I have to admit, when I sat down to watch Love Strikes Twice, I thought that Hallmark Channel was being overly ambitious with a “time travel” story. She’s 37 one day and wakes up and is 15 years in the past? It seemed to be a little bit too different for me.
But when I am wrong, I can say I am wrong. I can admit that I needed to stop thinking that I have it all figured out. The truth is, Love Strikes Twice fits the checklist of a Hallmark movie, but it presents it in a new way.
And we all need that.
Katie Findlay and Wyatt Nash are new faces to the Hallmark Channel and headline the movie, which is about, “Maggie (Findlay) and Josh (Nash) are a married couple who have gotten out of sync. When Maggie wishes for a do-over, she wakes up the next morning and inexplicably finds she was transported 15 years into the past. Once she shakes off her confusion and gest her bearings, Maggie sees this as a chance to find out what her life would’ve been if she had stayed with ex-boyfriend Rick (Williams).”
At the beginning of the movie, you really do believe that it is going to be the same old movie. Hallmark movies are very tropy and formulaic, but that’s okay. It’s what we need. But as time evolves, they’ve needed to evolve.
And they are trying and that is something that I can give credit for. But I will admit, that I opened my computer, thinking that I don’t need to pay any attention to what is happening.
Until about 15 minutes in and then Love Strikes Twice, has you smiling and remembering why you sit and watch movies like this in the first place.
Maggie and Josh have returned to her families house for her parents anniversary. Josh is taken a back by how much Maggie is working and doesn’t know if they are meant to be together. She’s hurt and asks if she should sleep in her old room and he doesn’t stop her. If you are a frequent movie or television watcher, you know that that means that we are about to experience the first change in life.
It’s kind of heartbreaking to see Maggie say that they need to talk, because of the wimper in her voice.
I think that it’s natural that we all go through moments of self doubt and wondering if we made the right decisions in life. I think it’s natural that we go through moments wondering if the person that we love is forever.
Insecurities and people changing are a part of life. It’s who we are. But sometimes we need to remember who we are in order to know we are in the right place.
It’s a matter of what we learn and what we take from the insecurities and challenges in life. For Maggie and Josh – they don’t know what they are taking yet. But Maggie passing out is about to start the road to realizing everything.
Waking up the next day and being right out of college, her whole life ahead of her. She’s not remembering all of the reasons that she loved her husband, but now she has a chance to remember why. Of course, she doesn’t know that yet.
When she spends the day with Rick, but sees Josh, she agrees to go to his rally to save the library. Josh is big on history, which at first I don’t think much about it, but then I realize that history is what it is about. What everything in life is about.
I think sometimes we think that if our lives aren’t in the history books, it doesn’t matter. But the truth is that everything matters. Our history changes people and makes differences in other peoples lives. And Josh and Maggie’s history changes their lives. It sets them on a road to find themselves.
But also affects everyone else.
The two end up arrested, and Maggies parents come and get them. The two of them have to end up in court and Maggie is set to represent herself. The opposing counsel is excited, thinking that this is a slam dunk.
We often underestimate the things that we don’t know, the people that we don’t know… and everyone is underestimating Maggie. But in my opinion there is nothing more scary than a person that is on the road to self discovery. In finding yourself, you have nothing to loose but everything to gain.
She’s representing herself and Josh, as they go up against her boss (well when she’s 37, he’s her boss) and Maggie is loving this challenge. She also is coming up against a developer that she knows is shady.
She hasn’t forgotten all of her law school training and so when Josh needs to save the library, she’s right there. In her mind if she helps Josh, then it is okay for her to move on with Rick.
Rick may be handsome and driven, but that does not a good person make. I’m not saying it makes a bad person either. But what Maggie doesn’t need is someone as driven as her – she needs someone to remind her what and who she wanted to be. Old boyfriends ain’t it.
Oh old boyfriends… we all think about them. Sometimes in a positive way, sometimes in a negative. Most of the time we realize that they are exes for a reason. Maggie is learning that quickly, as her ex wants to control her and have her be the perfect little obedient wife. Rick doesn’t get that she has a mind of her own and is striving to do good and be good.
The way that Maggie and Josh connect reminds you that you have to put in the work. You need to keep fighting for love. You need to remember what made you fall in love in the first place. Through out the movie, the two embark on a road that shows you how these two fit together.
And why they are good together.
Josh was always willing and wanting to build her up. He wanted to be equals, have fun, live, laugh and all the other cheesy shit (let us not forget I am a cynic).
Rick wanted to control Maggie. He wanted someone who went along with every move he made. And hey, yes, she accepted his proposal. But, I do believe it is because these were the motions and she thought that was what she wanted. But red flags everywhere – when your man listens to his Dad more than you – that is a problem.
Everything that Josh and Maggie went through brought them to a better place in the future. And hey, I kinda loved it. It felt like a 13 Going On 30, where sometimes you have to remember the past, in order to get to the future that you wanted. The future that is meant for you.
And when Maggie returns to the present, her life has changed. She’s doing the things she wanted to. Her family is at a place where they want to be. And Maggie sees the beauty in life, and everything is better.
Sure, you’re not sure how she times traveled, or if she did. But you see that the present is different and you wonder.
But all that matters is that the characters in this movie have found a peace and happiness – but also the strength within themselves. And it reminds you to do the same for yourself.
Love Strikes Twice, was a fun movie. A good one that reminds you to live in the moment and never forget the reasons that you fell for someone in the first place.
Definitely worth the watch.
