shobbs-86081 Review of A Second Chance at Love

A Second Chance at Love (2022 TV Movie)

97.5% wonderful, but the ending...

[7/10 · 29 March 2022]

I was SO fascinated with this movie until the last 5-6 minutes, when all the great writing, characters, acting, and warm feelings went up in smoke when a forced, out-of-character "happy ending" came out of nowhere to take me down. Mom is a headstrong, independent divorced woman until she falls apart in the end and foists herself into her daughter's anniversary celebration (which was meant to salvage HER failing marriage.) So we're set up for the daddy to join this fiasco and make things even more absurd with a wedding proposal that Mom actually accepts, right after a heavy conversation where she has just rejected his bid to continue their courtship. It makes no sense and feels insulting (not just to her, but also to this audience.) I would love to have been in the conversation between writers and actors where they fought over how stupid this ending was (& how it negated all the good stuff before.)