The Wedding Veil Legacy

I love Allison Sweeney. She may be one of the Hallmark regulars most likely to be in a really heartwarming movie. (This one was decent but not outstanding.) I also like the concept of this series. All the movies have been OK. My preferences best to worst were probably first to last.

Sweeney and Victor Webster have good chemistry. The story is totally average - no great highs or lows, surprises or tension. Except maybe the ending. The last few scenes are worth waiting for.

7.2 stars.

What Hallmark has done with the Veil movies is obvious to me now. I didn't quite see it at first, but it's a marketing ploy to crank out a bunch of films based on a mysterious veil. This third installment is totally different than the first two, actually none of them are similar. They each have vastly different plots, different writing styles, acting styles, dialogue, and pacing. Each movie could be a standalone from the others and it would make no difference. The only links are the three women and a talisman of love.

"Legacy" is about the same as the first film for entertainment value and flow, but it sorely lacks romance. I enjoyed it for the museum, art, and the Italian family. The lead female's assistant was fun too. The production value is obviously very high, and that usually makes for a great Hallmark film. It lacks the romance, history, and mystery of the first two films. Chabert and her guy seemed more in tune with the younger audiences, whereas this film is so different, more for a 40+ age group, and yet these women are supposedly the same age. The male lead in this seems much older than she.

At the end when she is feeling remorse for shunning him a bit too hastily, her performance is contrived and devalues the scene. I'll let it slide for now, because I really like the potential of these veil stories. Fingers crossed for the fourth installment...

This was a cute idea for a trilogy with a magical wedding veil bringing love to it's owners. The first movie was pleasant enough, although Lacey Chabert is over used in the Hallmark movies. I loved the 2nd one with the always sweet Autumn Reeser.. But this third and last instalment was not quite as good as I had hoped. I like Alison and Victor and have enjoyed them in many of their other roles. And their connection seemed real enough. But the story was rather contrived with so many coincidences. We finally find out about the history of the veil but again, just not really believable. Everything was tied up in a neat bow. Still, it's an enjoyable series and I would like to see more trilogies, as you do get drawn into the interconnecting stories and the development of the characters and their relationships.

What do you get when Hallmark takes six of its most dependable performers out of its stable of regulars and creates an all-star movie for the winter blahs ? Some fun and energetic banter that elevates a good, but not great, script to a story that is quite entertaining and a pleasing way to pass a couple of hours. Alison Sweeney, Lacey Chalbert, Victor Webster, Autumn Reeser, Matty Finochio, and Paula Shaw are all very adept and talented actors and they seem like they are having a lot of fun playing their parts, resulting in a presentation that is a very satisfying.

The locales, sets, and costumes are attractive and the direction is very good. While it is certainly not a dramatic or rom-com classic, this is good entertainment by a likable and fun cast.

The script was not a challenge for good actors: no great emotional highs and lows, but the whole cast of seasoned Hallmark actors did an excellent job. All handled the good humor and banter with aplomb.

Tracy, played by Alison Sweeney, the third woman in the triumvirate of Wedding Veil owners begins her story with breaking up with her boyfriend, Finn. It is handled very maturely. He has gotten a great job across the country, and Tracy does not want to leave New York, or her own great job. They are sad to part ways, but as we have gathered from the previous two installments, they have grown apart lately anyway.

Tracy takes the veil to a tailor(?) to have a snag repaired and meets Victor Webster getting fitted for a tuxedo. There is some good natured raillery. Allison is planning an important party for her job and is in the market for a new caterer. Her search brings her to a new restaurant accompanied by Autumn and Lacey. Lo and behold Victor is the head chef and part owner with his family. The meeting between the women and Victor is chuckle-worthy thanks to the three actresses comic timing and easy rapport.

The side story of Tracy's mission to obtain a newly discovered early draft of the famous Emma Lazarus poem for the museum where it can be enjoyed by the public is interesting. It adds some suspense and provides the pretext (Victor might know an investor), along with picking out art for the new location of Victor's restaurant, and rug hauling around, for the promising couple to spend more time together. Alison and Victor make a good pair both age-wise and in physicality.

Unlike the second installment the plot is tightly written. There are quite a few little stories, but the focus remains on the couple and their developing relationship. Every individual side element gets tied into the whole, including the Emma Lazarus poem welcoming immigrants to America. The continuing mystery of how the veil got to San Francisco is well incorporated into this final chapter and provides a satisfying conclusion involving a lovely coincidence and a twist. After the veil does it's job of finding husbands for the three likable friends, it finds its own happy final home.

Of the three movies, I rank the first one the best for it's humor, this one second for the well constructed plot, and the second one my least favorite. **7 1/2 stars**