This was a fun movie to watch, and it had a good message. Was the writing and acting a bit amateurish? Yes. But its heart was in the right place and the filmmakers did the best with the talents at their disposal. Hurling harsh criticism at this movie would be like panning your child's school play because it wasn't as good as a Broadway production. I wouldn't have the heart to do it.
That being said, since my hobby is writing, I do have to point out a few things that I wish the screenwriters had done better. I felt like they simultaneously tried to do too little and too much. In time-loop/do-over movies such as this, you need more than 3 times going back (actually 2, because the first time wasn't a redo) to really develop the character arc of the main character who's supposed to be learning a lesson. Then, at the same time, they had too many characters whose lives needed to be impacted by the do-overs. There wasn't enough time to develop all those characters. A Movie of this genre that I really like was 12 Dates of Christmas. It took 12 times for her to get it right, which is about right, and they did have quite a few characters, but they only concentrated on one or two of them for each do-over. That seemed to work much better.
I also really wish they spent more time developing the relationship between Emma and Chris. I wish that Chris himself had showed Emma how much his relationship with his mom meant to him, especially since Barbara, the fairy-like character, turned out to be the ghost of Chris's mom. It would have been much more impactful.
The supporting characters were kind of weird and somewhat stereotypical, as were their relationships. They never really gave us any reason to believe that Paul and Sandy should be a couple and it wasn't believable. Honestly, both of them kind of gave off gay vibes to me. Celeste's phantom relationship with the dweeb that was shorter than her seemed really far-fetched, though it would explain why she was afraid to show him in public.
Finally, Chris's scummy dad was so over-the-top bad, he was a caricature. What disappointed me was that Chris seemed okay with the horrible way his dad treated women, and even acted like he idolized him a bit. The storyline was that he was a decent kid with good grades until his mom died and he moved in with his dad. I'd think that his dad's cheating ways were what caused his parents to split up in the first place. I would think Chris would be disgusted by his dad's behavior with women, let alone with his condoning Chris's cheating in school.
The acting from the 2 leads was adequate. I've seen Lexi Giovagnoli in other movies that I liked. This was her first lead role, and it definitely shows, but even as a young, less experienced actress, she still had a certain likability that makes up a lot for her as yet undeveloped acting skills. Carlo Marks has also done a lot of other better movies since this one, and seems to be one of Hallmark's main leading men now. His performance here was sincere and pretty engaging, though.
I'm a sucker for time loop movies and fantasy movies involving angels and other similar characters that help out the mortal protagonists in movies. I enjoyed this movie because of that and because I liked the basic premise of the story. I also liked the message that you can have good outcomes in your life without compromising your standards, and that helping other people is more important than just trying to make yourself happy. Watch this movie with a less than critical eye to its rough edges, and you will enjoy it too.
It's now on Hoopla and Pluto. Glad that some of these smaller movies that might never have seen the light of day a few years ago can now have a second life on streaming, and that new generations of fans can enjoy them.
That being said, since my hobby is writing, I do have to point out a few things that I wish the screenwriters had done better. I felt like they simultaneously tried to do too little and too much. In time-loop/do-over movies such as this, you need more than 3 times going back (actually 2, because the first time wasn't a redo) to really develop the character arc of the main character who's supposed to be learning a lesson. Then, at the same time, they had too many characters whose lives needed to be impacted by the do-overs. There wasn't enough time to develop all those characters. A Movie of this genre that I really like was 12 Dates of Christmas. It took 12 times for her to get it right, which is about right, and they did have quite a few characters, but they only concentrated on one or two of them for each do-over. That seemed to work much better.
I also really wish they spent more time developing the relationship between Emma and Chris. I wish that Chris himself had showed Emma how much his relationship with his mom meant to him, especially since Barbara, the fairy-like character, turned out to be the ghost of Chris's mom. It would have been much more impactful.
The supporting characters were kind of weird and somewhat stereotypical, as were their relationships. They never really gave us any reason to believe that Paul and Sandy should be a couple and it wasn't believable. Honestly, both of them kind of gave off gay vibes to me. Celeste's phantom relationship with the dweeb that was shorter than her seemed really far-fetched, though it would explain why she was afraid to show him in public.
Finally, Chris's scummy dad was so over-the-top bad, he was a caricature. What disappointed me was that Chris seemed okay with the horrible way his dad treated women, and even acted like he idolized him a bit. The storyline was that he was a decent kid with good grades until his mom died and he moved in with his dad. I'd think that his dad's cheating ways were what caused his parents to split up in the first place. I would think Chris would be disgusted by his dad's behavior with women, let alone with his condoning Chris's cheating in school.
The acting from the 2 leads was adequate. I've seen Lexi Giovagnoli in other movies that I liked. This was her first lead role, and it definitely shows, but even as a young, less experienced actress, she still had a certain likability that makes up a lot for her as yet undeveloped acting skills. Carlo Marks has also done a lot of other better movies since this one, and seems to be one of Hallmark's main leading men now. His performance here was sincere and pretty engaging, though.
I'm a sucker for time loop movies and fantasy movies involving angels and other similar characters that help out the mortal protagonists in movies. I enjoyed this movie because of that and because I liked the basic premise of the story. I also liked the message that you can have good outcomes in your life without compromising your standards, and that helping other people is more important than just trying to make yourself happy. Watch this movie with a less than critical eye to its rough edges, and you will enjoy it too.
It's now on Hoopla and Pluto. Glad that some of these smaller movies that might never have seen the light of day a few years ago can now have a second life on streaming, and that new generations of fans can enjoy them.