A Wish Come True

Actually did sort of like the idea, it did sound quite cute and had potential to be very sweet and charming if done well. Was worried though about lack of substance, repetition and the risk of it being shallow and also if the female lead character would be as unappealing as she sounds. 'A Wish Come True' is the first 2015 Countdown to Valentine's Day Hallmark film, and stars Megan Park (who is watchable in the right roles but is up and down in this regard) and Benjamin Hollingsworth (similar).

On the whole, the 2015 Countdown to Valentine's Day block was watchable, with the rest of the films being average and above. 'All of My Heart' even being very nicely done and one of the better Hallmark films that year. 'A Wish Come True' however does not live up to its name in any way and is not a good way to start off any seasonal block. Of the 2015 Countdown to Valentine's Day films, it is easily the worst (the only one this reviewer didn't like) and one of the worst Hallmark films that year in my opinion.

It is not a complete and utter disaster. It looks nice, with the scenery being lovely.

The other redeeming quality is Hollingsworth, who gives the only halfway decent performance and is the best thing about the film. He at least looks natural, seems to realise what film he's in, has the only character that has any degree of likeability and has a down to earth amiable charm that wasn't present with the rest of the cast.

However, everything else is poor. Park does try hard (too much so really to the point that it feels like over-compensating until she gives up later on), but her character is really dull, as shallow as the plot synopsis made her sound and the film goes too far in making her self-absorbed to the point of over-bearing arrogance. The supporting cast are no better, with the father and ex boyfriend being especially obnoxiously acted. Saw no need for the latter. There is no chemistry between Park and Hollingsworth, what he saw in her the shallower and more selfish she got requires some suspension of disbelief.

In fact the chemistry between the entire cast is barely existent and only Hollingsworth's character is likeable or interesting. The others are dull or/and annoying to an over-bearing degree. The script is very stilted and sophomoric and is full of cringe worthy cheese and cavity inducing sentiment, and the story has no energy, is very predictable and emotionally is very bland in every way, wit, charm, emotion, tension are completely absent.

Concluding, very weak. 3/10.

Well, first I found it entertaining. It's what you're expecting and sometimes that's kinda nice.

I found the main character easy to relate to.

My only complaint is, is it just me or were her love interests old enough to be her father???? I couldn't get passed her main romantic interest looking so much older than her. I just kept seeing this midlife crisis guy hitting on a 20-something and that skeeved me out. It was impossible to get invested in her romance so that took away from the story for me.

Other than that though, it was a cute movie for a Saturday afternoon.

Very sub-par entry in the Hallmark romance line-up. Nothing to recommend it except Ben Hollingsworth and his performance. Very lazy production. I liked Megan Park's looks (not your typical ex-beauty queen thing going on...thank-you for sparing me that at least), but her character was boring and charmless. The whole story consists of her getting all of her childhood wishes. Utterly predictable "Be careful what you wish for" scenario. All of these Hallmances are predictable but the better ones have some good conflict, maybe a little suspense, an evil nemesis to hiss and boo at, a nice learning curve, some good humor, nice performances, great chemistry or,golly, something to entertain and keep your interest. This one had none of these in addition to an incredibly annoying father and ex-boyfriend. The rival for her hand was a nonentity. The scene at the end where the doggie put a mysterious note in the trashcan was bewildering.

6.9 stars.

To summarize my feelings in a few words: a bit pretentious. The filmmaker took liberties attempting to fit too many pieces into a small container. In other words, they took on too much with a limited budget and not enough time to squeeze a big story into a small window of time.

There are too many characters, which convolutes the script and leaves the male lead with too little screen time. I don't feel he was developed enough to be "worthy" of the lead female, although the actor himself is more than up to the challenge. Her performance is hit and miss due to her obliviousness to his continuous hints. I just don't think it portrays a very likable or believable lead female, so it's a bit disappointing. Generally, women are much more intuitive.

Unfortunately, the film doesn't measure up to the script's potential. All of her wishes coming true by her 30th birthday is quite genius and at times it is exciting to see how the writer imagined it all to take place. Some of the wishes are cool and intriguing and for them to happen is really fun. It's a great idea, but they didn't execute it to my liking.

'A Wish Come True' starts off slow, then becomes entertaining, then flattens out, all the while too many moving parts. Oh well, so much potential squandered. If I were a producer, my advice would be: longer run time, more money, a few actor switches.

The lead female is endearing and pleasant, I've always enjoyed her in all her roles for Hallmark. You should see the other Hallmark movie where she's a New Yorker, but she is dating a prince. I kinda like her in 'A Wish Come True' a bit more, but the other movie isn't bad. I didn't like her as much in another film called: 'Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas' (2018), but it was the best movie of the three (the lead male had an amazing performance).

Admittedly this is more than a few years ago before Hallmark went totally woke, but I am still a little surprised that there was a bit of parody about obsessing over being Green.

Lindsay (Megan Park) is obsessed over making the world Green. That is part of what makes her so shallow. It's kind of funny because the word shallow implies a lack of layers in a character but Lindsay actually has several layers of shallow. For most of the movie she is willing to practically sell her soul for these things. Being a big shot in the corporate world, having her dream home, dream guy, dream project. It's too bad because I find Megan Park appealing and not just for her good looks. But in this movie, for so much of it, she had to go against the sweet girl persona she does so well. That girl is usually upbeat, but Lindsay comes off as kind of sad.

If Lindsay isn't bad enough, Billy is downright annoying. I wish I thought that part was funny, but it was just annoying.

While the wish plot theme is a bit unusual, this story isn't that far off the typical format for when the lead female isn't seeing her best guy friend right in front of her. You know in general terms what is going to happen. And of course she has to make a grand gesture.

I can't help but think of the movie Birthday Wish which is also a Hallmark TV movie even though there are big differences. The biggest difference is that it is actually upbeat and funny.