Movie: Marry Go Round
Starring: Amanda Schull, Brennan Elliott
Network: Hallmark Channel
Synopsis: Abby is a successful executive moving to Paris and planning to marry Edward. Life is perfect until she learns her divorce to high school sweetheart Luke is not exactly official.
⚠🛑 Disclaimer: This review may contain movie spoilers
Rating:
Review:
When I first saw the preview I was on the fence with this one. On one hand it stars Amanda Schull who I absolutely adore. I have loved her since the first time I saw her in Suits. Not only does the movie have Amanda, but it also has Brennan Elliott who is usually a solid lead. But on the other hand what I wasn't so sure about was the plot. You see the plot seemed like it would be a remake of "Autumn Dreams" which also had a young couple who thought they were divorced only to find out that they weren't. I wasn't sure if this movie would work because this had been done before. But...it did work. It wasn't by any means the best Hallmark movie this year, but here we had an ok script being sold by two fantastic leads.
The good:
Amanda Schull - Amanda sold me on her character as soon as she set foot on screen. I have to say that this movie worked because she was in it. Her character was well written but even more phenomenally portrayed by her on screen. She has a presence on screen and such a natural way in how she talks and interacts with her co-stars. She is becoming one of my favourite leads in the Hallmark universe.
Brennan Elliott - Once again Brennan was a solid male lead. He is consistent. He is charming, and showed a little bit of humour in this movie which I liked.
Chemistry - The chemistry was slow burning between Schull and Elliott. They had a cute little love/hate relationship at the beginning that came to a dramatic cry worthy scene when she confronted him at the dance and laid out how him leaving her broke her heart. Their relationship and bond was believable.
Carousel and flashbacks - I loved the significance of the carousel in their story and how it was depicted so much. I loved the flashbacks as it added so much to the story. But honestly who just leaves a carnival wide open for anyone to turn on the carousel when they please? Never going to happen except on the Hallmark world. Nevertheless, the carousel was beautiful and offered some excellent opportunities to develop the story further.
The not so good:
Fiance storyline - I didn't like this for two reasons actually. The first is...I don't really like the idea that Abby is engaged and then is off gallivanting with another guy. It doesn't sit well with me regardless of whether she has history with the other guy. At the end of the day...she's engaged and shouldn't be off flirting with another guy. And before I get too many comments on this...yes I know that most Hallmark movies involve one of the characters usually having a boyfriend or girlfriend at first...I get it. I don't like that either as it's cheating, but for some reason when someone has committed to marrying the person it just irks me a little more than normal.
The second reason I didn't like the fiance angle was...this fiance was such a good guy. It would be one thing for me to jump on board her dumping the guy if he was a jerk but this guy was legit. He had to be one of the nicest boyfriends to be dumped in a Hallmark movie. He was understanding when she told him that she had been married before. He didn't freak out when he saw her dancing with her ex-husband nor when she said she couldn't marry him. I legitimately felt sorry for the guy when she gave him the ring back.
Courtroom drama - Highly doubt that what happened in this courtroom would be allowed in a real courtroom. The judge would never let someone just interrupt a case in process so that they can hash out their feelings for each other. I did find one part of this really funny though, when the judge told her 30 seconds and she was just about to get to the key part in her speech and he declared "time's up!" I thought that was so funny.
The mom: Wasn't her mom the absolutely worst? I didnt see this coming at all. How could she keep something like this for over 20 years? She is the absolute worst. How in the world do you mend your relationship with your daughter after confessing this to her.
Overall this movie was good. It's certainly not one that I would watch multiple times a year but the solid performances by the two leads definitely make this one to watch.
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