Love Strikes Twice

I started watching not knowing what it was about, and I was digging the fact that the lead couple was having marital problems. I thought this would progress down an interesting road of trying to fix something that is broken, but instead the writers dove into the deep end of time travel. I was in for either option -- anything has to better than the formulaic two people meet and fall in love in a couple of days.

I also like the lead actress. She does a great job of making her dialogue seem natural. The rest of the cast isn't always at that level, but I'm sure the script they were given didn't allow much creativity there.

I hate the do-over premise where the person is plopped down into a situation she knows nothing about and is expected to bring about her happily ever after and instead is more likely to be committed for acting crazy. This movie doesn't do that. Maggie knows exactly what's going on.

I also hate that so many of these movies start out with a competent young woman who just had a great success and her boss dangles a promotion in front of her. There's nothing wrong with it, except how often it's used.

So what's good about this movie? The story is just a bit different. Maybe I should have, but I really didn't know where the story was going. I made a good guess about the ultimate outcome, but I wasn't completely confident it would turn out according to my guess.

The dialogue is sparkling. Maggie's character is fun and interesting. Like the dialogue she is witty, which is good because much of the dialogue is hers. And .Katie Findlay delivers her lines brilliantly.

The movie isn't exactly a traditional rom/com because the screen time normally spent on relationships is instead spent on the quest to save the library. It involves non-romantic activities like peaceful civic protests, court time, and digging up secrets about the opposition. There's barely any time on relationships. The quest dominates the screen time. As a result, the story is fresh.

The premier broadcast of this movie has a trivial but highly irritating flaw. Maggie receives a text late in the movie. It is mostly obscured by banner advertising by the channel.

Hallmark movie lovers grade on a curve and are very forgiving of the inevitable flaws in these movies. But this is one of my favorites without grading on a curve. Katie Findlay Is wonderful and was so good in her courtroom scenes she almost made me ignore the movie's utter disregard for how the law really works. Almost. Someone else commented on how difficult it is to take a failing marriage and resurrect it in an entertaining way. Most of us are watching to see new love blossom. But this honest look at a marriage with real problems was surprisingly well done. Plus, I'm a sucker for Time Travel movies (like About Time).

No, this is not a re-make of 'Peggy Sue Got Married' but it uses a similar story-telling technique. Katie Findlay is really, really good as Chicago lawyer Maggie Turner, about to make junior partner in the firm and wondering if she and her husband made the right choices 15 years earlier. So one night, out for a walk, she throws a coin in the fountain to make a wish, bumps her head, and the next thing she knows is she is back home in 2006, 15 years earlier.

A careful reading of the title pretty much tells us what will happen but it is a very entertaining movie to show how a few changes in history can have a great influence on how things will turn out when 2021 arrives again. In that respect it also has a 'Back to the Future' vibe to it, when Marty got back and his parents were in a much different status.

Anyway, for us one of the more enjoyable Hallmark movies, my wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

Starts out slow and doesn't really have a hook that sucks you in, but if you give it time it actually does get better and funnier. Kate Findlay's comedic timing is on point, her facial acting is sublime, and eventually she will win you over with her charm when at first she's not all that likeable. Bonus points for the thinly veiled James Bond theme as she & her "future husband" pull off a little caper. Most of all not a stereotypical Hallmark movie which is a refreshing change. The only thing that needs addressed is a note to the director that pretending a movie is set in America only works if you remind your Canadian actors to say "owt" & "abowt" and not "oot" & "aboot" because it's just jarring to an American ear.