Review of Meet My Valentine (2015) by Richard W — 11 Dec 2016

Your standard Hallmark channel romantic drama fare: a family man discovers he has an inoperable brain tumor, and attempts to hide it from his family as he puts his wife on a dating website to try and find a suitable replacement for him after he's passed. For a film with such heavy subject matter, there is little dramatic tension, and the reality of Tom's (the husband in question) illness is never really explored in much detail. If you're looking for a realistic depiction of illness or a tale that is emotionally gripping and weighted, you might want to look elsewhere. But for a lighthearted date night film that tugs on the occasional heartstring, it's a decent night in on Netflix (on which it is currently available).

Scott Wolf (whom I remember fondly from my youth as Bailey Salinger from the overly-sentimental 'Party of Five') stars in 'Meet My Valentine', and admittedly as the film's moral center, he does a decent job, although that's not saying too much. As usual, he comes from the George Clooney school of acting - which is to say that he emotes quite well, but he is unable to act 'in-character' and instead must rely on his own natural charisma (of which he does have a considerable amount) to make his character likeable. He succeeds, but as with most of these feelgood made-for-TV movie pieces, it gives you the feeling that these are not fully-developed characters that you're watching.

Nevertheless, it's good for a viewing if you're into that sort of thing (I'm not, unfortunately, but I thought I'd hazard it anyway).