A Time to Dance

This story was taken from the pages of Karen Kingsbury's book, which I have yet to read, and the premise piqued my interest, having just celebrated 25 years of marriage. Not only did the story line not disappoint, the writing, acting and directing all came together beautifully. Having seen so many couples around us not make it, and knowing first hand that marriage takes work, this felt like a real peek into a nice family's story that was quickly unraveling, even though from the outside, everything seemed perfect. The film opens showing the main couple when they were high school sweethearts, then fast-forwards 25 yrs later. As they make plans to draw up papers and begin to dissolve their union, they are surprised by their daughter's engagement. They decide to hold off telling anyone of their plans until after the wedding. A heart-felt lesson of the importance of not throwing away promises.

This started out nicely. But after an hour of sadness and anger it was still going on. The stated theme was carried out for the entire movie until the last 3 minutes, as one reviewer mentioned. He was annoying, she was sad. Misunderstandings kept it going. Everyone would have known about this "secret" they carried; very obvious. At the final end, it's resolved. OMG. Tedious and a real downer. In spite of good advice by Pops.

7.6 stars.

Marriage is hard and that's what I learn from this story. What a sad tale of a couple who've been married for over 20 years and have two kids going to college and now the marriage has failed. But the daughter has just gotten engaged, so they can't announce their looming divorce anytime soon. There are a lot of tears shed feeling sad for two people who just don't know how to get into the marriage zone like they used to. This happens to almost every marriage that I'm aware of. Let's not forget the percentage of couples that get divorced, then you have all the single people who never get married, and then the ones who almost get divorced, but they stay together for appearances only. How many HAPPY people have I just described? None. The only happy ones are married for life and they've discovered the secret. One such gem of knowledge is to ask the question: what is marriage? The answer: It's a job. You have to treat it like your job. You have to show up on time, do the work right, get the work done, get along with your co-workers, improve and excel and promote until you are the boss. If we remember to treat a marriage like our life depends on it, something that creates a livelihood, supports family and children, puts food on the table, and its first and foremost ahead of everything else - including the "day job", maybe, just maybe, it will succeed. I bet almost every person reading this has experienced divorce, separation, or never got married. If you are still married, good for you, but don't continue taking your spouse for granted. If you aren't certain whether you are taking them for granted, then YOU ARE! If you aren't bleeding, sweating, and crying every day to save your marriage, to love your spouse with all the energy you have, wearing yourself down to the bone, then you aren't doing it right. Don't let your current successful marriage fail because you think you've got it right. If you're not working tirelessly to maintain love for your spouse and to do and be all you can for them, then you will fail (luck runs out eventually). Take from someone, one of the many billions of humans in earth's history, who has experienced a failed marriage.

Had a nice storyline, but REALLY BAD ACTING, except for John Reynolds (Dan Payne) and Pops (Corbin Bernsen).

They showed emotions whereas the others, especially Abby Reynolds (Jennie Garth, who I've never been a fan of).

They sounded like they were just reading a bland script and told, "Don't show any emotion" and they didn't.

Yes, the script was predictable. It's a Hallmark movie, but they couldn't have gotten some better actors/actresses to play the parts.

Glad I didn't spend any $$$ to watch this movie. I got it from my local library.

If your marriage is in a good, happy place, then skip this movie. It's depressing. And it's hard to believe that the kids are oblivious to their parents being on the verge of divorce. Their facial expressions and tone of voice broadcast their misery. We never see what they even look like as a happy couple.

But, if your marriage is in trouble, this movie can be enlightening. Corbin Bernsen gives a good analogy of how marriage is like a house. You invest in it, and you make repairs where needed. Marriage is a commitment, and you shouldn' t stop trying. Spouses should support each other in their careers, but also remember that their marriage is more important than either career. Marriage needs a bedrock of solid friendship and trust. Your love should be able to withstand misunderstandings and stress. Don't jump to conclusions about your spouse -- show some trust. And don't put all the blame on your spouse. In this movie, Abby should have asked herself why her husband feels like he can't talk to her. And John should have asked himself what he could do more to be emotionally there for his wife.