Betting on the Bride (2017) Karissa Lee Staples, Peter Mooney, Kim De laney, Ron Kologie, Cindy Busby, Woody Jeffreys Movie Review

Betting on the Bride (2017)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Karissa Lee Staples in Betting on the Bride (2017)

A Lifetime of Runaway Brides

Melanie (Karissa Lee Staples - Inspired to Kil), a fitness fanatic, has backed out of not one but three weddings, with the last one seeing her flee from the church at the very last minute. It is why she has decided to ignore men for a while and focus on her business with her sister. Damon (Peter Mooney - 12 Men of Christmas) is a committed bachelor who mocks all his friends who have settled down and had children but is confident that he could seal the deal when ever he wants. It is why he agrees to a bet that he can't meet a woman and get her to say yes within 30 days of them meeting. Trouble is that getting Melanie to fall for him is harder than he thought and then he genuinely starts to have feelings for her. It complicates matters especially when one of Melanie's ex's discovers Damon only started dating her as part of a bet.

Most of the movies I have watched which were shown on Lifetime have been thrillers, in fact I don't think beyond their Christmas movies I haven't watched a Lifetime rom-com. It is why when I started to watch "Betting on the Bride" everything about this movie screamed that it should be a Hallmark movie with its cutesy music and obvious comedy. And with the even more obvious riff on the "Runaway Bride" storyline I was beginning to question whether I was either in some alternate dimension or when the sinister twist would come with someone ending up murdered. But to deliver a spoiler of sorts this is no thriller, just some lightweight and ultimately obvious romantic comedy fun.

The thing is that because "Betting on the Bride" is simply routine it relies heavily on the appeal of the actors and yes both Karissa Lee Staples and Peter Mooney are likeable with Mooney having a bit of the Ben Affleck about him. But these characters are as routine as the storyline and so in the end they are pleasant but forgettable.

What this all boils down to is that "Betting on the Bride" is a routine made for TV romantic comedy with the only surprise for me being that it is a Lifetime movie rather than a Hallmark one.


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