Winging It

There seems to be some mixed, mostly negative, (man, I thought I was a little sour sometimes) reviews for this one, but I really enjoyed it. Written by the lead actress, Meghan Ory, it had some cute lines, ideas, and “world building” as far as angel and heaven culture was concerned. I thought the sets and the costuming were terrific. 

Monica (Ory) is an experienced and award winning angel who has worked at the Department of Christmas Connection all her life. She is 587 years old and we are told that she was born an angel, so has never been human. She takes a thoughtful and serious approach to helping singles find true love during the Christmas season. She goes strictly by the Angel Handbook aka The Hark. But she’s been in a slump lately.  Young people these days are too distracted and busy on their phones to look up and make an in-person connection with one who might be their soulmate. She loses the Angel of the Year award to the new kid on the block (only 97 years old), Michael (Benjamin Ayers), who takes a “fun” approach to match making. Monica believes that a more serious well planned methods facilitate more meaningful long-lasting relationships. Michael may have put together more matches than her, but how solid are they once the Christmas magic wears off? The tidings are bad, not glad, when a mistake happens and they both are assigned the same couple to match and are forced to work together. There is a lot riding on this particular assignment. “Cloud Command” is not happy with the DCC’s performance lately and they may be forced to downsize and merge with the Valentine’s Day folks. And the office manager Gabriel does not get along with Cupid.

I like when there is a lot going on in a Hallmark romance. In addition to getting together the “tenderheart” (human) young couple, their grandparents are making a match of it, as well as, of course, Monica and Michael. Monica takes the lead at first. But the plan to have Patrick and Daisy bond over cute puppies goes awry as well as the tried and true “Brewed Awakening”, the old collision with coffee routine. They are both called on the carpet and Monica and Michael realize that they have to work as a team. Along with trying (unsuccessfully) to get Patrick and Daisy to connect throughout most of the movie, Michael makes it his mission to show Monica some human type fun and get her to loosen up. Neither Michael nor Monica are exactly likable at first “We are not arguing, You’re just wrong!” But I liked their journey. As they tick off all of the meet-cute tropes on the Hallmark checklist, (Christmas crafts, picking out a Christmas tree, snowball fight, hot chocolate, getting caught under the mistletoe, etc. etc.) the two angels slowly learn to work together and develop a friendship and mutual respect.  I still haven’t tired of the self aware humor that results when Hallmark makes fun of their own Christmas romances. And this movie was all about that-right down to the partially heard convo that results in a misunderstanding and temporary heartbreak.

There were some nice touches that added a little depth.  Along the way, we learn that  Monica has been matching Patrick’s family for generations which is one reason why this one is so important to her. At one point Michael finds Monica in church looking for divine intervention, she says. He thinks church is a good place for that. It wasn’t perfect. It started out repetitive and got a little draggy in the middle and although Daisy was adorable, I didn’t take to Patrick. Some of the acting was a little forced. Daisy’s best friend was a gay man who also gets matched up and he was too stereotypical and it had too much of a “Check that off the list” feel. As was the interracial aspect of Daisy and Patrick, I suppose. Hallmark really has a lot to balance, so I can’t be too hard on them. On the other hand, “Baby Steps” just doesn’t cut it anymore. All in all, I appreciated the fast paced dialogue and banter and the out of the box plot. I wonder what will happen next with Monica and Michael. A heavenly wedding and little baby angels?