Director: Max McGuire
Writers: Carley Smale
Starring: Natalie Hall, Evan Williams, Alison Brooks, and Steve Cumyn
Midnight at the Magnolia is one of many variations on the
standard “two people must pretend they’re together to accomplish something and
then actually fall in love” theme that’s so prevalent during the holidays. Why
are so many lame plotlines recycled over and over again almost verbatim? I get
that studios want to churn them out as quickly as possible, but don’t these
people get bored writing and directing and starring in the same movie over and
over and over again? (Then again, I guess it’s all based on what audiences
want, and apparently they never get sick of watching the same things over and
over and over again.)
In this variation, Maggie and Jack are two radio DJ’s—and
lifelong friends—who give dating advice on a wildly popular local radio show;
so popular, in fact, that a satellite radio company is planning to pick them up
and run them in syndication!
Long story short, the head of the satellite radio station
wants to air a special show in which Maggie and Jack introduce their
significant others to their parents (who both have also been lifelong friends
and run a bar together called “Magnolia”), thinking that the potential drama
could pull in massive ratings. But things quickly go south when both of their
beau’s, a little put-off by being discussed so openly on radio, decide to call
things off, leaving Maggie and Jack without anyone to introduce their parents
to.
They initially suggest hiring actors, but figure that would
get too messy. You know what won’t get too messy, though? Breaking the hearts
of everyone around you, including your own parents (and even a dead mother!),
when they find out that the only thing they’ve ever wanted turns out to be a
fake event simply to boost ratings! Yeah, no way that could get out of hand, so
let’s definitely pass on the more sustainable “paid actor” plan…
This is one of those movies that pushed and pulled me
constantly in both directions, mainly because it’s just so stupid. Normally
with these movies, I feel like that’s just par for the course and everyone gets
what they deserve. But in this case, I actually kind of feel bad saying that, because
the leads are adorable, especially Natalie Hall as Maggie (who has apparently
already been pigeonholed as a romantic lead in cheesy holiday movies, and will
thus never have a successful career outside of them). The two leads have good
chemistry together, and actually feel like they’ve known each other for a long
time.
Which also leads to the crux of my problems: for being so in
tune with one another, they’re both apparently pretty stupid when it comes to
picking up on signals. [Minor spoilers ahead] For example, one thing that
haunts Maggie even to the present day was when Jack decided to take another
girl to high school prom at the last second all those years ago. Why couldn’t
she just tell him if they’re so
comfortable with one another, and spend virtually every waking moment together? Or, even better yet, wouldn’t it be pretty
obvious to even a complete idiot? [end minor spoilers]
Although working against that theory is Jack: like the
movie’s script, he’s exceedingly dumb. This is a guy who needs everything spelled
out for him in order to understand things—and even then he’s prone to
obliviously missing the point. [More minor spoilers] Take, for instance, the
aforementioned sequence where he dumped Maggie for another girl. His own
parents told him how obvious it was that she was into him, and he never acted
on it or took it seriously. Or the scene later when he stumbles on the girl he
dumped Maggie for back in high school, and takes her up on an offer to have
drinks together. Thankfully, she doesn't try to steal Jake away (surprisingly), but in fact, she's the one that has to explain to him just how heartbroken Maggie was, and how much she means to her. I mean, this girl knew that over a decade ago, but this moron couldn't figure it out for himself? [end more minor spoilers]
At any rate, the entire cast of characters are likeable, and they help to keep things tolerable at its worst, and entertaining at its peak. It's not a particularly good holiday movie, but if you just want an attractive cast and some background noise, this should set the appropriate mood.
STRAY OBSERVATIONS
- Are the leftovers that Maggie offers Jack from the fridge early on really just lettuce and mashed potatoes, like it appears?
- Something I just realized: Do we ever even see Jack's girlfriend? We see her boyfriend/ex, but I don't think we ever even see the woman he was dating. (I could be wrong because it's been about 6 days since I've seen it, which is the equivalent of six years in normal movie years.)
- There really is some cute chemistry between the two leads; it's actually pretty believable they grew up together, for the most part.
OVERALL RATING: 5/10
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