Valentine's Again

Not overly impressed by this Valentine's Day version of Groundhog Day, where Nicky Whelan relives the day over & over till she meets the right guy & all aspects of her life are aligned perfectly. The 2 leads acting was fine & their chemistry together worked ok, but I just felt this was a lazy attempt to produce a new storyline from a classic film.

The movie isn't great, but it isn't bad either. Even though there are lots of cliches, still it was enjoyable to watch. I don't have much to say about it, also I might already forget about this film tomorrow, but all I needed from it was a cute romance on a saturday night and it was just that.

This variation on "Groundhog Day" gets the Hallmark treatment. It varies from the original in that a character---a gypsy fairy godmother---tells the lead character, Kat (Nicky Whelan), why her Valentine's Day is repeating. It has to do with finding the right man.

As Kat relives the day, she tries to identify her possible life partner, but no one fits the bill. When she determines who he is, there is no spark. Some viewers may not like the choice Kat has to make for the relationship to work.

Although the premise is not a new one, with the 'Groundhog Day' story being quite popular in film and television, it is a story that has been done well elsewhere and done to timeless ground-breaking effect in 'Groundhog Day'. It was a nice idea too to base it around Valentine's Day, which is a lovely occasion every year and one where it is understandable as to why anybody would want to relive it more than once. Being somebody who has that mindset with Christmas.

'Valentine's Again' was quite cute and just scrapes the average mark by the skin of its teeth, but there was room for it to have been a good deal better than it turned out. This is a formula that has already been done a lot elsewhere and with much more freshness and to more inspired effect and 'Valentine's Again' could have done a lot more. That sounds as though it is a bad film, but to me it wasn't. Just not particularly good either and Hallmark did do better with their Love Ever After outings, as well as worse.

There are good things. It looks pleasing, with once again the scenery being particularly eye catching and one of the film's biggest pleasures. The music is pleasant and doesn't feel overused or spells out the emotions too much. It starts off quite well and quite cute and there are some amusing and heart-warming moments here and there.

Nicky Whelan and Greg Vaughan do more than acceptable jobs in their roles, particularly Whelan, and their chemistry seems natural and genuine. Marina Sirtis steals every scene she's in and the easy standout of the supporting cast.

Other than her though, the rest of the supporting cast didn't engage that much or seem particularly engaged. They were basically just there and doing the job but with not enough spark. Apart from some bright moments, too much of the dialogue doesn't flow that naturally and tends to be on the corny and tired side. Wished that there was more development with the characters, the supporting characters particularly are genre cliches pretty much and nothing more, and the central relationship plays too much second fiddle to the 'Groundhog Day' gimmick.

Which could have been executed better. Due to having seen it done many times before and with nothing new done here, it did feel tired and is never particularly clever. The repetitions also could have had a lot more variety as it was like going round in repetitive circles.

In conclusion, has moments but merely average. 5/10.

This movie wasn't good or bad. Just a cheap copy of "Groundhog Day," without Bill Murray or Andie MacDowell. So to me, (you can imagine) it was pretty boring without Bill Murray. Niki Whelan reminded me of Cameron Diaz. Very cute. It was obvious who her special man was, the one she passed by day after day in the first part of the movie. I expect it from Hallmark, to know the outcome of the movie miles before the end. But sometimes their predictable stories, that all end happily, are just what you need to forget the cares of this world we live in. I think Hallmark is sometimes a blessing in disguise.