“Woo-Woo” Wooing

Although there were some good things about this movie, it was pretty much sabotaged by the premise, which was contrived and absurd. It’s like the writers had the idea for the male and female to fall in love on a delivery truck while on a quest for the owner of a mysterious package who is someone on the driver’s route.  But since they couldn’t think of a reason to get her on the truck, they decided to put fantasy and magic in there so no one would question how the plot didn’t make sense because it had fantasy and magic in it. It’s magic. It’s fantasy. It isn’t reality. So it does not have to make sense. Right? Wrong. Magic always makes sense, even in a Hallmark. Magic is the doing of a magical person like Santa Claus, or an elf, an angel, or a ghost of a loved one. Or it comes from a magical object, like a magic dreidel, or lemon drop, or comet, or baked goods (so, so many). There are probably others, but the point is, it always has a reason for being. Not in this one. All we get is a musical chord one time, a bar code scanner that is behaving mysteriously,  and some shout outs to “fate” and “destiny ” to try to explain the unexplainable.

Alex Brown (Aimee Teagarden) is a Jewelry Designer who has a knack for customizing jewelry to reflect in some way the personality and history of her clients. They or the loved one fills out a questionnaire about themselves or the giftee and she designs a piece that is exactly right.  She also has had a string of unhappy love affairs which we hear all about. Thanks to one of her best friends, she has too much wine and does a new age type ceremony that is going viral, called “Fire and Aspire.” This involves burning the artifacts left by old boyfriends (Alex conveniently has a whole box full) and saying out loud or “manifesting” the qualities she really wants in a boyfriend. The next day, she receives a purple box delivered by Jack, her regular delivery guy (Chris McNally) who is a grumpy curmudgeon who also has an unhappy romantic history. Alex has been unable to befriend him with her cutesy post-it notes and cupcakes. She does not have a romantic interest in him per se, she just wanted to be friendly and get him to unbend a little because she is the perky sunshine type. It’s the “Grumpy-Sunshine” trope. He only cares about delivering his packages in good condition and on time and has no interest in “customer service,” i.e. being friendly and pleasant. He is also one of two top runners in a contest his employer is having, the prize being enough money to pay off the remainder of his sister’s college loan.

Back to the purple package. When Alex opens it, every item in there reflects an aspect of every quality she wished for in a man during the ceremony the night before. So the other “Alex Brown” this package is meant for must be her soulmate. She and her friends confront Jack with the package that was delivered to her by mistake but won’t give it back to him because they want to find and meet the Alex Brown it was meant for. They force Jack’s hand, but when Jack scans the barcode on the label,  no address comes up. The scanner is being spooky. To make a long and annoying episode short, this is how Alex gets to wheedle herself aboard Jack’s delivery truck. Where she procedes to whine, make demands, and stick her nose in his business. There are several other Alex Browns on his route, (what are the chances?) but none of them are the right guy. Meanwhile, Jack displays by his words and actions that he  actually possesses all of the qualities she wished for in a man. Alex shows him how being more personable can win him the contest, and they fall in love. The romance wasn’t bad, but other than that, it was just one stupid thing after another.

So what were the good things about this movie I mentioned? I really liked Chris McNally in this. He made a great curmudgeon. Even when he transformed into the typical Hallmark hero (all too soon), he was still good. I thought Aimee Teagarden was kind of miscast as the perky sunshine type, but she ended up being just fine, even though her character was super irritating. The side characters were positives and the pacing was good. Despite the stupidities and the annoyances with the plot elements themselves, the dialogue and conversations were smart and had some wit. Most importantly, it did not rely on the usual Hallmark core plot elements, like saving a beloved institution or the last minute misunderstanding to hang the story on.

**Major Spoilers**

So do we ever get to the bottom of what was behind the appearance of the magical box? Yes we do! It turns out it was all a big coincidence! There really was an Alex Brown who ordered all of the items that pointed to him being the other Alex’s soulmate. And his order was mistakenly delivered to the one and only of the many other Alex Browns in the area who had just “manifested” everything the box contained. It was just that his delivery area was just annexed. Coincidence! But too bad for him,  Alex was already in love with Jack, so he ends up with Megan, Alex’s best friend. Also, Jack ends up winning the contest even though he dropped out the day before. So many unanswered “But-What-About???s”. Even though many probably don’t, I didn’t like the way Hallmark just took for granted that their viewership wouldn’t notice or care about so many nonsensical things in this movie. And this includes how Megan is going to navigate having both the love of her life and her best friend having the same name. I guess it’s better than a match between Alex Brown and Alex Brown.