gordonm888

I am a big Lacey Chabert fan, but she never looks comfortable acting in this film. And, nothing works in The Wedding Veil. Kevin McGary towers over Lacey Chabert - they don't look like a couple and never seem to have much chemistry. The greatest suspense comes from wondering how they will eventually manage to do their Hallmark kiss, because Lacey's mouth is below his armpit level. The Italian painting that they recover is very far from being the masterpiece that the other characters "Oooh" and "Aaah" about -it's an ugly, simple painting, very low in artistry. McGary's character complains about having to wear a "coat and tie" in his job -but he isn't wearing a tie when he says it and virtually never has a tie on at any time in the film.

Problems seem to be solved off-camera. Everything depends on Lacey finding a second restoration expert and after much hand-wringing, she simply announces that one of the experts her friend found online has agreed to help out. Huh?

Museum tours are usually performed by volunteers (for free) but when Lacey needs a fill-in tour guide for her art museum she turns to her love interest -who is the CEO of a large charitable foundation. He rediscovers his love for teaching young children and . . . Well, you can guess the rest. Apparently, the scriptwriters are not deep thinkers.

And Lacey looks a bit different in this film. Has she had some work on her face? Is it just a new hairstyle? Or, is she getting tired of "the same old script?"

We love dogs, have two rescue dogs and would have been delighted at a half-decent Hallmark film on this subject. We were so open to this movie being good. But it wasn't even close.

Andrea Brooks giggles constantly as the lead romantic female, substituting "giggle giggle giggle" for more nuanced acting. Neither my wife nor I could develop any affection or empathy for her empty=headed character as she cluelessly encounters the world of dogs and competitive agility training.

Everything is so wrong about this movie. The rescue center manager (the male romantic interest) shows up to inspect her house for suitability for a rescue dog AFTER the dog has been placed in her home -not before, as it is done in real life. He walks into her living room, which has been torn up by the newly adopted dog, and after giving her some basic coaching about owning a dog he announces that her place looks fine. What, no inspection to see whether her backyard has a fence ?-which is the primary thing that real-life rescue organizations look for when they inspect a home. Nope, he seemingly just wanted to see her pretty face.

The couple takes the dog to a veterinarian and has an out-of world experience. The vet comes outside the building to meet them, then takes the dog inside for examination. The couple remain outside on a park bench. The vet then walks outside the building to the park bench to discuss the results of the exam. The vet walks back inside the building, and then brings their dog out on a leash. Isn't that the way every vet visit is handled, LOL? Apparently, Hallmark needed to save money by not setting up any inside areas to look like a reception area or an examination room.

Anyone who does canine agility training in real life would be incensed at the way it is portrayed in the movie. A new owner, who doesn't know how to hold a leash when she walks the dog on a sidewalk is immediately walking the dog around a makeshift agility course -like once or twice -as training. Her boyfriend-to-be encourages the dog to go through a tunnel by crawling through it himself! Apparently that's all it takes -because they leave the dog with a friend and spend the next 10-12 hours walking around town eating ice cream, playing on the swings in the park and go to his house to watch a movie. Then suddenly it is time for the agility competition - and there, in front of an audience, is our giggly owner crawling through the plastic tunnel on the course to once-again encourage her dog! I mean, really?

The plot is filled with this kind of stupid nonsense in so many scenes. The rescue center doesn't keep their large dogs in crates or cages. They are kept behind 2-foot-high white picket fences that the dogs could jump over in a microsecond.

What is the point of having a dog-centric Hallmark movie if the script writers and director know less about owning dogs than 99% of their audience?

Blame this on Jake Helgren - he wrote and directed this film. It is the "Plan 9 from Outer Space" of Hallmark movies and Helgren is its Ed Wood.

Almost every scene involves characters who stand in one spot, unmoving, with their arms pressed against their sides as they talk. The result is a movie that doesn't "move;" which contributes to the coma that the viewers slip into. It is terrible DIRECTING. Incredibly amateurish.

And Helgren's screenplay? The bride is a shallow neurotic fragile woman who is unlikable and whom no man would want to be married to. The romantic leads (Best Man and Maid of Honor) have no chemistry, and even worse, have no personality. Their dialogue simply moves the story forward but is boring to listen to. The change of heart by the bride, which saves the wedding, is based on a stupid idea and simply lacks any authenticity or believability.

This movie didn't deliver either of the two essential virtues of a Hallmark film -it had characters that we didn't care about and there was no sense of "fun" as the film progressed through its predictable plot. I don't recall a single scene that had any emotional power - no joy, no sense of romance or happiness or anything.

I gave it 2 stars because the scenes were well lit.