"Broken hearts do heal."
Hello everyone!
But I'm still in the throes of Hallmark films, because reasons LOL.
To be fair I've sort of picked out my favourites from the lineup they have this year, and I will say I think said lineup is actually much shorter and the choices narrower because of the pandemic, but it might just be my imagination.
In any event, however, there does seem to be less to choose from, and I choose every other weekend or so.
Mostly because this year has been a disappointment in movie choices, to say the least. Hallmark is either losing its magic for me or something else is happening! Who knows.
I'm just not as enamoured with everything as much as I used to be, though I will admit that there are still exceptions.
I just can't decide where Don't Go Breaking My Heart falls.
Links to previous Hallmark movies from the same segment, or similar ones, can be found at the bottom of this page, as always!
Don't Go Breaking My Heart is part of the Spring Fling portion of the scheduling this year, and stars Italia Ricci and heartthrob Ryan Paevey who has quickly become one of my favouite Hallmark stars, though I will admit I was initially hesitant. But he's got that velvety, deep voice that usually works for me, so I mean, it was only a matter of time!
Ricci plays Miranda, a successful businesswoman who runs a boot camp for broken hearts, aka if you get your heart broken in a relationship, you go to her and she'll put you back on the right path. Paevey plays Ben, a slightly more jaded journalist who tends to cover big stories like money laundering and pyramid schemes, but who stumbles over this boot camp by complete flux.
He and Miranda actually meet on the night he gets dumped by his current girlfriend, who accuses him of loving the job more than her, though it never would have occurred to him to attend the boot camp.
That honour belongs to his sister, who also just ended a relationship and needs something to pick herself up, so she asks her big brother to go with her because she doesn't want to go alone.
This is how Ben ends up in Miranda's classes, where he definitely displays disbelief that any of it can actually help, and Miranda actually tells him he's not a right fit for her boot camp to begin with, because the people who attend it actually want to be helped, as opposed to him.
So he kind of walks away, until his boss gets wind of what's going on, and because Ben is up for a big promotion, this could be the job that gets him there.
Naturally.
Of course this means a return to the scene of the crime, so to speak, a sort-of apology to Miranda, and then begins the actual research part for Ben, during which he - of course - gets closer to the woman, too, as is expected from the two movie leads.
It turns out Miranda doesn't actually live by way of what she preaches, as she set up the boot camp in response to her ex dumping her all of a sudden, but she hasn't really put the past to bed necessarily, and in one instance Ben actually comes to her rescue saying the two of them were out on a date at a restaurant when her ex pops up unexpectedly.
In return, Miranda of course wants to help Ben out, though truth be told it has to be said Ben doesn't really need help about the relationship he just got out of - a little tidbit from his sister explains why this is so. He actually needs help opening up, not getting out of a relationship, because years ago the person who he was madly in love with turned down his proposal and broke his heart, and since then he's never really been in a meaningful relationship.
This, though, takes Miranda forever to figure out which is a slightly annoying part of the movie because VERY clearly Ben isn't suffering from recent heartbreak and thus doesn't need that sort of help, but of course there would probably be no movie if not for the dramatic overextending.
Anyway, also naturally, the two leads do draw closer together and while Miranda thinks it's unprofessional of her as he's her client, her business partner (who she spends the majority of the movie convincing to take up some classes to teach) tells her it's time to put the past behind her, and so the woman finally does it, speaking with her ex, and ready to move forward with Ben.
Since things don't always end up the way we want, she first finds his notebook by accident because he left it behind (no self-respecting journalist would do so, but, ya know) in which she finds his notes about the article he's writing.
True to Hallmark form, she throws the notebook into his face and stomps off without really giving him a chance to explain anything - though by now Ben has actually subscribed to her beliefs and really thinks she's helped him as opposed to what he thought initially - and it all turns out to be Ben's fault, because ... the movie wants it to be so?
It's again one of those, don't communicate just walk away things that I despise with a passion and which ruin a perfectly good movie for me, especially since once the article DOES get released it's full of praise and brings a heck of a lot more exposure (and thus clients) to Miranda.
She goes to hunt Ben down in his new office after the promotion he got because of the article, and the two kiss and make up, with a bow at the end as they appear on a TV show where she's promoting her new book.
FIN!
As with any other Hallmark movie this one has its ups and downs, but for the most part it was actually enjoyable until that ending blunder which is getting really, really old, and I wish Hallmark would stop using it as a trademark.
Not every argument needs to end with the woman walking away before the guy can get a word in edgewise, or her refusing to listen to him, because that's not how life works - but unfortunately more and more women in actual real life do this, inspired by what they see on television, and THIS is a dangerous trend!
Apart from that, Ricci and Paevey both felt very natural in their roles and had nice chemistry together, and the supporting cast was lovely too.
I think, if it weren't for that 'dramatic climax', I would have loved this one.
xx
*images and video not mine
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