma/Autumn's confidence when she says "no, it IS pizza" is, well, fire!