Flower Girl (2009)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Just want to vent some of my stacked-up thoughts about one aspect of this kind of movie.So glad there's another review on the "best" page that's got the exact same direct thoughts I did! Man, that grandma was SO friggin' annoying. This movie would have been yet another 10/10 perfect movie for Master Marla Sokoloff had it not been for that meddling and nagging grandma! Years ago, during college, there was a reading class, and the article was a story about a poor boy and a rich girl in love, then the relationship ended in tragedy after her parents intervened. When the teacher asked us what did we learn from the article I immediately jumped out, "Parents are jerks." True, parents do want what's best for their children, but sometimes they intervene way too much, they presume to know everything, and even stepping into off-limit zones unauthorized. My temper just flares every time Laurel's grandma says that Laurel's "not gonna be happy with Steven", that he'd "undermine her plan", and she "had to protect her, and couldn't let her get hurt", or sh*t like that. Don't these parents ever get the irony? That's exactly what causes those tragedies, what hurts them, and loses those who are closest to them!Parents want to set their children up with people THEY deemed suitable and do everything in their power to ruin their children's relationship with their own true love... what is this, inland China? Didn't Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi tragedy, or more popular - Romeo and Juliet tragedy - manages to tell those intervening parents to f*ck off? Wonder when the hell children are gonna tell their parents, once and for all, "Basta! Enough is enough! Stay off my personal life; it's off-limits!" I personally detest parents who presume to think that forcing their children with the ones THEY deem suitable a good idea. This isn't ancient China no more, and liberty to love is what keeps the essence of Humanity going, and if all marriages are done via arrangements, then I'm guessing Humanity would extinct emotionless and cold.Although, on the other side, Stephen's partner, Elsa, was indeed helpful. She seems always supportive of Stephen's relationship with Laurel, and the first time this confirmed was when Stephen told Elsa about Laurel, she spotted the fact Laurel's grandmother intervened and replied(paraphrased), "nothing is as important as love." That is true friendship right there. Then when she figures out the yellow tulips Laurel brought, first question she confronted Stephen with was, "Why didn't you tell her about me?" As in, "Why didn't you tell her that YOU were the one writing the books and I'm only a public face?" A friend that puts her partner's wellfare first and not being overwhelmed by public fame - that is rare greatness. Clearly fate rewarded her with her next personal book a success.Gonna end this review on a funny note: There's a guy at the Bridezilla wedding that just suddenly went "Pffv" laughing, that was really fun. Wonder if that was in the script, or someone on the filming set actually cracked...

I never bad-mouth any one's work, although I do sometimes offer constructive criticism.. In the case of a film that's already been finished, it's too late..I figure there are a few movies that I know their central story-line and am not interested so I don't watch. Others like Flower Girl I find have some redeeming things going for them. This one has a case of mis- casting..Marion Ross as an over-bearing,meddling grandmother who thinks she knows who may be better suited for her marriage-age grand-daughter more than the young Laurel (Marla Sokoloff) is a lot to put up with..someone playing it more subtle would have played better. Terry Maratos playing Dr. Evan Cooper is quite unbelievable as the doctor..not even after the first date he has already told his mother about this girl he can't forget. There is no chemistry whatsoever between them. Other reviewers have said the pacing is awkward..TRUE..some of the character's names came right out of central casting..check out the credits ..Evan Cooper..Stephen Banks..but back to the story..a lot of stories have a romantic mis-understanding..we have it here in spades..but hopefully it will all work out in the end..the things it does have going for it are the two leads playing Laurel and Stephen..that's it..they are good together ..mis-understandings aside..there is a good natural chemistry..he doesn't feel as though he's acting..he's pretty good and Marla/Laurel complements him..not a bad film..just annoying in those two areas..Marion Ross and the hard to take Dr. Cooper as a love interest..when their scenes are on you can always head to the fridge..7 out of 10..

:WARNING SPOILERS:I found Flower Girl to be a most sweet and sunny film, but one far too sweet and sunny for it's own good. I felt that the plot of the film was very weak and thin, and I also found it to be real boring pretty much from the start. It also had what was to me an unrelenting tone of cloying sweetness. You know how films like these are classified as romantic comedy, romantic drama? Well this one was ALL romance, no drama no laughs, no nothing. Real sickly sweet,like Betty White.(Love her.)I've seen a ton of romantic girl movies just like this one, and I have enjoyed them for the most part. Not so much with this one. I have seldom seen a romance movie so very bad... The plot was not something anyone who knows there romance movies has not heard a hundred times before: There's this lovable girl who has just gotta get married, but first this pretty girl she has got a few iddy biddy hurdles to overcome, such as having to choose between two stud muffins, but, and call me crazy now, I had a very strong feeling it would all work out in the end...(!) Of course the little sweety does indeed achieve her dream and a bitchin' huge fairytale of a wedding and is most assuredly going to live happily ever after. Meh... Sounds good, don't it? But trust me in this instance it's a case of style over substance. I actually love schmaltzy, uplifting movies like these-When.They.Are.Done.Well!!! I couldn't glean a thing from this slushy garbage. And as for the pace of the movie, I had no problem there. It certainly wasn't over until it was over! The reason I didn't give this rotten movie a numero uno is because I didn't actually think the acting was bad, and it did have a very nice, clear look to everything, but big hairy deal. It's not how it looks its how it feels. The entire thing to me was dull,(Ha! it was the first time I ever saw something that was simultaneously both shiny and dull!)pretentious, and real, REAL boring. In films like this I have watched in the past the lead, always a girl, was likable, lovable, and fun. The lead girl in this film to me however, was very non-likable and just plain annoying. I just found everything about her performance to be most false, and I just couldn't bring myself to care about her at all. Don't ask me why(!)Perhaps it would have been a better picture had they picked a better lead, no? As I read his directography(?) I see that I have caught quite a few of Bradford May's movies on the telly over the years, including his romantic ones, some of which are very similar to this film. But, I enjoyed all of those far more than I did Flower Girl. It seems that something just wasn't written in the stars when he directed this one... Awful. I never enjoyed a romance movie less. Bye.

I caught this movie when it premiered on Hallmark (11.14.09) and while I expected the typical Hallmark/Lifetime (well maybe not Lifetime these days), I thought the pacing of the movie was too fast. I know they've got a block of time to fit the story, but it's really hard to buy a marriage at the end of the film after what 2 dates? It's the standard story: girl is alone, all of girl's friends are married, girl wants to be married, girl has meddling family member, girl meets two men who are polar opposites, girl has to decide btwn the two, girl chooses. The endings to these types of films are predictable, so in the end, it becomes about the execution. For example, in Hallmark's other new movie Always and Forever, while it's clear what the end will be, the execution of it all and the pacing of the movie made it all believable. I think movies like this work best when the script shows that time has past..that the characters have really gotten to know each other. For example, the guy Stephen, was holding a big secret. We eventually find out why he was so secretive, but there's really no way I or most other women would have let him dodge the subject soooo many times and not said screw it.I don't want to give any major spoilers, so I will just say that it's an easy-going movie, the cast was great, lots of familiar faces. I just felt that better pacing would have gone a long way to help fill out the storyline.