The More Love Grows

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).

The More Love Grows is a Hallmark-style romance movie that follows the story of a recently divorced woman who finds love with a new man. The movie is full of clichés, from the meet-cute to the happy ending. The acting from the main actresses is also quite bad, with them delivering wooden performances.

The story itself is nothing new. We've seen it all before in countless other movies.

Overall, The More Love Grows is a disappointing movie. It's a clichéd romance with bad acting. Watch it only if you are a fan of Hallmark movies, then you might be able to find something to enjoy in The More Love Grows. But if you're looking for a movie with good acting and a fresh story, I would recommend skipping this one.

I wanted to like this movie because the dog is so cute. Unfortunately the main character Helen is so annoying that I wanted something really bad to happen so she would stop being so bloody perky and show some authentic emotions. She giggles in almost every scene! Even after hearing that the dog's owner had been found. She doesn't seem to have any emotional intelligence..she is surprised by her husband leaving, that the new boyfriend had 'feelings' for her, that her daughter might have been over mothered!

The characters also seem to be thrown in and stereotypical rather than developed. The mother is intrusive , the new friend a bit 'out there', and the new boyfriend terribly supportive.

And speaking of dogs, they are not 'pack' animals...the training advice was so 1990s. They really could have used the opportunity to promote force free training techniques and best practices like microchipping.

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 new Hallmark movie had so much potential! Sadly, it missed that opportunity. Rachel Boston, the leading actress, has shown in all her past films that she has a very limited range. Her tendency to giggle during any lapse in dialogue is almost her signature behavior. Her giggle fills space that could be just as well be left silent. And her giggle is most often inappropriate to the moment in the script.

The story that this film offers is so contemporary,and so relevant to a large audience. A marriage suddenly ends. The couple, mature enough to have daughter in college, needs to deal with the reality of two lives that have to move on. This topic could have been explored in a much more mature and sensitive manner. Unfortunately, it wasn't.

Acting kudos go to the leading actress' mother, played by Gabrielle Rose, who has an impressive range of emotion, expressions, and very convincing delivery of her lines.

If the viewer can overlook the giggling of the leading lady as well as her broad smile throughout any emotional scene, this is a movie that could deliver a profound message about moving on, discovering ones untapped talents and gratifications.

In the end, this movie belongs to the wonderful dog who stole every scene. He was a marvelous actor, a real trouper, and saved the viewer from all the unsettling smiling and flat giggling of the leading lady,.