I'm just going to say it. I love Hallmark movies...mostly. I know they're cheesy but I can't help myself. The only thing that truly annoys me is when they end in the characters kissing and we don't even get 30 secs of real closure. How many kissing endings do we have to watch?! It's getting old and ridiculous. But I digress. Let's talk about The Makeover specifically. Bottom line...cute premise, good acting, fun Boston accents. Total crap movie.
There's one reason and one reason only for the "total crap movie" label.... Julia Stiles' character. (Let's face it, I feel like this is the only character she plays). There's no denying that Julia Stiles is a great actress. She is wonderful, for sure and for certain. BUT this Hannah Higgins character is HORRIBLE. She is completely unlikeable. Arrogant, narcissistic, downtrodden, rude, argumentative. She has no arc, says the most horrible things to a really likeable and adorable man who's trying his hardest, and NEVER apologizes, even though she goes to him multiple times to apologize. She just ends up blaming him and everyone else around her. I couldn't root for her, I didn't even want to watch her. There wasn't a hint of chemistry or romance and at the end when they kissed, I was just left feeling grossed out. I kept thinking, "Run for the hills man"!
At first I really liked the change in story (from the classic Eliza Doolittle version) but the problem is...the original Higgins was a much older man and was NOT a romantic interest. Higgins wasn't very likeable in the original but you kind of saw him as a tough father figure. If you're going to make Higgins a romantic character, you'd better tone down the negative character traits or for goodness sake, GIVE HER A CHARACTER ARC!! Everyone loves a good character arc. The male lead was to nice and wonderful for us to ever believe he'd fall for a shrew like Hannah Higgins.
There's one reason and one reason only for the "total crap movie" label.... Julia Stiles' character. (Let's face it, I feel like this is the only character she plays). There's no denying that Julia Stiles is a great actress. She is wonderful, for sure and for certain. BUT this Hannah Higgins character is HORRIBLE. She is completely unlikeable. Arrogant, narcissistic, downtrodden, rude, argumentative. She has no arc, says the most horrible things to a really likeable and adorable man who's trying his hardest, and NEVER apologizes, even though she goes to him multiple times to apologize. She just ends up blaming him and everyone else around her. I couldn't root for her, I didn't even want to watch her. There wasn't a hint of chemistry or romance and at the end when they kissed, I was just left feeling grossed out. I kept thinking, "Run for the hills man"!
At first I really liked the change in story (from the classic Eliza Doolittle version) but the problem is...the original Higgins was a much older man and was NOT a romantic interest. Higgins wasn't very likeable in the original but you kind of saw him as a tough father figure. If you're going to make Higgins a romantic character, you'd better tone down the negative character traits or for goodness sake, GIVE HER A CHARACTER ARC!! Everyone loves a good character arc. The male lead was to nice and wonderful for us to ever believe he'd fall for a shrew like Hannah Higgins.