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Much About Love · Girls Gone Hallmark | Hallmark Movie Reviews

• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Girls Gone Hallmark, a Hallmark Review podcast. I'm Megan,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: and I'm a longtime Hallmark fan. I'm Wendy. I'm a
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: former Hallmark hater. On today's episode, we're discussing Much About Love,
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: which originally premiered on the Hallmark channel on Saturday, August 29th,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: and is now streaming on Hallmark Plus. You can follow
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: us on Instagram where we are Girls Gone Hallmark. We're
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: also over on TikTok where we are also Girls Gone Hallmark.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: Do you want to hop right in to Much About
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Love with a Synopsis? I guess I can do that.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Are you ready? Yeah. A TV director returns to her
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: theater roots for a Shakespeare festival and runs into an
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: old flame, rekindling a merry war of wits in this
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: modern retelling of Much Ado About Nothing. I was going
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: to say this title of this movie, I get confused
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: about it every single time. First of all, in IMDb,
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: it's under a different title. Nothing But Love. Yeah. I know.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: I don't know when it was changed. To me, I
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: thought it was always Much About Love since it was. But,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: you know, then it's like the much ado about nothing.
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: I get what they're doing here, but I keep going.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: What's the name of this movie? Sure. What's the name
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: of this movie? I don't disagree with you. All right.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: Shamim Sharif directs Much About Love. Her TV directing credits
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: include Sullivan's Crossing and several episodes of Hallmark's The Way
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: Home across seasons one and two. This appears to be
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: her first Hallmark movie. ashley williams and her husband neil
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: dodson receive story credit dodson and ramona barker are credited
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: with the screenplay this is just neil's second writing credit
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: though he has a long resume producing hallmark movies ramona
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: has 18 writing credits including the 2024 movie twas the
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: date before christmas is that the amy greening movie Yeah.
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: And Robert Buckley, not Junior. Ashley Williams stars as Bia.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: We last saw her in 2025's An Alpine Holiday. And
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: she'll return later this year in a holiday movie opposite
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: Alison Sweeney. Ashley also serves as executive producer. I mean,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: this is her movie, huh? Yeah. From top to bottom. Absolutely.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: You know, on IMDb, it just says untitled Alison Sweeney
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: movie for Christmas. Do we know a name of it yet?
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Not officially. Okay. All right. Niall Mader stars as Benny.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: We'll see him again later this year in the forthcoming
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Hallmark holiday movie, A Grand Biltmore Christmas. Lynn Dura stars
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: as Hannah. You might recognize her from last year's A
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: Christmas Angel match or as Sydney on Sullivan's Crossing. Jonathan
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Sousa stars as Clay, and this appears to be his
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Hallmark debut. Jennifer Dale appears as Choney with 129 acting credits.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Her last hallmark role was in the 2024 movie Operation Christmas. Hey, Wendy,
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: what was your first impression of Much About Love? Apparently,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: the secret to Ashley Williams and Niall Mader's chemistry was
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: taking off the Christmas sweater and adding some Shakespeare. Oh, yeah.
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: My first impression is I'm dying to know the music
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: budget for this movie. I know. They have some great
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: tunes in this. Alex Warren? Yeah, I think that's a
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: deeper cut from him. That's not like a song I
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: hear regularly. Fever Dream? Is it? It was released in 2026.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: Current charting single. They did have great music in this, though.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Even if it wasn't all fully, I don't know if
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: it was all fully like pop hits, but I thought
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: they did have great music. Great music. All right, let's
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: talk what you liked about Much About Love. I want
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: to be forthcoming here. So let me just explain something first.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: I watched this movie on a screener. And then... I
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: watched it two more times after that because the first
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: time I fell asleep and then... I haven't done that
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: in a long time either. The first time I fell
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: asleep and then the second time I also fell asleep.
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: And then the third time I finally locked in, I
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: liked this movie after my third watch. Yeah. So I want...
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: To say that. The last two thirds of the movie
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: were so much better than like the beginning of it. Yeah.
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: Because I thought the beginning, this is just the setup guys.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: The beginning was so heavy on like setting up the story. Absolutely.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: And then I liked how the rest of it played out.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: And it's unfortunate because I saw a lot of comments
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: saying like people turned it off after the first half
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: hour or whatever, but I think it got significantly better.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: So I agree with you. I first watched on a
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: screener and I think this movie is better. watched than
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: watched while taking notes. Yes. And the reason I think
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: that is, like you said, there is a lot of
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: setup in the beginning and the dialogue in this is
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: so snappy that if you are not paying attention, you're
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: going to miss it. And you're also, there's so many
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: callbacks that this is not the kind of Hallmark movie
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: that runs in the background and you just can appreciate
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: the vibes. You need to be locked in. And I
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: did watch this twice. And I agree that I very
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: much enjoyed the second watch more. I had already watched
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: and taken notes. And this time I was just experiencing it.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: And I was able to feel the movie more and
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: get more into the movie. This movie has a lot
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: of layers to it. And as we'll talk about, it's
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: very personal to Ashley herself. And I think that's important
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: to acknowledge as well. I just think there's a lot
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: going on here. And I'm not a Shakespeare person. Me neither.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: So a lot of this stuff is... It misses me. Yeah. Yeah.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: So I think that would be appreciated on a different
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: level by someone. Because I had to look up a
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: few things. Same. But in that regard, I think that's
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: what makes the material a little bit more elevated than
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: maybe your typical Hallmark movie. I think you're absolutely right.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: I think there are a lot of messages in this movie. Same.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Can we go back to the dialogue for a second? Please.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: It's dialogue heavy. And I mean that as a compliment.
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: Everybody is talking all the time. Like there are so
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: many lines in this movie. Again, I think that writing
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: makes it kind of superior to other movies. Like you said,
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: like you cannot just have it running in the background
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: and like walk out of the room and come back
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: and like pick up like on what happens. Yes. I
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: think you do have to pay attention, like when especially
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: like when everyone's like kind of bantering, especially the stuff
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: between Ashley and Niall. Their stuff was so quick. And,
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: you know, you and I, we talk about how much
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: we love like Gilmore Girls and that kind of rapid pace,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: you know, firing off of dialogue. I think that's what
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: they had. Oh my gosh. When she's like, I'm Sandy
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: and I like long walks on the beach and men
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: who drive trucks. He goes, I'm Dennis and I drive
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: a truck. And I was just, it was like so good.
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: The delivery, I laughed out loud. Same. Same. So can
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: we go back then to Ashley and Niall? Yes. They
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: sold me as these characters, Bia and Benny. Again, I'm not,
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: I don't have any education on Shakespeare, but Bia, short
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: for Beatrice and Benny, I can't remember. Benedict. Those are
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: Shakespeare characters in the original Much Ado About Nothing. Okay. Now,
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: I was a little bit nervous going into this movie
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: because I was like, oh, these characters... The Shakespeare characters
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: are known to be like enemies, not enemies to lovers.
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: Like there's a lot of friction between them. And that's
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: my least favorite trope. Like I hated enemies to lovers trope.
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: I cannot stand it. I was surprised and delighted that, yes,
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: they had friction between the two of them, but it
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: was like they were more like challenging each other creatively. Yeah. Creatively.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: That's the word. One too many syllables in there. And
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: they were definitely annoyed by each other, but it wasn't
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: like they hated each other and then they fell in love.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: Like they were, they had been in love with each other.
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: They had been in love with each other. And at
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: the end, when Bia is talking to her mom and
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: she's like, he drives me nuts. That's just the core
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: of who their relationship is. Yeah. Like that's not something
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: that they're overcoming. Right. Just how they work. I do
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: think they were fantastic together. There was, I mean, obviously
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: these two actors know each other. Like there was, there
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: was a comfort about them. And I, this is what
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: I really liked. If you remember our, I don't remember
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: the details of it, but our review of Never Kiss
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: a Man in a Christmas Sweater. Niall was such a curmudgeon. His,
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: his character was such a curmudgeon in that movie. He's
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: like so filled with joy in this movie. Yes, and
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: I think that's what I like because... We've had Ashley
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: on the show and just knowing what she likes to play, right?
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: And I feel like she brings that out in her
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: scene part here. And I think about one of my
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: favorite movies. Jingle Bell Run. Jingle Bell Run. I was
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: going to call it Jingle All the Way. Jingle Bell Run.
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: I think she does the same with Andrew Walker in
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: that movie. And that's why I love him so much
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: in that movie too. He's very like not his stereotypical,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: like he was, they play a lot. Can I talk
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: about her playful nature in the croquet scene? Yes. When
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: he walks behind her to kind of like show her
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: how to loosen up, the look on her face is
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: so cute. She's like, oh, like what's happening here? And
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: it's sweet, romantic. It's just cute and flamboyant. It's so cute.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: And then in that very same scene, she's talking about
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: when she quit acting and she's like, you know, I
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: got that bad review. Don't you remember? And he's like,
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: I remember you quitting. It, it turns so serious and
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: there's such a connection there, but Oh my gosh. I
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: watched this movie twice and that look on her face,
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: you kind of watch it. It's adorable. I know she's...
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: Ashley Williams is polarizing for some people and I don't
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: understand why. I think she's just pure sunshine and I
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: love to watch her. Me too. I just, I want
• 10:33
  Speaker 1: her in my orbit. Like in real life. I just
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: feel like she would be that person that like would
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: just completely bring you up. Yeah. You know what I mean?
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: Like hype girl. Can I talk about Niall for a second? Yeah.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about how playful he was in this. He's
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: so charming. When he's, that scene where he overhears Hannah
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: and Maggie like talking about Bia talking about him sure
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: about how he looks good in a shirt and he's
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: like flexing in the mirror like I died I thought
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: it was so funny I think he brings a real
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: comedic intensity to this role like he goes so hard
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: in some of these scenes and it just makes me
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: it's a very different vibe than we've seen like I'm
• 11:17
  Speaker 1: envisioning the Nile from that Ali Sweeney movie where they're
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: going through a divorce and it's a whole thing and
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: That's a very different novel. This, he comes in, he's like, hey,
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: he's giving the best friend in my best friend's wedding, George.
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: It's the same vibe. What is Rupert George? What's his name?
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Is it Rupert Everett? I think it might be. He
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: just has this comedic intensity to him that I found fascinating.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: So watchable. Yeah, I know. I would like to see
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: him in more roles like that. Yeah. But he can
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: do both because you're right in that Ali Sweeney movie
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: when they're going through a divorce. It's very, it's kind
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: of a heavy movie. Yeah. I mean, it's a different vibe. Yeah.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: And I'm not knocking it, but I just, that's kind
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: of what I picture with him or the rip in time,
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: like intensely romantic Niall, which I love that movie. Also
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: very polarizing. You did not love that movie. No, not
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: a fan. But I enjoyed comedic Niall a lot. I
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: want to talk about the beer scene. That's what I
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: call it. When they're drinking beers at the bar and
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: they do the scene where they're doing the crayons on
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: the tablecloth. Oh my God. First of all, one of
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: the most beautifully shot scenes I've ever seen on Hallmark.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: It's going to stick with me for a minute. I
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: thought this was so good. And the way they were
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: like communicating with each other as like drawing these, he's
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: writing these words out. She's drawing arrows to him. I
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: thought it was so good. Yeah. The emotion that they
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: both bring to that scene is so good. Do you
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: know the, did you see that about that scene? No.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: The overhead shots. Well, there's two. One, this is pulled
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: straight from Ashley and Neil's actual love story. Get out.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: They have a framed paper tablecloth in their home. No.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: From a moment like this. Oh, stop it. And the
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: overhead shots, they ran out of time to film them
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: with Niall. So Neil stepped in, rolled up his sleeves,
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: and it's Neil doing the overhead shot. Get out. Isn't
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: that great? That's awesome. Isn't that great? I love that scene.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know. There is just something about it. The tone,
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: the color of it. It's hot and emotional. It was
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: so good. Yes. Like, it's going to stay with me. Like,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: I'm going to remember, like, this one scene. Ashley's face
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: when she cried. Like, she's almost crying. Oh, my gosh.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: I know. It was really good. Really, really, really good.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Another scene that I really liked is when Ashley, as Bia, gets...
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: She gets kind of pissed off when she hears from
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: Clay that... Benny had said she has big shoes to fill. Right.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: And this is like all coming to a head where
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: she's got to step in for Hannah and play this role.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: And like she's kind of spinning out a little bit. Right. Yeah.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: And she goes outside. She's like, I got to fix it.
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: I got to figure out what I'm going to do
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: with my hair and goes outside. And he comes after
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: her and she's like, what do you mean you said
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: I have like big shoes to fill? I just love
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: that we get this. We're not getting that typical Hallmark,
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: I overheard him say something, and now it's going to, like,
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: play out for the next rest of the movie. Like,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: she confronts it, he explains it, and it's good. Yes,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: but Clay, man, keep your mouth closed. Like, don't say,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: I think you're doing great in spite of what Benny said.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: I know. Who says that? You're trying so hard to
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: get these two together, and then you're going to feed
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: her information that might make her upset? Like, shh, Clay. Shh. Yeah. Yeah.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: Clay reminded me so much. This is a deep cut
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: if you guys listen to our Patreon, but Clay reminded
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: me so much of Andy Rosen. Andy Rosen is a
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: podcaster that Megan and I listen to. That is funny.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: They kind of have the same maybe like hairline. That
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: is funny. Yeah. Can I run through some likes really
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: quick here? Yeah. Some lines of dialogue. I loved when
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: Benny says, no one wants to see the story of Romeo,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: the emo influencer and Juliet, the true crime podcaster. Dead. Dead. Also,
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: when Bia and Benny are rehearsing and Benny's trying to
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: get Bia into the role of Kate and Doug, the
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: stage manager, walks in, he's like, is it working? And
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Benny goes, it was, Doug. It was. Doug was funny.
• 15:29
  Speaker 1: So great. Here's a conversation that I loved. After that
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: beer scene, the table scene, they're walking and they're talking
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: about the timing of a kiss in the play. And
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: they say, well, it usually waits till act two. And
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Niall says, oh, they'd wait till act seven or eight.
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: If a play had that many acts, obviously the joke
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: here being Hallmark kisses are typically in act nine. Right.
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: Loved it. The rehearsal montage scene is one of the
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: best montages I've seen on Hallmark. It was fan-freaking-tastic. Love it.
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: To add to it, there are some Easter eggs in
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: that scene. Yes, ma'am. All of Ashley's t-shirts. Yep. First
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: of all, she's wearing one that says The Rookie, which
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: actually says The Newbie. The Newbie. which is a play
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: on the fact that she directs The Rookie, but every
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: one of her shirts, she's wearing a 2B shirt, which
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: obviously is a Shakespeare two on the nose for me,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: but yes. She wears one that says Pros Before Bros.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Love that one. I looked it up. There's like a
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: podcast that's called that too. Oh, I love that. And
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: then of course she wears one that says Elbow Room,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: which is a Shakespeare thing. Oh, is it? I don't
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: know about, but Google tells me is a thing. I
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: also thought that the masquerade ball looks were fire. Oh
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: my God. That whole scene as they're walking up to it,
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: it's like golden light. It's slow-mo. So beautiful. And then
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: whoever did the like set design for that. Yeah, the
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: lamps was so cool. Yeah, they have it lining the
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: walkway and then they're all hanging from the trees. Loved that.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: That may be a wrap on my life. No, my too. Oh, yeah. What? No.
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: That feels like a negative. It's 20 minutes into the episode. Okay. Okay. Okay.
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: I agree. I loved all those likes too. Let's take
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: a quick break and we'll come right back to talk
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: about our wishes. All right, Wendy, what'd you wish for?
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: I have a few. Hannah quitting the show, like, the
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: night before. This is probably the weakest storyline for me because,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: in my opinion, Hannah is this, like, successful professional actress.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: There's no way that she would just, like, run away
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: from this. Yeah, of course. You know, it's like they
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: needed something in the script, but I don't even know why.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: They didn't even need that. That could also be somehow tied, like...
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: The character, Hannah's playing the character of Hero in Much
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: Too About Nothing. There could be some. Yeah, that's lost
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: on me there. Same. Yeah. I have a couple things here.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: Part of me kind of wishes that Benny didn't get
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: Hannah to come back because if Bia would have got
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: her chance on stage and then it would have... All
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: those like regrets that she had or like thinking that
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: she wasn't a good actress or whatever. Maybe then this
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: would be her second chance opportunity to like kill it
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: and that would go away, you know? Thank you. This
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: is such a missed opportunity for me. And I wonder
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: if it's intentional because I was so upset that Bia
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: doesn't get her redemption. She's so close because this... This
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: negative review that she received that caused her to quit acting.
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: She talks to her mom about it. She talks to
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Benny about it. She brings it up. This is something
• 18:41
  Speaker 1: that clearly eats at her still. And she believed that
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: review and she wasn't good enough. Mm hmm. I have
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: two issues with that. One, when she tells the story
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: to Benny and when she tells the story to her mom,
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: neither of them says, like, no. Benny does say, like,
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: reviewers suck, basically. He said reviews are just noise, which
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: I kind of loved. Yes. Which is so true. But
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: he doesn't say that the reviewer is wrong. Ah, interesting.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: And neither does her mom. Her mom says something about, like,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: you were always your own person. So she's about to
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: get this moment and she doesn't get it. Is there
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: a deeper meaning here about what it means to be
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: an actor? You can't please everybody. I don't know. Like
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: you don't need the positive review to validate you. Or
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: maybe she had found who she truly was as a director.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: I don't know. I wanted her to have that moment too.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: And I felt kind of like her feelings went a
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: little bit invalidated. Yeah. My other wish is that I
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: didn't like that Bia and Benny turn against each other
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: and decide that their feelings weren't real once they realized
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: that their friends had set them up. Same. I was like, no.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: we're taking 10 steps back here. All your friends did
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: was like put you in the position to acknowledge your feelings.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: And now you're saying like, oh, maybe I didn't actually
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: feel that if I only thought I don't know. I
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: didn't like it. Especially coming off of like that incredible scene.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: It didn't make any sense to me that they would
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: then like go question it. How could you tell each
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: other that you love each other and then decide like, oh, no,
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: I didn't actually mean that. Yeah. Yeah. I thought it
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: was weird. I was like, did they go back and
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: shoot that scene and put that in there? Like the
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: table scene? Yeah. Because it didn't make sense to me.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: And that did not make sense to me. My only
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: other wish is, and it's a typical Hallmark trope. I
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: hated that, in my mind, Bia could potentially be able
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: to direct Hannah in Italy. And Benny's like, well, where
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: does that leave us? I'm like, it's a temporary, it
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: would be a temporary situation if she would go out
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: on the job and then she would be back. Yeah,
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: it's a limited series, Hannah said. And also you were
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: introduced as a nomadic actor by Clay. Or the other guy, Don.
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: So you're not going to be sticking around either. Exactly.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: And then I kind of hated, because it sounded like,
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: it sounded to me that Bea was giving up her,
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: job as a director so she could run this festival. Well,
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: the festival's not a year-round thing. It only runs during
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: this time frame. Sure, maybe it needs a figurehead for
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: the full year, but why are you giving up your
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: directing jobs? Agree. I didn't understand that. She just has
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: a passion. Look, Ashley herself has a passion for Shakespeare.
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: She and her husband, their relationship developed over some Shakespearean flirting. Oh.
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: It was a whole thing. So maybe it makes sense
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: to someone who's not us. Maybe. Are you ready to talk?
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: Did you see that? I am. I have shared a
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: few of mine already. No, I just have, I don't
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: have many. I have the newbie. Uh-huh. Which I just
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: thought was so funny. Like if you guys didn't know
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: that Ashley Williams directs on episodes of The Rookie. It
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: was great. And even like the branding for the newbie
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: t-shirt and hat was the same like font. It's identical.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: I just thought it was so funny. The other thing,
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: here's my question. This is a fall movie and there
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: were fall vibes. Like her outfit was giving fall. But
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: at the very beginning, it says like Shakespeare Summer Festival. Yeah.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: I know we're at the end of the run, but
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: are we in the fall? Yeah. No, because I think
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: there's dates on a sign and I think it runs,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: it says like through September 5th. Okay. Their final run.
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: So it's not fall on the calendar by that point.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: And I don't even think they, the movie doesn't allude
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: to it being fall at all, other than the clothing.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: But I was like, isn't it hot in the end
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: of August? I know. I know. Freaking miserable here. They
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: never said where they were at, right? I don't know.
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: The other thing that I hated was... The stage for
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: the festival was like so small. Like in my mind,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: here locally in Orange County, we have the Laguna Arts
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: Festival where they do the, help me out here. Pageant
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: of the Masters. Pageant of the Masters. And that's like
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: a beautiful outdoor theater, amphitheater space. Yeah. That's what I imagined.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: And here it looked like it was like a high
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: school outdoor production place. Like, it was just very small.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: I mean, our high school stage is bigger than that.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: I know. I just was like, let's make it look
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: a little bit more grand. Sure. If this was, like,
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: a big thing, a big community event. That's all. Yeah.
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: For my Jujitsu Death, we talked about the tablecloth. We
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: talked about the newbie. At one point, Bia goes to
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: talk to the bust of Shakespeare. Yeah. And it's just
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: like sitting on a pedestal on some moss. It looks
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: very precarious. Oh. I was like, don't bump into that.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Shakespeare's going down. Don't bump into that. There's a subtitle mismatch.
• 24:04
  Speaker 1: Bea says, I'm with you, Benny. And the subtitles say,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: I'm with you, honey. You know what? That's so funny
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: you say that because I remember reading that on the
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: subtitle and I was like, that's a weird honey. Honey
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: is kind of a weird. The final thing is there
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: is a photo of Benny and Bia as young Romeo
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: and Juliet. I thought it was a nice either AI
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: or Photoshop job putting them into those pictures. I've seen worse.
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: I've seen worse. I have seen worse. What did you
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: rate Much About Love? Even though I had to watch
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: it three times, I gave it four stars. I gave
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: it 4.25 stars. Well done, Ashley, Neil, and Niall. Great job, everybody.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to this episode of Girls Con Hallmark.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: We'll be back next time with more Hallmark reviews. All right, friends,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: before we go, just a quick heads up. You're about
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: to hear some ads. These little gems help us keep
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: the show running and the Hallmark love flowing. So do
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: with that info what you will. Grab a snack, hit
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: the skip button, or maybe, just maybe, listen in and
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: discover your new favorite product. Bye. Goodbye. Bye.