Hallmark For All Seasons

“A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love” aired on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel on Sunday, November 17 at 9 p.m.  “Meant for Love” is a sort-of sequel to last year’s “Godwink” movie, although the only unifier that I saw was the repeat participation of Kathie Lee Gifford.  This time around, Cindy Busby and Ben Hollingsworth took the lead roles in this tearjerker.  Vancouver, Canada stood in for Wisconsin and Minnesota this time around.

In a nutshell

I really liked last year’s “Godwink” movie – primarily because I adore Paul Campbell and Kimberly Sustad and they had great chemistry together. It was a slightly problematic movie, but that didn’t dampen my enthusiasm in the slightest, and last year’s movie ended up in my Top 5 for the 2018 Christmas movies.

I liked many things about this movie, but there were times when I thought it became very over-wrought, which was distracting. However, while not as good as the original Godwink movie, I still liked it better than most of the Christmas movies that have come out thus far in 2019.

Plot

Multiple coincidences and a chance meeting bring together Alice and Jack for a weekend wedding celebration. As they begin to get to know each other, Alice consults with a doctor about some troubling symptoms she has been experiencing, while Jack awaits word on an impending promotion that will allow him to transfer and work in Alice’s city.  Just as they both decide to take the leap, Alice gets some crushing news – and doubts whether she should be dating Jack at all.

Actors

Cindy Busby has been in many Hallmark movies, including the popular “Mr. Darcy” movies, and “Royal Hearts,” which co-starred James Brolin.  Ben Hollingsworth was previously in 2014’s “Lucky in Love” (which I admit I hated). and most recently in “Love Under the Olive Tree” which was supposed to air on Hallmark Channel in the early fall but got unexpectedly bumped to Hallmark Movies Now instead.  I liked them both together very much, and thought they had good energy together.

As for Six Degrees of Kris Polaha, Ben Hollingsworth is only ONE step away!!!  They both co-starred in the 2015 TV series “Backstrom,” which sadly only lasted for one season.

Chemistry

I thought everyone worked well together from the main characters to the secondary and tertiary.  At some point early in the movie there were just too many characters to focus on, and I feared it was another “Love, Actually” situation.  But eventually the movie settled into a normal pace and the actual storylines became clear.  I thought Busby and Kathie Lee Gifford, in particular, were great together as mom and daughter.

Feelgoods

Whereas last year I did not realize that “Godwink” was based on a true story until the closing credits when they showed a picture of the real-life couple, this year I knew going into the movie that it was based on a true story.  And that didn’t cause me to lose any feels while watching this movie.

At first I thought, “NO WAY” with some of the coincidences in the movie, but it turns out a lot of them were true.  How they met was changed in the movie (in real life they met at a church singles meeting), but they did talk for hours that before realizing that they were both going to the same wedding the following day, and they DID ride together to/from the wedding.  And yes, their uncles DID meet 50 years prior on a boat to America.

Tropes

“A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love” had a lot more tropes than recent movies.

Big Evil Corporation was moving in next door to open up a rank and file coffee shop next to the family’s store.  The movie establishes that Jack is a workaholic and up for a Very Important Promotion.  Jack lost both his parents as a child, while Alice lost her father at a young age.  There were a couple conversations about Christmas tree ornaments that had special meanings, as well as one scene where Alice’s entire family actually had a party to decorate the Christmas tree.

Jack and Alice made snow angels and later slow danced at the wedding.  I also noticed that Busby was wearing the circle pendant necklace that has been showing up over the past couple of years on Hallmark actresses.  There was a baking scene as well as an almost kiss that got interrupted by a cellphone.  I noticed that JAck and Alice had hot cocoa as their beverages while eating dinner – although I don’t recall seeing either of them actually drink any.

Alice’s eventual diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis was the reason for the movie’s “slip and catch” moments while Jack and Alice were out shopping.  And lastly, there was a “mistaken situation” moment when Jack saw Alice saying goodbye to a strange man at her door and he thought that’s why she broke up with him.

Bingo Card Score for “A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love”

Ugh.  Still no bingo.  I did cover 8 spots on the card, but despite being very trope-heavy, my bingo card was startlingly bare.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

My issues with this movie are minor, really.  In the beginning, Jack was VERY awkward.  Like, to the point where I wondered why Alice found him interesting.  I chalked that up mainly to the actor making deliberate choices in his portrayal of Jack, but had he kept that up in this movie, it would have gotten a lower score.

One word for the decorations in Alice’s kitchen: awful.  The set designers went WAY overboard trying to make a white kitchen look festive.  Oof.

I liked the secondary storyline of Alice’s brother and his wife having their own issues, but I’m not sure I felt it was necessary for this movie.  Was I glad that the husband realized he was taking his wife for granted, and that she stood up for herself and took charge of the family business?  Sure.

I initially got upset that Alice broke up with Jack just because of her diagnosis, and lamented this online.  I have personally known two people with MS and both live full lives despite receiving diagnoses decades ago.  So because of my anecdotal experience, I thought Alice was overreacting to her diagnosis and acting like it was the end of the world when it wasn’t.  But someone was gently quick to let me know that they had a relative get diagnosed with MS and within five years that person was in a wheelchair, unable to speak and a shell of her former self.  That put Alice’s reaction in perspective, for sure.

Re-watchability

I am having trouble deciding whether or not I would watch this movie again.  If given the choice between the original and this one, I’d definitely choose the original from last year.  I’m not sure I’d watch “A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love” again despite the likeability of those actors involved.  It wasn’t a bad movie at all, but I’ll admit I prefer the lighthearted stories much more than the serious ones on HMM.

The Ranking

This movie settled into the upper middle of this year’s movies.  Not a bad place to be at all!

1. Two Turtle Doves (air date: Nov 1) – 742 pts – weighted score: 123.7 (86.8%)
2. Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (air date: Oct 26) – 719 pts – weighted score: 121.0 (84.9%)
3. Love to the Rescue RE-RANKED (air date: March 23) – 708 pts – weighted score: 120.6 (84.6%)
4. Winter Love Story (air date: January 19) – 685 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
5. Mystery 101 (air date: January 27 (HMM)) – 454 pts – weighted score: 94.2 (80.5%)
6. Love on the Menu (air date: February 23) – 642 pts – weighted score: 113.8 (79.9%)
7. Bottled With Love (air date: April 13) – 649 pts – weighted score: 112.2 (78.7%)
8. Love Takes Flight (air date: April 27) – 670 pts – weighted score: 111.0 (77.9%)
9. Love, Romance & Chocolate (air date: February 16) – 627 pts – weighted score: 110.2 (77.3%)
10. The Last Bridesmaid (air date: June 22) – 643 pts – weighted score: 109.2 (76.6%)
11. Love, Fall and Order (air date: Oct 12) – 636 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
12. Paris, Wine & Romance (air date: May 4) – 638 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
13. My Boyfriend’s Back: Wedding March 5 (air date: June 8) – 635 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
14. Over the Moon in Love (air date: Oct 5) – 613 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
15. Flip That Romance (air date: March 16) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
16. My One and Only (air date: Aug 31) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.6 (74.1%)
17. Mystery 101: Playing Dead (air date: June 23 (HMM)) – 425 pts – weighted score: 86.5 (73.9%)
18. A Summer Romance (air date: Aug 17) – 577 pts – weighted score: 103.7 (72.7%)
19. True Love Blooms (air date: April 6) – 598 pts – weighted score: 103.1 (72.3%)
20. Forever in My Heart (air date: Sept 14) – 560 pts – weighted score: 102.4 (71.8%)
21. The Mistletoe Secret (air date: Nov 11) – 585 pts – weighted score: 102.2 (71.7%)
22. Christmas Under the Stars (air date: Nov 16) – 576 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
23. The Story of Us (air date: February 9) – 605 pts – weighted score: 101.3 (71.1%)
24. Holiday for Heroes (air date: Nov 8) – 566 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
25. A Brush with Love (air date: March 30) – 563 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
26. A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love (air date: Nov 17) – 548 pts – weighted score: 96.9 (68.0%)
27. Ruby Herring: Silent Witness (air date: January 20 (HMM)) – 357 pts – weighted score: 79.5 (67.9%)
28. Love, Unleashed (air date: July 6, 2019) – 559 pts – weighted score: 96.2 (67.5%)
29. Love Under the Rainbow (air date: March 9) – 581 pts – weighted score: 96.0 (67.4%)
30. One Winter Proposal (air date: January 12) – 535 pts – weighted score: 95.8 (67.2%)
31. Just Add Romance (air date: March 2) – 548 pts – weighted score: 95.6 (67.1%)
32. Christmas Scavenger Hunt (air date: Nov 3) – 561 pts – weighted score: 95.4 (66.9%)
33. From Friend to Fiance (air date: May 25) – 555 pts – weighted score: 94.8% (66.5%)
34. Picture a Perfect Christmas (air date: Nov 10) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
35. Write Before Christmas (air date: Nov 17) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
36. Christmas Camp (air date: July 11) – 530 pts – weighted score: 93.9 (65.9%)
37. Love and Sunshine (air date: Aug 3) – 504 pts – weighted score: 91.7 (64.3%)
38. Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (air date: March 10 (HMM) – 354 pts – weighted score: 74.1 (63.3%)
39. A Christmas Miracle (air date: Nov 14) – 494 pts – weighted score: 90.1 (63.2%)
40. Sister of the Bride (air date: June 29) – 516 pts – weighted score: 89.8 (63.0%)
41. Valentine in the Vineyard (air date: February 2) – 503 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
42. Love, Take Two (air date: June 15) – 507 pts – weighted score: 87.8 (61.6%)
43. All Summer Long (air date: Aug 24) – 512 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
44. Snowcoming (air date: January 26) – 485 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.2%)
45. The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
46. Merry & Bright (air date: Nov 2) – 483 pts – weighted score: 84.4 (59.2%)
47. Nostalgic Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 446 pts – weighted score: 79.2 (55.6%)
48. A Merry Christmas Match (air date: Oct 25) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.3 (54.9%)
49. Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
50. Rome in Love (air date: July 27) – 436 pts – weighted score: 76.7 (53.8%)
51. A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas (air date: Nov 7) – 398 pts – weighted score: 72.3 (50.7%)
52. A Taste of Summer (air date: Aug 10) – 403 pts – weighted score: 70.9 (49.7%)
53. A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
54. A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 pts – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)
55. Love in the Sun (air date: June 1) – 361 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.8%)

To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!

What did you think of “A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love”?  Comment below and let me know!

#Hallmarkies, check out this review of #Hallmark's #AGodwinkChristmas #MeantForLove Share on X