The actor who plays Ben (Colin Egglesfield) is handsome, but a bit wooden. Jill Wagner, however, shines. She's luminous and has never looked better. And she's not just eye candy. She does a nice job playing the increasingly conflicted Annie. And Ben Dow plays a very likeable Hector (the driver).
I'm a sucker for stories where true love gets another chance. And so I enjoyed this movie. But there are plenty of problems that are difficult to ignore.
Other reviewers have fairly pointed out the utter implausibility of the story, so I won't repeat those valid comments here (except to note that Hallmark writers never seem to consult with lawyers and tend to dramatize legal issues without regard to what actually happens in the real world).
The biggest glaring error is the setting of an annulment hearing in New York City, in the State of New York, even though Ben and Annie were married in the State of Iowa. New York has no jurisdiction over an Iowa marriage. Therefore, the hearing should have been set in Iowa, and handled by Iowa lawyers. And an empty courtroom in NYC? With no other lawyers or cases? Please...
And why was the first marriage being kept as a secret from Giovanna? We're meant to hate her in the elevator, but she was actually quite nice (points to Hallmark writers who don't make the competition unrealistic caricatures). Giovanna is entitled to know there's a problem. If she's being asked to sign a prenup (the preparation of which is supposedly how Ben's lawyer "just" found out Ben was still married) there's a legal duty of disclosure of all material information. Further, no competent lawyer would try to get a prenup signed just days before a wedding. In fact, that prenup should have been prepared and circulated months before. And the "faux license scheme"? That's how you get suspended from practicing law.
And legal issues aside, what kind of man hides the fact that he's still married from his fiancé days before their wedding? And lies to her face outside court? Especially once it became clear nothing would change until after the scheduled wedding. If you can't be honest and share important information before the wedding with the woman you plan to live with the rest of your life, that's a bad sign for after the wedding. And a bad sign for anyone looking to replace Giovanna.
As Tony the lawyer put it, quoting Sir Walter Scott: "Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive". I've always loved that quote and love it when Hallmark writers add great quotes to their scripts.
Deceiving Giovanna is pretty damning evidence that Ben isn't the "good guy" the movie tries to make him out to be. In fact, sneaking off with Annie to get married 15 years before was rather selfish and cowardly. Annie's mom and dad seemed like nice people and deserved to be part of the ceremony. It's not like Ben was rescuing Annie from some abusive environment.
And why didn't Ben have the courage of his convictions? He was spineless when Annie's dad showed up after the marriage. It's not like either of them were underage. They didn't need dad's permission, even though dad was probably right about them being too young. Still, if you're adult enough to selfishly sneak off and get married, be adult enough to stand up for what you believe. Have some backbone. I don't know how a guy like that could have ever succeeded in business.
Another thing that bugged me was the call to Annie that "there's a really big storm heading our way" (said by Joe in extremely high gusty winds back in Iowa) and "if the river rises, we could lose the crops". Uh, so? It's not like Annie has a magic wand and can just drive home from town. She's in NYC at a rehearsal dinner (??!!) and likely couldn't have made it back before the storm. Do the math on the logistics and travel time of getting a flight (into a storm), getting to the airport, through security, on to a flight (and probably a transfer to a 2nd flight), without any delays, into a storm impacted airport in Iowa, and then out to some farm in the middle of nowhere. And it's not like Annie is Wonder Woman who can save the crops by filling millions of sand bags.
I realize that's a long list of complaints for a movie that I rated as 7 stars, but Jill Wagner really was great and I'm biased in favor of Hallmark movies and movies about enduring true love. And I loved the use of Reba's "Forever Love" at the festival.
