My title says "Never Happen". Yes I know all Rom/Coms are fantasies far distant from reality, so that isn't necessarily a fatal flaw. This movie was made in 2015. I have my doubts that a scandal like this could have survived even then, but in 2020 with trolls on social media numbering in the millions, if not a hundred times that, this scandal would be instant death. In this case I think this movie has strayed too far from reality. But that's not the biggest factor in my rating or even a big one.
One of my least favorite plot devices in a Rom/Com is what I sometimes call the hanging lie. And so many of these TV Movies use it. Sometimes the lie is to fool the opposite number in a romantic interest. Sometimes it is the parents. Sometimes it is to save a job. You know the lie is going to come out. And if it's a Hallmark type of movie, you know how things will end up, at least between the two leads. Still, the premise sets me on edge and I look for this genre to be more like comfort food or a guilty pleasure than edgy.
The secondary characters are cardboard. Bethany is pure cliché and if this were a midnight movie at the theatre (especially on a college campus) the audience would boo and hiss every time she appeared so you wouldn't be able to hear her speak. Likewise the assistant's assistant, or whatever he is. And Nathan's ex. I'm disappointed the Teri Polo is relegated to a role only a notch or two above Bethany. Admittedly, the movie is going for laughs and some of the cliché in these characters is supposed to be part of the humor. I'm not partial to the style though.
Jonathan Bennett did his job. He plays his role serious when needed and funny when that's what's needed. I wasn't as impressed with Heather Morris, but I don't think her character was given as much room. As to chemistry between the two, yeah I guess so but their characters were in crisis or conflict for most of the movie so it was hard to see.
I didn't like this movie, but I recognize that most of that was my own built in likes and dislikes. I still don't think it was great, but it wasn't hateworthy either.
One of my least favorite plot devices in a Rom/Com is what I sometimes call the hanging lie. And so many of these TV Movies use it. Sometimes the lie is to fool the opposite number in a romantic interest. Sometimes it is the parents. Sometimes it is to save a job. You know the lie is going to come out. And if it's a Hallmark type of movie, you know how things will end up, at least between the two leads. Still, the premise sets me on edge and I look for this genre to be more like comfort food or a guilty pleasure than edgy.
The secondary characters are cardboard. Bethany is pure cliché and if this were a midnight movie at the theatre (especially on a college campus) the audience would boo and hiss every time she appeared so you wouldn't be able to hear her speak. Likewise the assistant's assistant, or whatever he is. And Nathan's ex. I'm disappointed the Teri Polo is relegated to a role only a notch or two above Bethany. Admittedly, the movie is going for laughs and some of the cliché in these characters is supposed to be part of the humor. I'm not partial to the style though.
Jonathan Bennett did his job. He plays his role serious when needed and funny when that's what's needed. I wasn't as impressed with Heather Morris, but I don't think her character was given as much room. As to chemistry between the two, yeah I guess so but their characters were in crisis or conflict for most of the movie so it was hard to see.
I didn't like this movie, but I recognize that most of that was my own built in likes and dislikes. I still don't think it was great, but it wasn't hateworthy either.