Strong and Moving!

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

An Exercise In Nonsense

The first must-see film of the year.

I didn't know the Groom's mother was Jaclyn Smith (One of the original Charlie's Angels). I wish I would have recognized her when I was watching the movie. The guy who played Luke is cute too! My favorite part of this movie is when the Bride said to her Groom 'We don't have what most people who are in love have'. I knew she meant a romance and flame....well, he was married to his profession. Thanks Hallmark for a cute flick!

Hallmark movies tend to call over and over on the same catalog of actors and actresses, and in this case, it's Arielle Kebbel, who might not be new to a lot of viewers, since the last time she appeared in "A Bride for Christmas", with the same opposite lead, Andrew Walker. It seems sort of beside the point that the plot is lame, the lines are limp, and the outcome is entirely predictable - for me, I simply like to watch a beautiful woman pretend she's playing a role of some consequence. She may have some acting talent, but I'm not watching her for the same reasons I would be watching a movie with Bette Davis or Katherine Hepburn. I've made a list of some of the women I see over and over again (or perhaps would like to see again), and it includes Amy Acker ("Dear Santa"), Alicia Silverstone ("Candles on Bay Street"), Kerri Russell ("The Magic of Ordinary Days"), Brooke Burns ("The Most Wonderful Time of Year"), Lacy Chabert ("Elevator Girl"), Teri Polo ("Straight from the Heart"), Catherine Bell ("The Good Witch"), Candace Cameron Bure ("Moonlight and Mistletoe"), Kellie Martin ("Smooch"), Kimberly Williams ("Follow the Stars Home"), Carla Gugino ("Season for Miracles"), the list goes on and on, and most of them have appeared in multiple Hallmark movies, not to mention other TV and big screen productions. It's no coincidence that these women are all extremely attractive, and a study might be done, if objectivity were even possible, to compare the prospects of an unattractive woman trying to get a start in screen careers today, compared to 80 years ago. I don't think it's any revelation that these movies are popular, at least for the reason that they have attractive people filling the roles, even if the roles are only marginally believable, if not a complete fabrication from another planet. I wonder what Arielle will be doing in another 10-20 years when the bloom of her youth is at least somewhat gone.

I have been a fan of Jaclyn Smith for a long time.Too bad that she no longer appears often as she used to.The last time I saw her was in the TV movie "Ordinary Miracles" aside from watching reruns of Charlie's Angels from time to time.Anyway,I was looking for a recent movie that was involved in and I came across with Bridal Wave.Despite the fact that she was only a supporting actress as being the overbearing mother-in-law,I enjoyed it as it got to discover good acting talents such as Andrew Walker and Arielle Kebbel.Bridal Wave is about a couple - Georgie and Phillip - who are getting married soon.Both are co-workers with the latter being a dashing plastic surgeon while the former happens to be nurse. Unfortunately,Philip's mother has issues with the coming wedding which provided tension to the couple.But as they prepare for the event,Georgie meets Luke,an architect who happens to be sophisticated in his values.He,too is on vacation who is in the process of finding himself.As they get to know together,they soon realize things about life like love,marriage and moving ahead in life.While this happens to be a typical Hallmark movie that will not really surprise viewers with respect to its predictability,I felt that they touched the theme about getting married profoundly as it is more about doing it for the right reasons rather than going for it since it is expected to be the "next best thing to do". Also,it provides is viewers some lessons on why most marriages in the United States end up in divorce and don't stay married as most Americans simply do it without careful consideration about the next phase to be entered.In the end,we realize that Philip and Georgie indeed made the right decision in the end especially when both have issues about the coming next stage and with some relatives really not amenable to it.

What is it with Hallmark movies and female protagonists marrying the wrong guy? In Bridal Wave, beautiful and intelligent George Anne is engaged to her handsome, brilliant plastic surgeon co-worker, with whom she enjoys such a rapport that they both comment on the fact that they've never had a fight. So naturally, she will meet up with a complete loser, and fall in love with him instead. Luke is a non-conformist architect who refuses to play by anyone's rules. We know this because he wears flip-flops everywhere, and refuses to take any job that requires him to socialize with clients, yet he somehow has enough spare change to afford a house next to a five star wedding destination hotel, and make beautiful hand-crafted wooden benches to leave in the middle of nowhere. Naturally, the mother-in-law is overbearing, and George's mother is smothering in her attempt to live out her wedding vicariously through her daughter. Predictably, Luke and George will wind up together, despite the fact that he is an unemployed, anti-social jerk.