There were two main reasons for seeing 'Every Time a Bell Rings'. One was for the cast, which is a very talented one indeed. Actually have liked Erin Cahill in some of her other films, have always liked Wes Brown and Ali Liebert is watchable more often than she isn't. The other was the premise, which was a very cute one, one of the most mature ones of the 2021 Hallmark films and had real potential to be very heartfelt. As said in some other recent reviews, 2021 was a variable year for Hallmark and their Chrustmas output but some of their films were good and more.
'Every Time a Bell Rings' had potential to be one of those films, but ended up being something of a missed opportunity. It is not terrible and does a good number of things very well, but it would have been a much better film and executed its premise to full potential if it tried to do less and focused more on a few of the subplots. All the subplots featured in 'Every Time a Bell Rings' had a lot of potential, but too many don't quite come off. As far as 2021's Hallmark films go, this is middling.
Am going to begin with the good things. Cahill, Liebert and Brittany Ishibashi are very good, particularly radiant and quite moving Libert. The chemistry between the three is strong too. Almost all the performances in fact are well above average, though their material did vary. Did like the idea of the story structure, it was interesting to not have just one big plot and another subplot but to have other ones.
Some come off well, especially the scavenger hunt (wish there was more of it) and the biological parent story did start off well and had some heart. It is attractively made, beautiful scenery, and the soundtrack isn't too constant or melodramatic. Had no problem with the diversity or the same sex couple, and really fail to understand why it has been such an issue for some regular Hallmark viewers as of late.
Do wish that the story was more focused and more fleshed out. It tried to cram in far too much, and a few of the subplots are given short shrift. Especially the incredibly underwritten and practically sidelined romances. Also didn't find some of the attitudes and reactions, like how indifferent the biological mother was which was a waste of a subplot that started with such promise and the sisters' over the top reaction to what was considered a betrayal. As a consequence, the structure felt rushed but because too much of the content was underdeveloped the film felt bland and uneventful.
Furthermore, a lot of the dialogue is cheesy and overwrought and the characters could have been fleshed out more, they sounded like real people on paper but some behaviours didn't ring true for them to be relatable. The ending is very anti-climactic, needed more time to unfold and the too little that is resolved is done so too quickly and too easily. The complete waste of Brown was unforgivable, have always liked him but here he is very bland in a role that gives him absolutely nothing to work with and came over as pointless.
Overall, watchable but it was good potential not fully lived up to. 5/10.
