Taking the Reins

Cast was great. Story was great. Nikki Deloach and Scott Porter were wonderful. Really hope Hallmark does more with Scott Porter.

Having growing up riding and jumping, some of those scenes weren't great, but it's a movie.

First of all, it's worth, noting how good and actress Nikki DeLoach is. Watch how she listens and responds. She is wonderful. The photography is wonderful. It was shot in Connecticut Corbin Bernsen turns in a solid performance and Janine Turner is really a pro. She's still got it. Yes. It's a Hallmark movie. But isn't that what you want? I get tired of the criticism. The moments that Corbin ad Nikki spend addressing their problems is really touching. And a shout out to the the actress who play the younger sister. She is wonderful as well. Her name is Eliza Hayes Maher. All in all a satisfiying movie.

I really like Nikki DeLoach (she was great in Two Turtle Doves and The Perfect Catch). And I get that Hallmark sells relationship fantasies. I'm a happy consumer of those fantasies. But it's one thing to reunite old sweethearts from high school or college who went their different ways; it's quite another to reunite divorced couples. It's hard enough for divorced couples just to be civil to each other, let alone fall back in love. Heck, I thought Crashing Through The Snow (which featured a divorced mom spending Christmas with her ex's fiancé's family) was wildly unrealistic.

These 2 spent six (6!) years together, couldn't make it work, got divorced (the reasons were fuzzy), and it was apparently so bad, her family was afraid to tell her that her ex would be at the ranch (that was weird by the way). But then Poof! They're hanging out, riding horses and falling back in love. Sorry. I didn't buy it. Divorce is more than just a break up. A lot more.

I also thought the focus on the big horse riding event was a bit off. I loved taking my daughter to her horse riding lessons. She loved horses, and I loved seeing her happy. But, as others have noted (in impressive detail), Hallmark really screwed up in making that event and the riders seem believable. And it came at the expense of an unrealistic love story that needed more time to seem plausible. If Hallmark wants to target some demographic clamoring for stories about divorced couples getting back together, those stories should be told, if at all, over time in a series like Chesapeake Shores.

And as someone who applauds Hallmark's efforts to make their movies more diverse and inclusive (the intolerant pearl clutching "PC alert" crowd should be ashamed of themselves), I thought the same sex couple was thrown in to win quota credits in lieu of treating them as fleshed out characters. In contrast, I loved the realistic and interesting lesbian sisters in Unexpected Christmas and Every Time a Bell Rings. Still, I suppose even a token effort should be acknowledged as progress that, just 5 years ago, seemed unlikely.

The story revolves around a horse farm, an equestrian event, and a divorced couple thrown together by her family. For the first part of the movie, it was a build up to what was supposed to be the awkward reunion of a divorced couple, made that much worse by the fact that everyone but Sam knew it was coming. For the viewer, it didn't seem that awkward unless you count Sam chewing out her parents. Then like so many Hallmark movies and their clones, the animosity disappears almost instantly. By about half way through the move, you could almost forget it happened that way because Sam and Luke were getting along great.

I've seen most, if not all, of Nikki DeLoach's Hallmark movies. At first, no big deal, but Two Turtle Doves sealed it - this is one of Hallmark's best lady stars. There are others that appeal to me more for various reasons, but every time I see Nikki, she grows a little more on me. Unfortunately, this movie did her no favors.

For what little screen time they had together, Nikki and Scott Porter had chemistry.

As I mentioned, the climax of the movie is the equestrian contest. From slightly past the midpoint when all the pieces were in place, it was obvious almost to the minute details what was going to happen. And the event consumed more and more of the story. I'm not a fan of rom/coms where some contest takes up significant time and attention. I'm much more into the people and relationships.

I especially didn't like some of the camera angles during the riding scenes. Poor Nikki didn't look good. It wasn't quite fear, but it wasn't flattering.

There were some scenes which were very flattering for her physically. I don't usually think of her that way.

I caught one scene, where once again on Hallmark, face makeup didn't look right. I don't see it in similar movies by other companies.

I give what I feel is an overly generous rating thanks mostly just because the movie had Nikki DeLoach.

Second chance at love is a trope I enjoy very much if it's well done. And I like Nikki DeLoach. She is one of my faves so my expectations were high. However they were not fulfilled.

Sam is going home to write an article. We have seen this trope literally a hundred times. I still wonder how they convince the bosses to give them so many days or even weeks. They must be the best bosses ever. Anyway her ex husband Luke is there working and helping her father, who is going to compete in this championship Samantha's family is hosting.

Wow, surprise surprise her father can't compete and she is going to take his place. We saw this coming the minute the title appeared. So, she has to spend time with her ex. The problem wasn't the chemistry, because it was there, but there weren't enough scenes to see it develop. I mean, these two were divorced and I found their relation too good to be true. In my opinion, it didn't "re-develop" very naturally. I understand they only have a limited time but it could have been done better.

I actually enjoyed more scenes between Sam and her father and them mending their broken relationship. It was cute to see them reconnect.

At the beginning I was SO sure that they were going to pair up Alex and Mathew (saw that a hundred times a well) but the closure of that little story surprised me. So kudos for that.

Anyway, I still enjoyed it due to the fact that Nikki was there but I didn't care much about the romance or the horses.