Romantic Rewrite

If you're into reading lips and/or closed captioning, go for it. Otherwise it's difficult to comprehend what's being said. And it's across the board - every member of the cast. All of them acted as if they were afraid to be on screen and just wanted to spit their words out and get off camera. Almost like watching a movie in a different language - or one from a junior high school stage. That, coupled with truly dreadful sound quality, made this a much harder watch than expected.

Then there's the cast and characters. The lead's sister and the bride were both majorly annoying characters. Who wrote this stuff? Guess I expected that if GAC is planning to rival Hallmark, they'd at least try to find a better product than this. Choppy. Choppy. Choppy. From beginning to end.

Great scenery - thanks for filming in the U. S. In this case it just couldn't redeem the overall experience.

I either love a Great American Family movie as I watch it or hate it. I either watch it over and over or I don't even get through it.

So, what is this one? It is a watch over and over one for me. The two leads are great. They never overact and seem to get the plot and who their characters are exactly. There are several side characters who also add a lot to the movie, especially Aunt Edith. I love when the side characters are carefully thought out like this one.

The plot is intelligent with a few memorable comedic moments that make you love the writing. As an author myself, this movie about writing rang true. As someone who has always valued a good editor, much of this was spot on.

There were a few character issues that one more rewrite could have fixed. The ending was a tad confusing too. But, so be it. The movie hit on so much else that it is a winner.

I really, really wanted to like this. The storyline was decent, but that's where it ends. The acting was B level at best, direction was hardly evident at all, and the editing and sound was atrocious. I think the only reason I watched it through to the end was because I had recorded it on the DVR. Otherwise, I'm fairly certain I would've changed the channel. I don't know where the production company came from or any of that other stuff that have been mentioned and other reviews, but I know what I like and what I don't like. This one is definitely in the don't like Section. Save yourself two hours of your life and watch something else.

I give this movie an eight for the concept, but a four for the execution, and I'll tell you why in a minute.

First, we liked the actors and thought the leads did a good job. The overall story idea was clever, and as an author, I particularly like movie ideas which include writers. And yes, sometimes an editor can help an author identify issues in their plotting and seriously improve a manuscript.

Here's the other side. Last year I wrote a murder mystery, and over the last two years I've been writing a series of RomComs, so I've kind of got my elbows down in that type of work. They say the guy handles his romance relationship all wrong, and the editor is going to help him improve that. Fine. What they missed were any DETAILS to make that trope more real to the viewer.

In the far superior Trading Christmas, a woman helps a male author with the relationship in his manuscript and what's wrong with his female character, and they at least talk about it enough to understand where the author was going wrong and how to fix it.

None of that here, I'm afraid.

The acting is weak, but the dialogue didn't help. The writer keeps referring to "his hero" to the editor. The ex, who was apparently a "businessman" because he said things like "you're the one deal I can't negotiate". I've been in business for 30 years. Believe me - no one talks like that. And I was so distracted when the lead guy was talking to his sister on the phone. She was supposedly driving, but was turned to the side the entire time. I kept waiting for her to crash. The one positive - I feel so fortunate that I don't have friends who have week long destination wedding celebrations where I have to spend the entire time doing planned activities, such as tug-of-war on the beach - while wearing a dress.