Looking For Mr. Right

Tagline: A struggling writer pens a romance novel, and then she searches for an ideal boyfriend like the one in her book to help her agent with publicity. Before long, she meets a charming real-estate agent and reconnects with an old high-school friend.

This is a curious little entry in the Hallmark-Pixl world of RomDramedies. On one end, we have Looking For Mr. Right which premiered on the Hallmark Channel in 2014 and on the other end My George which is Pixl’s current entry and on rotation on the channel. At first the movies seem like the same movie just re-titled but on closer inspection, it’s two different movies.

Looking For Mr. Right opens with our heroine Annie Butler having her world crumbling before her eyes. While her younger sister gets engaged and then married, Annie finds her boyfriend cheating on her on the streets and she receives her umpteenth rejection letter. In comes self-help guru Rowena St. Cloud and her infomercial on her newest book. Annie decides to Invision her perfect guy and after some quick planning with her sister, she puts her idea down on paper. Lo and behold things start to happen as Annie’s book gets picked up by a publisher. But not for the best when the publisher finds out her exciting and romantic novel isn’t a novel but a memoir.

My George opens with Annie getting her umpteenth rejection letter and then sits down with a pint of ice cream in front of the tv. There she discovers the infomercial that would change everything.

A few thoughts. My George seems like the better movie. After watching both, I couldn’t help feel like LFMR worked harder to make Annie’s publisher Della Hendershot into a massive witch (with a capital B). While MG makes her seems like an opportunist, I felt kind of cheated with her scenes cut out that made her less of a Disney villain and more like an actual character with flaws. There were also a few cutscenes and dialogue between the two that I thought added more to the characters in MG that felt really choppy in LFMR.

I also had problems with the logic in this movie. I know a pretty good deal about the publishing industry and there is no way a working publisher would ever mistake a fictional romance novel for a memoir. They are two distinctly different styles and Annie’s cover letter would specifically say what editor she’d address from the get-go. Not to mention fiction editors and non-fiction editors rarely overlap their workflow. Unless this is a super duper small boutique publishing company (which it sometimes hints at due to Della being everywhere instead of her editors handling things), it doesn't make much sense.

The chemistry between Annie’s childhood friend Henry was cute and much more believable than what she tried to force with the real life living and breathing George. I couldn’t really see why she was attracted to real George because he kind of seemed like a living Ken doll than an actual person.

I loved Sarah Lancaster in Fir Crazy and liked her ever since seeing her on Saved By the Bell The New Class (don’t hate, I liked that show ;-)), so I jumped between Hallmark and Lifetime for a while following her story (keep an eye out for a future review of Love Finds You in SugarCreek and possibly Living With the Enemy). I try to follow her new movies when they come out, but this one I’m afraid is a miss for me.

Chuckle-worthy Moments:

Annie’s Mom: Hey, sweetie, want a snack?

Annie: Actually, I need something bigger than a snack. I have a date with George tonight.

AM: My realtor, George?

Annie: Yep.

AM: Wow! That Ramona Angel Fog Whatever…

Annie: Rowena St. Cloud.

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