I enjoy Hallmark movies but there are some very good and some very bad ones. "Dater's Handbook" falls somewhere in between.
I actually found Meghan Markle's acting to be better than when she started out in SUITS but still not strong enough to carry the lead role. She had a number of seasons of SUITS to improve even if she was just the lead's "love interest" (her own description of her role). But she was never going to get very far in the Hallmark stable of actors other than as a biracial actress, which I should imagine they desperately need these days. She's presumably white in this movie since her mother and sister are. She could have had a black father (like they finally did in SUITS which surprised many of us) but it's not mentioned and he's not around.
She goes through the whole movie as if she's just reading her lines. She's attractive but simply not believable. Luckily her sister and Mother help keep things interesting and moving forward.
It's a simple scenario. A successful businesswoman makes poor choices when it comes to boyfriends so her somewhat bored married sister recommends she buy a self-help book to find a keeper.
Suddenly, she is asked out by two different suitors so she follows the steps in the book to decide which one she'll exclusively date. Her mother points out that someone will get hurt if she continues to date both of them and it does seem quite cold and calculating on her part. As she checks off the boxes, page by page, her dates seem more like clinical experiments. She must make a decision soon.
One suitor (Johnathan Scarfe) is solid, stable, charming and rich albeit a gentleman and a little boring. Everything she doesn't usually choose in a boyfriend. He wines and dines her and takes her to concerts and art galleries. She seems naive and nervous at these events (as if she'd never been to anything like these before) and appears to be rather ignorant in his more mature world. It's difficult to tell why he's so taken by her as she only shows she's very charmed and impressed by him but doesn't have much in common with him or to be able to contribute. There is no chemistry.
The other is a hot favorite of mine (Kris Polaha) and he's always superb. I wouldn't have lasted 15mins had it not been for him. He's such a good actor but even he can't save this little movie. He plays a more roughshod yet passionately character more like her usual choices. He and Markle just don't seem to have much chemistry either (gasp) and all three are one-dimensional, but she has more fun with him and can be herself on their dates... bowling or having a beer in a diner.
I think if it were Jill Wagner in the role or any number of top notch Hallmark leading ladies, the script wouldn't have seemed so formulaic and flat. With Meghan's mediocre and stiff acting, all we see is a pretty indecisive and bland woman, manipulatively deciding between a monied suitor who she feels inferior around (in spite of owning her own business and being good at her job) and a sexy, laid back one.
I fell asleep at this point and will never know who she ended up with because she had just chosen Johnathan as my eyes closed but I suspect that she might have changed her mind after a kiss from Kris.
Ironically, MM was possibly making similar choices in her own life at this time. Great meals and introductions to the high society of Canada through her live-in boyfriend, Chef and Restauranteur Corey Vitiello, or a third date in Botswana with Prince Harry of the British Royal Family. She didn't need the Dater's Handbook for this one. A no brainer in real life.
I actually found Meghan Markle's acting to be better than when she started out in SUITS but still not strong enough to carry the lead role. She had a number of seasons of SUITS to improve even if she was just the lead's "love interest" (her own description of her role). But she was never going to get very far in the Hallmark stable of actors other than as a biracial actress, which I should imagine they desperately need these days. She's presumably white in this movie since her mother and sister are. She could have had a black father (like they finally did in SUITS which surprised many of us) but it's not mentioned and he's not around.
She goes through the whole movie as if she's just reading her lines. She's attractive but simply not believable. Luckily her sister and Mother help keep things interesting and moving forward.
It's a simple scenario. A successful businesswoman makes poor choices when it comes to boyfriends so her somewhat bored married sister recommends she buy a self-help book to find a keeper.
Suddenly, she is asked out by two different suitors so she follows the steps in the book to decide which one she'll exclusively date. Her mother points out that someone will get hurt if she continues to date both of them and it does seem quite cold and calculating on her part. As she checks off the boxes, page by page, her dates seem more like clinical experiments. She must make a decision soon.
One suitor (Johnathan Scarfe) is solid, stable, charming and rich albeit a gentleman and a little boring. Everything she doesn't usually choose in a boyfriend. He wines and dines her and takes her to concerts and art galleries. She seems naive and nervous at these events (as if she'd never been to anything like these before) and appears to be rather ignorant in his more mature world. It's difficult to tell why he's so taken by her as she only shows she's very charmed and impressed by him but doesn't have much in common with him or to be able to contribute. There is no chemistry.
The other is a hot favorite of mine (Kris Polaha) and he's always superb. I wouldn't have lasted 15mins had it not been for him. He's such a good actor but even he can't save this little movie. He plays a more roughshod yet passionately character more like her usual choices. He and Markle just don't seem to have much chemistry either (gasp) and all three are one-dimensional, but she has more fun with him and can be herself on their dates... bowling or having a beer in a diner.
I think if it were Jill Wagner in the role or any number of top notch Hallmark leading ladies, the script wouldn't have seemed so formulaic and flat. With Meghan's mediocre and stiff acting, all we see is a pretty indecisive and bland woman, manipulatively deciding between a monied suitor who she feels inferior around (in spite of owning her own business and being good at her job) and a sexy, laid back one.
I fell asleep at this point and will never know who she ended up with because she had just chosen Johnathan as my eyes closed but I suspect that she might have changed her mind after a kiss from Kris.
Ironically, MM was possibly making similar choices in her own life at this time. Great meals and introductions to the high society of Canada through her live-in boyfriend, Chef and Restauranteur Corey Vitiello, or a third date in Botswana with Prince Harry of the British Royal Family. She didn't need the Dater's Handbook for this one. A no brainer in real life.