A Winter Wedding

Total rewritten review after watching a second time: What was I thinking? Maybe because there have been so many of the same Hallmark-like movies that I'm tired of them.

This starts out as another wedding disaster movie. And it is a combination of slow same old stuff and being totally annoyed with Deidre, the bride's mom. I'm surprised Hallie wasn't locked in her room until she was 40 years old.

About 2/3rd there is what for me was a big surprise. (I had totally forgotten that I had already seen this and totally forgotten all about it.) This becomes totally a unique story.

This isn't exactly a romance story in that there is never any doubt about the main couple. But it is interesting how that handle the obstacles.

I'm going to leave the first review as a comparison. I was a little hard on the acting. That's another thing. With all the dilution of talent and stories in the past couple years due to Hallmark premiering 40 or so non-Christmas movies a year and two other networks showing similar movies, there has been a lot of poor acting and same old stories. These actors here are decent by comparison, even if not quite up to some of my favorite stars.

Original review: The story is both a little slow and at times a little sensationalized. But then wedding days are a cauldron of emotions, so maybe it's not so unrealistic. But a better question is why did this story need to be told? It's just not that interesting. There are highs and lows, but no surprises There are tender moments, but they don't save the movie.

The acting is not great either. Emotional scenes are overly dramatized and some sentimental moments are too stiff. Two things did come through well. Hallie and Quinn have a special friendship. And likewise Lucas really does love Hallie and she him.

Mom, Deidre, is so annoying, but that's one of the more effective things in the movie. It doesn't mean I enjoyed that aspect. Hallie is a bit timid as a real compromising person. Again, the bride in a wedding does have a difficult time and unless there is someone really standing up for the bride, she feels the need to please strongly. The alternative is Bridzilla. And compromise is a necessary part of life.

Perhaps there is a message here that the "dream wedding" is overrated.

Giving one star for Nick Bateman. I only left this on because the remote was too far to reach and I was drinking baileys under a blanket. If you want to hate everyone and everything you should watch this film. Selfish horrible characters. Bad casting. Annoying and horrible. Someone give the brides mother a slap.

This movie is not very good due to miscasting of the bride and groom. Also, the character of the bride's mother is awful. She needed to be put in her place much earlier in the story rather than continue to be a very negative and awful influence in the story line. Too much of the story line is take up by "making the mother happy" rather than what the couple's wishes are and what they want. I kept waiting for the daughter/bride to grow a spine but she never did before I turned it off. She was pathetic because she let her mother run over her and also for not supporting her fiance/. This movie was so bad I didn't finish watching it.

I may sound superficial. But this couple match just didn't do it for me. The bride and groom didn't look like a real couple at all. The chemistry just wasn't there, especially when it came the romantic scenes. It just seemed forced. The story didn't need to be told, the acting was over and under done, and once again the bride and groom didn't work as a couple for me. But I finished the movie anyways in hopes it would get better. All I can say is.... I wish I could get my 1hr 29min back.

And on top of everything this wasn't even a Christmas movie. I know it's called "A winter wedding". But they are pushing this movie as a Christmas movie.. which it is not! I definitely won't be watching this movie again.

Nick Bateman Saves this movie.

Unfortunately this movie's plot is thin, focusing on one superficial aspect of planning a wedding. So the drama is very light. Dont expect life altering lessons from watching this movie.

However most of the actors do the best you could expect with the material. The main couple's chemistry is tame but then again it's a Hallmark movie not Showtime. Plus there's a secondary couple with a romanctic plotline too.

Ultimately, if you're looking for romantic escapism this will certainly do the trick because lead Nick Bateman is not just adorable but oozes charm. (Heart him!)