Le mariage de ses rêves

When I saw that Brooke D'Orsay was the star, I was excited because I thought she was a powerful character in Royal Pains. And as the movie started out, it looked like this would be another chance to see a wonderful woman similar to Paige from Royal Pains. But the movie was boring. Most of it was about wedding planning. There was an attempt to set up a daughter-in-law/mother-in-law conflict. But that conflict was muddled. There are other details I didn't like, but expanding on them gives away too much. In some ways this was not your typical Hallmark movie. There were no competing love interests and the leads started out in love (having had a two year uninterrupted relationship). The male lead was a virtual non-entity. I don't blame D'Orsay for the shortcomings because I think she did the best she could with the script.

Brooke DeOrsay and Wes Brown repulsive no chemistry awful cast Marliee Henner so snobby most uppity hallmark ever

...with its virtues and sins. nice, seductive, familiar, boring. predictable in large lines. and nothing surprising. that is all. no new things, an exercise of war between the women from the life of a young man, moral lesson and not credible situations. and a new sort of modern fairy tale, perfect for a precise target, nice for many of its viewers.

Hallmark Movies used to to be high quality, believe it or not, presented every so often as the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Increasingly over the past 7 years, they have been churning out predictable nonsense on an assembly line in a Canadian factory. It's gotten so bad that during the months-long Christmas SEASON (a true, 3 month season) that only one or two movies are actually worth watching. This movie is one of the earlier failures. Most movies around 2013 or before were actually funny and watchable. This one is a bizarre mash of incoherent plotlines, coupled with nearly inaudible dialogue. And why is it inaudible? The SOUNDTRACK. It's like a "circus waltz" that pops up at inappropriate times and then goes away just as suddenly. It's like someone not watching the film starts and stops the music by putting records on and playing with the tonearm. The music is usually inappropriate to what's going on in the movie. And it is LOUD. Like, REALLY LOUD. It's sweeping orchestral music, so loud you can't hear the conversations and must used closed captioning, and......it's blaring while a couple is talking over a cup of coffee at the kitchen table.

Have seen Brooke D'Orsay and especially Wes Brown in other things and have liked enough of their work, it is easy to see why Brown is a Hallmark regular. Marilu Henner also has a real knack for scene stealing in supporting roles. Was a little unsure about the premise, which had some potential to be charming but it sounded more contrived and cheesy in alternative to that and have seen Hallmark do it badly before. Hallmark did do some above average and more films in the early 2010s, even making some unappealing premises a lot more tasteful and charming.

Something that is not really achieved with 'Love in January', which left me feeling rather lukewarm. It has good things and D'Orsay and Henner come over well, but Brown does not and the premise is as contrived and cheesy as it sounds reading the synopsis, doing nothing to change my mind over my general negative feelings about it and instead reinforcing why. Some of it also not tasteful. 'Love in January' is not one of the worst 2014 Hallmark films, but it is very, very average.

D'Orsay does bring a lot of charm and sincerity to her role and Henner enjoys herself immensely as the conniving mother in law. Their chemistry is a lot more believable than that between D'Orsay and Brown and did have some nice unforced tension.

It looks nice, especially the scenery. It starts off quite well and has some sweet moments.

Brown however is very, very bland in a role that is little more than an underwritten stereotype that plays too much second fiddle to the conflict. He has no chemistry with D'Orsay in a romance that is underused and dominated too much by the conflict. Which there is too much of and too much of it is very contrived to cartoonish effect. The story, when there is much of one, is excessively predictable and over the top ridiculous, with a very unrealistically over-convenient ending.

Everybody else also makes little impression with nothing to do. The script goes overboard on the cheesiness which at its worst is cringe-inducing and too reminiscent of bad 90s high school sitcom. Could connect with very few of the characters with them being so dull, and by the end of the film Henner's character felt too dominant. The music is very repetitive, inappropriately scored and some of the placement is odd. Also agree about the insulting lack of respect the film has for nurses, especially considering how much they have gone through in the past four years with the high number of COVID cases and constant negativity from the media and from the people that believe what is written about them.

Concluding, very average though not unwatchable. 5/10.