

With Valentine’s Day approaching, it’s time again to search high and low for a “fresh” rom-com that works to recommend to lovers, young and old. And if we can’t find it in theaters, the next place to hunt is streaming.
“My Best Friend’s Wedding Planner” is a clever title, latching on to the Julia Roberts/Cameron Diaz/Rupert Everett classic of the distant past, promising warmth and awkward fun.
But “Family Friends,” its original title, suited this made-for-TV movie to a T. It’s a bland, instantly forgettable, emotionally-bereft rom-com lacking the “rom” and the “com” to be worthy of that label, and missing all the heart and laughs to merit being mentioned in the same sentence as Dermot Mulroney’s Most Romantic Role Ever.
Amanda Rightetti stars as Sienna Hart, just the sort of name a wedding planner in Albuquerque (the unnamed location) might have. Her business? “Weddings from the Hart.”
Awww.
She’s a busy little bee, 30something and single and the best at what she does in her corner of the world.
“When it comes to weddings, I’m always sure,” she says, after making a suggestion that a client is sure to follow.
We’re sure she’s going to have that certainty challenged. And doggone if it doesn’t come in the 13,749th “collision at the coffee shop/bakery” “meet cute” scene early in the first act.
Could that be old-flame/”We were just friends” Matt (Adam Huss) she’s spilling donuts all over? Why, yes it could.
And that “rush” job hire that this super-organized/Aussie-accented lawyer (Emma Lahana) is dragging her into? Mindy wants to hold it at a garden venue Sienna uses a lot and hopes to purchase. Mindy goes on and on about how “my Boston clients” would “love” this place and should snap it up, as it’s on the market.
Mindy won’t be here for most of the planning of her nuptials. She’ll leave that to the groom. She’s got to rush back to Boston to screw over local-gal Sienna’s dream.
And Mindy’s groom, the fella that Sienna must drag through corsage to cake choice decisions with? Why, it’s local lad made good Matt, whose mom (Susan Anton) just adored Sienna back when they were “just friends.”
Nothing hilarious or the least bit romantic comes out of all this. Nothing. There’s no spark, no wit, no chemistry. We see a few mouth watering-cakes sampled for the big day. But “Family Friends/My Best Friend’s Wedding Planner” always picks Dollar General sugar-free pound cake. Every time.
Rating: TV-PG
Cast: Amanda Righetti, Adam Huss, Emma Lahana and Susan Anton.
Credits: Directed by Daniel Lusko, scripted by Michael Varrati. A Hallmark movie on Amazon Prime.
Running time: 1:34

