Photo: Crown Media Inc./ Bettina Strauss
To ring in the new season, Hallmark has a new movie premiering tonight. Will this love story spring eternal or is it another form of fertilizer?
Caryn Briggs (Rachel Boston) is skeptical about love, romance, and marriage. Ever since she was a child, she thought commitment meant throwing away one’s future. She let boyfriends slip away in favor of her own freedom. At a charity event, she and her friends have their fortunes read and she is told she will have a ring by spring – or she will never marry. Faced with the possibility of a lifetime alone, Caryn re-evaluates her love life to determine if she should settle down or if it is not meant to be.
It’s hard to believe the cynical little girl from the start of the movie turns out to be the bubbly Boston of today. She doesn’t quite fit the character profile that was set up. The film would be stronger without the scene and any callbacks to it.
My other issue is Boston. What drew me to the film is Boston. I’ve followed her since American Dreams and love her to bits but she’s so damn perky and adorable, she doesn’t really scream unromantic. There’s a disconnect between her and the character and it hurts the believability. Because of this, the film feels like two different movies rather than one cohesive story. The Caryn that goes back through her past loves to find out what went wrong, that is interesting. The Caryn that questions the idea of living happily ever after with someone when she’s so worried that she’ll end up alone is not.
It is a problem that the movie never allows Caryn to delve into anything with Tom (Kirby Morrow), the laid-back boss of the company she is hired to rehab. They have so much in common, they are obviously the pairing but they don’t really “go there” with their relationship. Instead, Tom moons over her while her uncle and coworkers tell him to make a move while she’s busy reconnecting with past loves. When Tom finally does, it’s a little too late. Whenever it seems to be going in the right direction, it veers off and becomes discombobulated.
I think the story would have been better if it didn’t set Caryn as a pessimist at the start since it never made it work. The use of Jacot and his annoying Bryce could have been better handled if they didn’t use him as one of the catalysts for Caryn’s search within herself but instead as one of her old loves who she reconnects with because they believe they are finally on the same path.
Kirby and his character Tom seem to always be on the periphery of the story rather than being completely involved. They had ample opportunity to incorporate him but every time they did, they’d let the character slide to the back burner. Tom seemed charming but was not given the room to grow his connection with Caryn to the detriment of the film.
There were a few things I liked. I enjoyed the shout out to the cult-classic Office Space, the chemistry between Boston and her character’s best friends, and the juxtaposition of everyone’s St. Valentine’s Day plans against hers. But that is too little to make me enjoy this movie and want to see it again. I got jumbled on why the mere thought that a girl not liking Romeo and Juliet makes her tragically against all romance. I’m sorry, I don’t like R&J either. As a person that can be a bit logical, the story just doesn’t scream “best romantic story” to me. Instead, it’s about weak characters who make even weaker choices because they haven’t lived long enough to learn anything about life. They are children willing to kill themselves over a love that hasn’t been given the time to be more than puppy love. But it’s considered an epic love story and any person that doesn’t think so is considered a monster. I just don’t believe that and I took offense. Then when Caryn is reconnecting with a past boyfriend on her iPad and doesn’t seem to disconnect the FaceTime when she puts it to her chest, I kept wondering if she was cyber motor-boating him. To add insult to injury, later after a meeting with Tom’s company, the screens behind Caryn all show cleavage shots as she’s talking to Tom.
I wanted to like this, I really did. I just didn’t feel the chemistry between Tom and Caryn and I felt no heart pangs as the story progressed. I want to want them to be together. I should want the commercial breaks to feel a bit agonizing because I want to get back to the movie. Instead, I just wanted to read or watch something else.
While watching this, you may wish Daylight Savings Time started sooner so you can skip at least an hour of this and move on with your night. Do yourself a favor and change your clocks and the channel now.
Cast: Rachel Boston, Kirby Morrow, Ali Liebert, Jesse Moss, Chris Jacot, Stephanie Powers
Bottom-line: Spring forward and skip.
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