La sorella della sposa

This is a very different approach when it comes to writing, acting and overall plot from the known Hallmark movie recipes.

Two sisters are getting married, on the same day but sequential years (4th of July). The plot revolves around this scenario and the fact that their parents have personal business that may interfere.

The overall taste of this movie is a departure from the more traditional Hallmark scenario. You still have "family, marriage and tradition" at the core of the story line, but the acting is very different.

I liked that the story wasn't the typical, especially when they set up a few chances to do the expected but walked away from them. what kept me from giving it 7 stars was that the premise is hard to believe (who dreams of a wedding in palm springs on july 4th; the temperature's going to be over 110), the movie was obviously filmed in the non-summer, and for some reason in a few scenes the mom couldn't talk well - it was distracting. but I appreciate the efforts.

I really did enjoy this one mostly because I really did not see how they were going to solve the dilemma that was threatening main couple's relationship. Stephanie and Ben both had successful careers in Academia. Stephanie is on the brink of obtaining tenure as a professor at her college, and Ben had just won a prestigious position at Oxford University to work under his idol. They were either going to put their engagement on hold and separate to pursue their equally beloved careers, or one of them was going to have to sacrifice their dream and hard work and talents in order to be together. Being a Hallmark romance, putting their relationship on hold was unthinkable. But how were they going to resolve this? Personally, I was all "go to England, girl!" But I knew it was a bad idea for her big chance for tenure. and that would have sent a bad message, really.

The other conflict was with her father, played by Michael Gross. He didn't approve of the engagement because they had only dated 6 months. His behavior was contemptible. Very sulky and controlling in a passive-aggressive sort of way. A Grade "A" jerk. Then there was her sister, who had also gotten engaged to her boyfriend of 10 years and had a wedding to plan in less than a month. Then there was the parents selling the beloved family "vacation home" . Which was a McMansion in a subdivision in Palm Springs. Weird.

So there was a lot going on, and all of the threads were handled very well, with even a teeny tiny bit of humor thrown in. Becca Tobin was excellent and the actor who played her fiance was competent. Everyone else was likable (both actors and their characters) except the Michael Gross character who very annoying, as he was supposed to be, I guess.

A quiet but charming story. I saw two of the problem solutions coming but not the main one.

The relationship of the two main characters was a good one and occupied much of the screen time, which for me is important in this type movie. These two valued communication and respected one another completely. Becca Tobin presents her character as a very likable, intelligent and competent woman.

Dad was a pain and fortunately stopped just short of me hating him completely. I was initially put off by how long he thought was required before an engagement but I think that was intentionally exaggerated.

That is the best thing I can say about this movie. The acting in this movies was pretty bad, the writing was even worse. It was very boring. Took me 5 evening to watch this. I have a lot of tolerance for the short comings of Hallmark movies but this one is the worst one I've seen.