The Professional Bridesmaid

Ugh. Worst lead actor and actress. I love Hallmark movies but some are really great and some are really bad. This one was cringe-worthy although I did watch it until the end but that's just my personality. The two leads were incredibly awkward together. I feel like the characters were supposed to be a little awkward with one another but this just felt like extreme awkwardness and bad acting. There were so many pauses in the dialogue that I think I spent 75% of the movie rolling my eyes. A couple of the other actresses could use some acting lessons as well I think. Not every actor is meant to be a lead.

I liked the main characters and the basic bones of the script.

Unfortunately, it was more of the same old, same old.

Main female lead, X, has to hide her true identity.

Main male lead, Y, falls in love with X but doesn't know she isn't who she says she is.

Y overhears a private conversation that reveals the identity of X.

Y gets offended and confronts X, then walks away without hearing the whole story.

Two other women tell Y that it's obvious he's in love with X.

Y returns and forgives X.

X is sorry.

They kiss.

Other side issue is resolved.

The end.

In between all these things is a lot of wedding planning mishaps and X has to jump through hoops to make everyone happy, including finding the hoops.

Just tiring to watch. I was glad when it was over.

7.9 stars.

Say what you will, but this is a refreshing novelty film for Hallmark. Maggie is a professional bridesmaid which is totally unheard of, but what the heck, let's go with it. She is unable to secure a business loan to take her concierge bridesmaid business to the next level, but is offered a very involved and demanding opportunity to provide her services to the mayor's daughter. This could be exactly what she needs.

Next, we have an investigative reporter named Henry who wants to pick the mayor's brain about his plans to allow developers to erect several condominiums in the city park. Instead of getting the story he wants, Henry gets stuck covering the mayor's daughter's wedding. Little does Henry know that Maggie is placed undercover as a regular bridesmaid in order to keep him on a tight leash. She is instructed to make sure he doesn't stray from covering the wedding by diverting his attention from the mayor and his political views about the condo project. Maggie's other duties are to insure the wedding is a success, secretly applying her skills as the "The Professional Bridesmaid". Maggie's true identity as a professional bridesmaid must remain a secret and in the midst of this balancing act Maggie and Henry fall for each other.

We all know how this story ends. Eventually he will discover who Maggie is and she will have no choice but to win back his affections. It's run-of-the-mill Hallmark fare, but I enjoyed it because King and Massey provide us with a twenty-somethings version of love rather than the usual thirty and forty somethings.

I'm not a fan of big weddings and therefore most wedding movies, so almost turned this off - however there's so much more than the main story here. Pretty much everyone is juggling responsibilities eg work / family / community and there's no nasty characters, just a lot of people under a lot of pressure to make the right decision. Obviously some of the plot is predictable, but other elements are quite unusual. The movie is pretty much all one generation, apart from the bride's father, who actually is mainly represented by his younger colleague, but there's still plenty of variety with different priorities and perspectives that work together in the end.

The professional bridesmaid angle is close but slightly different from the wedding planner premise. The overall flow of the movie follows this plot thread. It includes the requirement that she keep the big Secret of her identity. The other part of the premise is an investigative reporter sent to cover the wedding. This premise usually leads inevitably to a certain conflict near the end, but not here which I found refreshing. Henry was only mildly annoying in his reporter persona which allowed him to be likeable on the whole. Another thing I found refreshing was skipping the usual initial antagonism between the leads. Henry and Maggie/Maise met and engaged nicely with one another.

Some of the elements used for mild tension in the heart of the movie are a little weak. We're told the mayor can't be confronted by Henry because the electorate will be evenly divided no matter what stance he takes on the park. Unlikely. More like his campaign doners' interests will be contrary to the majority of the public. And then there's Chloe. Her thread is just a mess with some unlikely details also.

Another minor twist is the source of the inspiration for the resolution of the Conflict which results inevitably for obvious reasons.

The acting is decent. Hunter King and Chandler Massey have chemistry. Other players did their part but I can't decide whether Lillian Doucet-Roche succeeded as Chloe deliberately or just fell into the portrayal of this sadly confused woman. The dialogue is decent but not sparkling. This movie lacked an opportunity for Hallmark's signature scenery.

I rate this movie slightly on the high side of my average for this genre because of the unexpected plot lines and because of Hunter King as the appealing Maggie.