Movie: Wedding of a Lifetime
Starring: Brooke D'Orsay, Jonathan Bennett
Network: Hallmark Channel
Synopsis: A recently separated couple rekindles their romance when they are inadvertently entered into a nationally televised contest competing for an all-expenses-paid for wedding. Starring Jonathan Bennett and Brooke D'Orsay.
⚠🛑 Disclaimer: This review may contain movie spoilers
Rating (out of 5 stars):
⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2
Review:
When two actors are allowed to come together and just have fun, it just shines in their work. This is exactly what happened in this movie. Brooke D'Orsay and Jonathan Bennett were just wonderful in this movie and it looks like they had a lot of fun while doing it. They had me laugh and they had me cry...all in the same movie. A wonderful change of pace from the typical cookie cutter movies that so often air on Hallmark. This one is definitely worth the watch.
The good:
Jonathan Bennett - I honestly feel like this is the best movie I have seen Jonathan Bennett in. He was funny, charming and his comedic timing and facial expressions were utterly fantastic. He looked comfortable and in his element. He was probably the best part of this movie albeit there were alot of other good things as well.
Brooke D'Orsay - Brooke D'Orsay is fast becoming one of my favourite Hallmark lead actresses. She was stellar in "A Dickens of a Holiday" and again was fabulous in this movie. My first introduction to Brooke was when she was on "Drop Dead Diva" back in the day and she has come along way. She was funny, witty and boy can she make you cry along with her! Her ability to tug on your heart strings is amazing. The scene at the beginning when they were breaking up had me in tears.
Plot: I really enjoyed this plot. A couple who recently broke up and pretend to be a couple so they can go on a reality tv show to help further themselves and their careers. I liked it. It was unique and it had one of my favourite movie tropes...the fake couple. I enjoyed seeing how much they truly did love each other and wanted the best for each other. Loved seeing them grow back into that over the course of the competitions. It was definitely different.
Chemistry - The chemistry between D'Orsay and Bennett was good albeit I'm trying to decide if I liked it more as a comedic pairing or a love pairing. Whatever it was they had an easy way of working with each other and it looked natural. They belonged together. I would love to see them again.
Comedy - This movie was so fun to watch. The lines, the silly reality show games, the humour, the facial expressions...it all worked. This is something I have been wanting to see more of in Hallmark movies. Everything just worked. Honestly I laughed so hard at a few things that happened and that is a true test of whether I like a movie. When they were trying to dodge the camera crew and were laying down on the escalators...tears were running down my face. When Jonathan Bennett spat out the green juice...his facial expressions and comedic timing were phenomenal. I LOVED that scene and many other fantastic funny scenes that happened. From the stupid reality games, to the facial expressions it worked for me.
The not so good:
TV hosts - At first I thought the jabs of the onscreen hosts/married couple were funny. But after a while it just got old and frankly nasty. She was plain nasty to him and he just smiled and brushed it off. The best part was at the end when she said something mean again and he just went and stood in front of her. LOVED that part and loved had he finally had enough of her. Wish it had happened earlier as I wasn't a fan and didn't find it overly funny.
TV Wedding - I didn't like this turn of events in the plot. I understand they kept the couple on due to ratings but I didn't think it was a good plot point to change it from the wedding of a lifetime to a wedding of sponsors. I found this part of the movie to be lacking honestly. From the change of tux, tacky decor at the church and the awful wedding dress. This part was unnecessary and didn't add anything at all to the film. Honestly for me if you take this part out and then focus more on the wedding that they actually had which was more them...that would have been much better overall. The only redeeming quality of this chaotic turn of events was the two of them just running away and meeting in the middle of the street and kissing.
Honestly I could probably go on and one about this movie as there were so many memorable moments but I will stop here. This one is definitely one to watch and I will watch it again for sure.
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