Bridal Wave (2015)

I have been a fan of Jaclyn Smith for a long time.Too bad that she no longer appears often as she used to.The last time I saw her was in the TV movie "Ordinary Miracles" aside from watching reruns of Charlie's Angels from time to time.Anyway,I was looking for a recent movie that was involved in and I came across with Bridal Wave.Despite the fact that she was only a supporting actress as being the overbearing mother-in-law,I enjoyed it as it got to discover good acting talents such as Andrew Walker and Arielle Kebbel.Bridal Wave is about a couple - Georgie and Phillip - who are getting married soon.Both are co-workers with the latter being a dashing plastic surgeon while the former happens to be nurse. Unfortunately,Philip's mother has issues with the coming wedding which provided tension to the couple.But as they prepare for the event,Georgie meets Luke,an architect who happens to be sophisticated in his values.He,too is on vacation who is in the process of finding himself.As they get to know together,they soon realize things about life like love,marriage and moving ahead in life.While this happens to be a typical Hallmark movie that will not really surprise viewers with respect to its predictability,I felt that they touched the theme about getting married profoundly as it is more about doing it for the right reasons rather than going for it since it is expected to be the "next best thing to do". Also,it provides is viewers some lessons on why most marriages in the United States end up in divorce and don't stay married as most Americans simply do it without careful consideration about the next phase to be entered.In the end,we realize that Philip and Georgie indeed made the right decision in the end especially when both have issues about the coming next stage and with some relatives really not amenable to it.

Here is the thing. Those of us that love Hallmark movies know what we are getting into, and we love it. I'm so tired of the negative comments against these type of movies. If Hallmark isn't your cup of tea then don't watch them. They are my favorite kind of tea. ***SPOILERS**** This is a story about finding someone who values the right things. Contrary to another reviewer, our hero is not a loser. He is a guy who has been successful, but taken a break to find himself. Since when does that make one a loser? He owns a home and is a wonderful hero for our movie. It's a story about not getting married because it makes 'sense', but because of the unexplainable connection that you feel with the right person. Another reviewer commented on wealthy snobs winning over everyday people. Huh? The movie is the opposite of that, sounds like bitter grapes to me (or total immaturity). It's the journey of three people, two of whom are not seeing clearly and it took the presence of the third character and his absolute certainty to bring clarity to all three. What is so great about this story is that none of our three main characters are 'bad' and all of them end up with what/who they really want.

Why I wasn't exactly thrilled with this film? When you think of it, snooty Jaclyn Smith got exactly what she wanted when this marriage didn't come off. It is as if it is a victory for the wealthy snobs against the everyday people. Yes, it is fact that such a marriage was destined not to be, but this is how I feel.I just loved the way our doctor gave in when his bride to be called things off. It was as if he couldn't wait to jump ship. Working together for 4 years, you would think that the doctor and nurse would come to realize that something wasn't just right about them.In very typical Hallmark fanfare, she meets her true love while at the resort and how convenient that our good doctor's time is taken up.

What is it with Hallmark movies and female protagonists marrying the wrong guy? In Bridal Wave, beautiful and intelligent George Anne is engaged to her handsome, brilliant plastic surgeon co-worker, with whom she enjoys such a rapport that they both comment on the fact that they've never had a fight. So naturally, she will meet up with a complete loser, and fall in love with him instead. Luke is a non-conformist architect who refuses to play by anyone's rules. We know this because he wears flip-flops everywhere, and refuses to take any job that requires him to socialize with clients, yet he somehow has enough spare change to afford a house next to a five star wedding destination hotel, and make beautiful hand-crafted wooden benches to leave in the middle of nowhere. Naturally, the mother-in-law is overbearing, and George's mother is smothering in her attempt to live out her wedding vicariously through her daughter. Predictably, Luke and George will wind up together, despite the fact that he is an unemployed, anti-social jerk.