The More Love Grows

This is not a bad movie, and it's different in a way because it shows separation and divorce. I've never seen this area of life explored in a hallmark movie before.

If you like dogs, it's a good picture for you. Lead actress does a good job, as she normally does in one of her movies. A little dog also does a great job, he is very believable.

It moves along, rather slowly, as most Hallmark movies do. Wife is totally surprised by husband's request for separation and divorce.

Husband does not appear to be a jerk, however, everything he's doing shows he is is a Butthead. But that's a part of the plot.

Of course, she meets a handsome veterinarian, who is in the middle of his second career. She's not in the profession she wants to be, but it's what was easy and convenient to raise a child at home.

The subplot is her daughter going way to college, and winding up with a roommate that wants to do nothing but party. All she wants to do is study.

Very strong message of motherly love.

Elmer, the dog, hates conflict, and when there is conflict, he runs away.

This is not a movie about fixing a marriage, it's about doing what makes you feel good.

Outside of the dog in this movie there really isn't much to like about it. The main story lines for the human characters are just too depressing that they really don't capture the viewer's attention or interests. So much so that you find yourself wondering if they would have just made this totally about the dog in a sort of Benji way - would that have made the movie more interesting for the viewer? Given the actor an actress in this movie and knowing their ability based on past performances I just couldn't get into this one at all and I wanted to. Should have been happy for the final outcome for the dog but the rest was hard to watch.

This is already one of my favorite films.

It had a really strong theme of growth, among several of the characters, in some surprising ways. And there were opportunities to take the easy way out for a lot of the characters, and it was interesting what each ultimately chose.

Rachel Boston and Warren Christie were natural together, and it good to see them each growing and maturing as actors. And we certainly saw a new side of Linda Boyd.

There were some characters that seemed like they were going to be important that got lost in the shuffle for a while, but that really is how life goes sometimes.

7.4 stars.

It's very rare for Hallmark to give us a story centered around an actual divorce that is in the works rather than a retroactive one, or the usual death of a spouse.

In this case we have a film starting out seemingly normal, but we know something has to go wrong, because the husband is a chump and the leading female is obviously not feeling normal as a housewife of sorts. From there we see the transformation of a woman who is blindsided by the news that husband is unhappy with the marriage. But is she really surprised?

This film is mostly unfinished in a sense, but the story is fully told. The leading male/love interest's role is half developed, the husband is a ghost of a character, and the daughter is only secondary; so we miss out on anything coming to fruition. The leading female is uncertain of herself which wasn't explored correctly. Therefore, 'The More Love Grows' is not a completely fulfilling experience. But I still enjoyed it because the acting is great and the flow and dialogue are satisfying. Hard to explain, but this is actually an entertaining movie (the dog helped).

Yes, there are a lot of weak spots in this movie, but the longer I watched it, I appreciated how it delved into the important issues that the first minutes of it made you think were going to handled lightly. Though I was put off by many of the tropes that were introduced in the beginning, I appreciated the deft way they handled them as the movie unfolded, and how they reflected real world experiences for many of us.

I actually would love to see a sequel. Maybe this is just a transitional relationship and they end up finding other loves, but remain friends. Maybe they take that trip to Paris they both want to take and realize they aren't meant to be together. Maybe their kids end up in a relationship that causes all sorts of complications. Maybe Elmer becomes a dad. So many possibilities for this fine cast to explore further.

As a fan of "Heartland," I loved seeing Alisha Newton's character being a less than positive influence, as opposed to her Heartland character, Georgie.