L'amore ritrovato

Did someone cut Hallmark's lighting budget? Why is half this movie filmed in the dark? It's the oddest thing I've ever seen where half the movie takes place at night in the dark. Important scenes where you can barely read facial reactions. It's like they were given two weeks to film so they shot late in the night after cutting the lights and thought "just roll with it".

All that aside, this is still a hard pass. The mom is truly awful from start to finish. Her character is manipulative and clueless. It's actually the main reason this movie is just bad. The rest is typical Hallmark formula. You know what you're going to get so no surprises there.

I really like the actors. The scenery is beautiful. There is an unpredictable twist in the story. The story has my attention notwithstanding my predisposition to want to make fun of Hallmark Romances because of their predictable tropes.

I just never see people express themselves in real life like they do in these movies. This is life, polished. It is refreshing to see people willing to affirm past friendship and to forgive willingly. Real life seldom unfolds this way as far as I know it.

With all that said, Marry Go Round is an engaging and enjoyable Hallmark Movie so long as you enjoy fantasy movies without wizards and dragons. Great eye candy. Enjoy it. Just don't expect it to reflect on real life. But that's why we watch these movies isn't it?

No great highs or lows or big surprises in the plot itself. The getting-married-but-not-divorced premise is not unusual, but it isn't used every week either. The reason for the original split is similar to a lot of teen break-up stories, but slightly different.

Amanda Schull and Brennan Elliot have a quiet chemistry which is appropriate for two leads who are in their 40's. Their time on screen together is good to watch. Zak Santiago does a nice job also. Santiago has a role which doesn't involve the extremes or silliness some of his characters have (or maybe just the one on Sign, Sealed, Delivered).

This story presents an impossible situation. Edward is cheated on, but Abby doesn't really cheat. Figure that out. The previous statement is not so much a technical statement as an emotional one. And the actors all do a good show showing all the feelings involved. That gives the movie slightly more depth than just saying no highs or lows.

The climax is cheesy. I often say I love sappy. There is a difference and to me this was cheesy.

Abby is on the verge of moving to France and marrying her fiancé Edward. In the process of filing her paperwork for the legal marriage in France, she discovers that she is not technically divorced from her high school sweetheart who left her. The only way for her to resolve this in time for the wedding is to appear in court in her hometown before a judge and this means seeing Luke again.

Back home things do not go smoothly in front of the judge and Abby ends up having to stay over the weekend. The mom finally confesses a big secret that makes Abby think differently about her breakup with Luke. Is she making a mistake?

This film started a little awkwardly, but smoothed out with these two veteran Hallmark movie actors, Brennan Elliott and Amanda Schull. My favorite character was actually the step dad Leo! I loved Abby's dress at the dance...it was gorgeous.

Classic hallmark romance that romantics will enjoy. The final scene is beautiful and satisfying.

I really like Brennan Elliott. This movie was a waste of his talent. I am not familiar with Amanda Schull. I would like to see her in some other movies so I could offer more insight to her abilities.

From her first scene in Marry Go Round, I found her character annoying and seriously self-absorbed. I was not impressed with Brennan Elliott's sarcastic attitude either. Of course, the rest of the movie was standard Hallmark fare. There were a few mild twists. However, none were outstanding.

Enter the mother of the bride. She was seriously irritating, and remained so through the rest of the movie. She was one of the most awful examples of the irksome, interfering mother's of the bride to be I have seen in a Hallmark romances. What a disgusting, deceiving witch.

There were some subtle twists to the story. However, there were no big reveals. All in all, it was not a memorable movie.