And They Called it Puppy Love
Bailey Daley (Erika Christensen - Anything for Love) doesn't find it hard meeting men and falling for them; her trouble is that she ends up trying to transform herself to be what they want rather than being herself. But that only ends up with the relationship petering out and Bailey ending up with another dog she adopts from her ex. It is exactly how on a rainy night Bailey ends up sitting in a diner in a soggy wedding dress after another relationship comes to an end pouring her heart out to the husband and wife who run the place as they are just about to lock up for the night. Maybe Bailey just needs a reminder that you can't create true love, true love happens when you meet the right person.
"Be true to yourself and you will lead a happy life my son", nope those aren't the words my father said to me but a sentiment which I have come across in many a movie and in many ways it is at the heart of "My Boyfriends' Dogs". It is what we come to realise as Bailey tells her story of failed romances to the kindly older couple, that every time Bailey meets a man she is so desperate for him to be Mr. Right that she tries to become what he wants rather than being true to herself. So when she meets keen runner Wade she makes out that she is a keen runner as well despite being anything but and of course it is doomed with Bailey ending up adopting his dog. It is the same with a pretentious writer who talks about Proust and jazz.
Now of course "My Boyfriends' Dogs" is also a Hallmark movie and so it is all on the obvious side of things as within the first 20 minutes we already know who Bailey's Mr. Right is. But that doesn't matter too much as you don't watch this sort of movie to be taxed by a script which leads you a merry dance but for the easy to watch cutesy stuff which makes you smile. And to be honest that is what you do as Erika Christensen is likeable even if having the rhyming name of Bailer Daley is annoying plus Joyce DeWitt and Michael Kopsa make for a sweet older couple who patiently listen to her when she pours out her heart.
What this all boils down to is that "My Boyfriends' Dogs" is exactly what you expect from a Hallmark romantic comedy which in the real world means some people will find it annoyingly cutesy. But it is easy to watch with a good heart even if that good heart lurks beneath a few layers of sugar frosting.
