I'm a baseball fan since 1960. So one metaphor that is extremely familiar for me is this - getting to the Big Show. And I love stories that follow that idea. Much of the first part of the movie plays on that idea although in a different theatre and does it pretty well. The wonder and awe of making the big time. It's a bit more complicated than that because this wasn't Deb's dream. In fact it was a diversion to her life's dream which made the story even more interesting. Deb experienced that wonder and awe, even if it wasn't her life's dream. All of this, and the way it was done, makes this a slightly different plot device as a premise. Later in the movie, we get some other plot devices that aren't new, but also not as rehashed as many in this genre. The story gets a little complicated, but somehow I saw almost every detail of it coming together, except the final detail that resolved everything and even that still fit into a more general, but very predictable plot device. (I'm trying to stay away from spoilers, and I think if you have watched the movie, the previous sentence makes more sense.) I loved the wonder and awe. I was OK with the predictable flow through the end because it had to be.
Something else that really impressed me was Katie Leclerc. I browsed her filmography, (and except for one TV movie I don't remember hardly and my rating says I barely liked,) I haven't seen her before. She does the wonder and awe really well, but with a hint of remaining down to earth. Later, she plays the beginning of being tainted by fame and then what follows pretty well also. Michael Rady has always been solid and is here. The two connect with good chemistry.
Gregory Harrison does the conceited anchor man to the hilt, but I think also with a little bit of fun on his part. Then he pulls a nice surprise which did have a couple of little foreshadowing clues along the way.
We get a quality selfish villain and a rival who falls just short of evil. Did I see a touch of respect? Hallmark movies want us to think all the corporate types are the same, and perhaps they are. The dean (?) was a overdone caricature of a clueless academic.
Lately, my ratings often reflect the question - do I want to watch it again and how much? This movie hits high on that scale, but I think it also deserves a thumbs up because it has some good story elements and good acting by the leads.
