This movie suffers from a common problem in some of the weaker Hallmark entries- too much is packed into too short a time frame. One day, Helen and Paul are dropping off their daughter at college (after which Paul wants to talk to Helen about their next "adventure"). The next day Paul drops the "adventure" talk and announces he's moving to Denver and ending their marriage. Then Helen gets a dog (for the first time) and, in what seems like the same couple of days, and without any grieving period following the end of her 20 year marriage, Helen meets a handsome vet played by Warren Christie, goes on a series of dates, and falls for him. And it's all tied up neatly and quickly with no yelling or crying.
As someone who lived through the end of a 25 year marriage, I was bothered by how the movie glossed over the hard and often brutal realities of divorce. And the economic consequences were completely ignored. Given how some reviewers still found the movie depressing, I suppose there was a conscious decision to hire the always smiling Rachel Boston to help take the edge off a story that starts off with a couple getting divorced. That is, admittedly, a very depressing subject. But this is one of the rosiest movies about divorce you'll ever see.
Rachel Boston highlighted the sunshine kumbaya approach of the writer and director to divorce. Other reviewers noted her tendency to giggle during any lapse in dialogue and how it often seemed inappropriate to the moment in the script. That's fair. But I still like her.
One of my favorite exchanges came between Helen and her new friend Cindy.
Cindy: "My ex burned my life to the ground and I rose from the ashes rocking. How are you going to take your power back?"
Helen: "I could get new throw pillows. Paul always hated them."
Cindy: " You need to call a lawyer."
Helen: "I'm not ready for that."
Cindy: " Ready or not, you can either stand up for yourself or get run over."
Helen also told her mother a funny line by Cindy about how "marriage is an outdated social construct and Paul is holding me back from living my best life."
Roan Curtis played Aly, the daughter who just started college. She's a beautiful actress and Aly seemed really sweet but stressed. I thought that subplot, of Aly navigating her way through her first semester at college, was quite realistic and I would have preferred a movie that focused more on her.
Note to screenwriters, flashing the words "One Year Later" (still not enough time to truly recover from the end of a 20 year marriage) is a perfectly acceptable transition.
That said, "Tubthumping" may be the perfect song for people going through a divorce.
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