Yes, I Do *New Movie Premiere*

Tagline: Busy chocolatier Charlotte has left helicopter mechanic James at the altar three times. She now needs to prove to him that she really does want to marry him.

First Impression: Marcus Rosner is back and not a jerk this time AND he gets the girl! Christie Laing is finally back in a Hallmark movie! Wait, why is she so pale? Finally, a June Weddings movie I care about! Add to DVR!

I always look forward to June Weddings since the days of Bridal Wave, I Do, I Do, I Do, and the Danica double feature (Perfect Match & Wedding Bells) joined my faves list. This year was a bit of a bummer with sequels of movies I didn’t care for, but then Hallmark added an original entry with this one (thank you, Hallmark).

I had to watch this movie. Not only to ogle the yummy Marcus Rosner (and his chest) who finally gets to play an everyday guy instead of the stuck-up jerk abandoned by the lead gal. I also wanted to find out why this dude was a glutton for punishment since he was left at the altar two times as the characters continually remind us. In fact, although the core story is one we’ve seen before from Hallmark and a big studio (A Bride For Christmas, Runaway Bride), this had the interesting twist of the lead guy being the one left instead of other guys before him. How, oh how was Yes, I Do going resolve this? How was she going to prove to him that she really does want to marry him as the blurb says?

Answer: It doesn’t. Conflicts and potentially interesting twists arise only to be forgotten or ignored as the movie goes on. Instead, we get silly moments fit for a kid’s movie rather than one for grown adults.

I was hoping the movie would show why Charlotte and James cared so much for each other and what made them want to try to get married over and over. I wanted to fall for the characters and see what drew them to one another. Why did James hold out for Charlotte both times? I had a feeling Charlotte was so scared to get married because of something like fear of crowds or commitment or something but…nothing. We get nothing.

No lessons were learned. No characters grew. When you have a huge stake such as a character leaving another at the altar twice, there has to be a big reason why this happened and the payoff to resolve it has to be even bigger. In the end, it feels like the couple was apart just for plot reasons and decided to come back together because there were 10 minutes left in the movie and not because the characters learned anything, fought for each other, or grew after fighting their internal conflicts. I tried guessing early what Charlotte’s problem was that kept her from marrying James (fear of crowds, the pressure of a public wedding, something in her past that prevented her from taking the next step. For goodness sake SOMETHING!). There was nothing prior to the final resolution that led me to believe Charlotte had changed in any way or that James should believe her this time. I still don’t even know why these two people wanted each other other than…plot.

As a side note, I’m a fan of Christie Laing since Nearlyweds (or maybe Window Wonderland) and hope one day to see her as a lead. The closest we got was her role in Pixl’s Mr. Write which is awesome at showcasing diverse casts and couples and juggling multiple stories alongside the main one. It was really weird to see her here getting the Meghan treatment. Not sure if it was the lighting or makeup department splashing her with tons of powder but it was super distracting whenever I saw her.

Still from Yes, I Do

Still from Mr. Write

I guess that’s 0 for 0 for this year’s June Weddings which is a bummer since it’s one of my fave Hallmark themes. Hopefully, the Summer Nights movies fare better. I already have a few on my list I’d like to check out.

 

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