Making Waves

Amelia (Holland Roden) is a new executive at a small record label. She's struggling for approval from her boss who is in a battle with her exes' bigger record company. She goes home to attend a music festival to find elusive indie band "Figure 8". It turns out that the band is led by her former teen sweetheart Will (Corey Cott).

It's a Hallmark romance and that part is pretty simple. Holland is a solid lead. I expected a taller hunk to be the male lead. It's just visually more fun to have short girl looking up all the time. I guess they needed a real singer for the role. The song is above average. That is a nice side to the standard Hallmark main dish.

I really enjoyed this particular Hallmark movie because it was very well cast (both major and minor roles) and its storylines were more complete, more well thought out and detailed than some others. I also liked that it didn't center just around the main couple and that the supporting cast and side stories added real interest.

Corey Cott's wonderful singing was a really nice bonus and I wish both he and Holland Rodan were in more of the channel's movies. They portrayed their characters in very believable ways. I liked how the storylines came with some spoken and unspoken baggage right from the start; it kept me guessing and interested throughout and also made the outcomes less predictable. I will watch this one again and highly recommend it.

Hallmark seems to have this obsession lately with high school exes getting back together after many years apart. And in all of these movies, these couples broke up in high school after a weak misunderstanding rather than the far more obvious issue breaking up high school couples: They grew up and moved on. Why have none of these people moved on?

There isn't enough drama here. The main couple falls back together without any effort, which doesn't make for a good movie. I prefer the movies where there is a spark of excitement about meeting someone new rather than running over old ground.

I agree with other comments. If you are going to include the location as part of your storyline then you should film a good chunk of the movie on location.

British Columbia is a sad substitute. Will Hollywood ever get it?

The film is OK but sadly is just using OBX to sell a movie. I can only think of one that comes close, Nights in Rodanthe. I am only speaking of movies. Message in a bottle was the worst location wise.

Why? Cost? Then call it something else. Why not SC or GA if desperate for a location.

Meanwhile, the characters are fleshed out fairly well. Story is OK but this is a Hallmark formula movie as are so many others. Predictable, boss is also predictable. Friends too. Money hungry Real Estate developers etc. At least it isn't about Christmas.

Starting to wonder why I watched. That is on me.

6.9 stars.

I would probably watch this movie again someday. It's not one of the greats, it's not one of the worst, it sits right in the middle of my average ratings. I like the actors, but the music is lacking. When I see a film like this, I expect higher quality and more variety in the music. The same couple of songs are repeated over and over, becoming worn out like an old pair of jeans. Unfortunately, this pair of jeans does not age well. There are several strange scenes in the beginning, you can tell they're trying to be awkward, but they pulled it off too well and it became overly awkward. That's fine. The movie was overall entertaining enough that I can round it up to a seven. 'Making Waves', I'll see you again in five years or so.