A Second Chance at Love

When I sat down to watch the 2022 Hallmark movie "A Second Chance at Love", I must admit that I wasn't really expecting a whole lot from writer Chad Quinn and director Alfons Adetuyi. Why? Well, given the fact that this was a Hallmark romantic TV movies just didn't scream top notch. But still, since I hadn't already seen the movie, of course I gave it a chance.

Well, I will say that "A Second Chance at Love" was watchable, and it was actually adequately entertaining enough for the sappy and predictable movie that it turned out to be. Sure, it was watchable, but this is hardly a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing.

The storyline, as written by Chad Quinn, essentially plays on all Hallmark archetypical tropes there is to be played. So you know what you are getting yourself into here when you sit down and watch "A Second Chance at Love", and director Alfons Adetuyi delivers exactly that.

The acting performances in the movie were actually good enough, and Eriq La Salle definitely carried the movie quite well with his performance. A shame that Latonya Williams wasn't given more on-screen time because she seemed like she really could have spruced up the movie quite a lot.

Generic, sappy and predictable, this is essentially what "A Second Chance at Love" turned out to be. But then again, isn't that what we've come to expect from Hallmark?

My rating of "A Second Chance at Love" lands on a very bland five out of ten stars.

I liked everyone in this movie except the daughter. Gloria Ruben and Eric LaSalle were excellent. Jarod Joseph, BJ Harrison, and Latonya Williams added great performances but the daughter's character, played with annoying mediocrity by Alvina August, was a very sour note. To be fair, I think the writing for her character was annoying, superficial, and far too focused on seeing her world as dependent on her ideas and decisions. I wish the story had been more focused on the parents; theirs was a much better plot.

It was nice watching a film with these veteran actors. I wish It was a little bit more of them and less if the daughter. The daughter was very annoying and I was actually hoping for the husband to go after that girl at the mall that caught his eye.

This film is a well crafted, fresh approach to the light-romance genre. The storyline is original. The characters are relatable. They portrayed vulnerability and pulled you in to the story. The plot is well-paced (except at the end where it rushed to a conclusion). It was simply enjoyable and a wonderful addition to the Hallmark catalog. Well done!

'Second Chance at Love' was mainly seen for Hallmark film completest sake. Their 2022 output, like all their previous years, was unsurprisingly uneven. With some highs, some lows and plenty somewhere in between. But considering the tumultuous couple of years, the standard generally could have been worse. The premise also did sound very cute, though did worry about it being cheesy if not done well as has been the case sometimes with Hallmark.

As far as Hallmark's 2022 output goes, 'Second Chance at Love' is one of the decent somewhere in between films and its execution of the premise is more cute than cheesy thankfully. It is cute and charming, with a good deal of light hearted-ness and heart, but is uneven due to a few of the (significant) problems that have already been cited near-unanimously here. There is a lot that is good here, but not everything worked (which has been the case with many of Hallmark's films this year).

Production values are lovely, especially the scenery. The music is not too loud or used too much. The script is witty and heartfelt, always sounding natural and never juvenile or tasteless. The story, or at least the story with Jack and Brenda, is light hearted and heart warming on the whole, didn't drag or descend into cheese or melodrama too much and didn't feel too predictable despite the formula being familiar.

Most of the acting is also well above average, with very warm and engaging performances from Gloria Rueben and Eriq La Salle. Really liked their characters, they weren't meaty but they were very genuine and amiable. Their chemistry has a lot of natural warmth and wit.

The same however cannot be said for Alvina August who overplays, and do have to agree that her character is incredibly irritating to the extent that it unbalances the film. Also found her plot not near as interesting, tended to go into soap opera land, and the chemistry between her and Jarod Joseph (who did nicely with what he was given) didn't have as much spark.

Do agree also about the ending, which is very rushed and tacked on over-convenience, especially considering what came before it. It felt like a cop out cheat and unearned. The conflict could have had more tension and been less forced.

Concluding, worth seeing but uneven. 6/10.