I MARRIED WHO?: Kellie Martin and Ethan Erickson Don’t Leave It In Vegas

The Hallmark Channel kicks off new movie Saturdays this weekend with their original rom-com I Married Who? starring Kellie Martin and Ethan Erickson. The premise is straight out of a romance novel (a PG-rated romance novel; this is Hallmark, after all) and while it’s enjoyable, it probably won’t end up on my rewatch list.

The premise of the movie is that bride-to-be Jordan (Martin), a no-nonsense realtor, is whisked away to Las Vegas for a bachelorette weekend with her friends. While there, she gets drunk and marries movie star Matt (Erickson) in a quickie Vegas ceremony. On the awkward, hungover morning after, they haven’t consummated the marriage, so Matt assures a panicked Jordan that an annulment will be easily obtained and no one need ever know. Alas, it is the age of smart phones and online gossip blogs, so of course their secret doesn’t stay a secret for long. And wouldn’t you know, the idea of the world’s hunkiest movie star marrying a “civilian” boosts his appeal just as his latest movie is poised to premiere. Always keeping his eye on the bottom line, Matt’s manager decides to delay the annulment until after the movie opens, without telling his star client until a while later. Meanwhile, Jordan is left in limbo wondering if she’ll be able to legally marry her fiance, Peter. It’s all very complicated.

While the idea of a celebrated, handsome, rich man falling for a “regular gal” is appealing, and the two leads have decent chemistry, it feels like there’s a scene missing to explain how the Vegas wedding actually happened. We get a quick montage of photos from the big event, but very little set up. (I almost wrote “foreplay”, which isn’t an entirely out of place analogy.) Yes, Jordan was accidentally drunk – that makes sense in context – but what about Matt? Why did he go along with it? And why is he so nonchalant afterward? It’s almost like he gets married in Vegas every other weekend. No big deal. Unfortunately that omission was enough to dampen my enjoyment of the rest of the movie. Given a bit more build up in the beginning, the rest of the (fairly predictable) story would have joined the list of Hallmark movies that I like to curl up on the couch and watch for the umpteenth time on a Sunday afternoon.

That’s just my opinion, though. Watch the premiere of I Married Who? on Saturday, October 20 at 9/8c on The Hallmark Channel and tell me what you think.