A Time to Dance (2016 TV Movie) User Reviews

Not the usual romance

[Jackbv123 · 7/10 · 10 January 2020]

This movie is more real than most Hallmark movies. It is about what real people do in weak moments or when they have given and given but felt like they were betrayed. These are not perfect people, and some might argue (reviewers have argued) that they are not very nice people. That's the point. The point is not to criticize their flaws but to see what could be, what might be, maybe what should be.

There's a scene late in the movie where Abby makes a mistake that really isn't all her fault. All the repairing of the relationship seems to fall apart and that's reality too.

This isn't the most entertaining Hallmark movie I've seen, but the story is totally unlike 99% of their stories. The subject matter makes it worth watching through to the end.

Karen Kingsbury writes a lot of Christian stories and there are references to God in this movie but they are not overpowering or particularly preachy at least in terms of religion. There is some preaching in terms of fidelity and family.

Not a Happy Movie. 90 Minutes of Will They, Won't They.

[mamachikn · 5/10 · 28 February 2022]

This started out nicely. But after an hour of sadness and anger it was still going on. The stated theme was carried out for the entire movie until the last 3 minutes, as one reviewer mentioned. He was annoying, she was sad. Misunderstandings kept it going. Everyone would have known about this "secret" they carried; very obvious. At the final end, it's resolved. OMG. Tedious and a real downer. In spite of good advice by Pops.

Depressing or Enlightening

[athompsonblue · 6/10 · 22 August 2021]

If your marriage is in a good, happy place, then skip this movie. It's depressing. And it's hard to believe that the kids are oblivious to their parents being on the verge of divorce. Their facial expressions and tone of voice broadcast their misery. We never see what they even look like as a happy couple.

But, if your marriage is in trouble, this movie can be enlightening. Corbin Bernsen gives a good analogy of how marriage is like a house. You invest in it, and you make repairs where needed. Marriage is a commitment, and you shouldn' t stop trying. Spouses should support each other in their careers, but also remember that their marriage is more important than either career. Marriage needs a bedrock of solid friendship and trust. Your love should be able to withstand misunderstandings and stress. Don't jump to conclusions about your spouse -- show some trust. And don't put all the blame on your spouse. In this movie, Abby should have asked herself why her husband feels like he can't talk to her. And John should have asked himself what he could do more to be emotionally there for his wife.

Woman gives up career & dreams to support husband. Marriage fails anyway.

[cuanbiao · 18 May 2017]

Why on earth do some people give up their dreams & aspirations to support their significant others? No one wants that kind of unhappy sacrifice. Honestly.

Instead, like in this film, the husband turns to another woman -purely platonic he says, and gets exasperated when questioned. He may not have considered her a potential love interest, but he sure told her private things, like the impending divorce (which even the kids don't know yet). So he "can't talk to" his wife anymore, the woman who stood by him so he could concentrate on coaching his team for decades without worrying about supporting her writing career. But he can find time to tell his innermost thoughts to a woman who openly flirts with him.

Did I mention that the still married couple refuses to tell everyone about the situation until after their daughter's wedding? The entire movie consists of the husband walking off, disappointed & angry for some reason, while his wife stands there, looking sad & unhappy. Then, in the last 3 minutes, they make up. That's it.

Slow, boring, terrible acting!

[pippiandme · 2/10 · 23 June 2020]

Like another reviewer said, only Corbin Bernsen and Dan acted well. What the heck happened to Jennie Garth's acting ability? And the movie just dragged and was melancholy the whole time. One of the worst Hallmark movies I've ever seen!

Emotional Hallmark

[crystal-viola45 · 9/10 · 8 November 2017]

One of the best from Hallmark movies. Rekindling a romance is one of my favorite plots both in books and movies and Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite romance authors. the story is very emotional and a lot of couples could relate to. The two leading actors were great, Jennie Garth was so convincing, and Dan Payne is one of a few Hallmark stars that have the needed chemistry for his roles. Hallmark doesn't always get it right, but this was one of these few times they did. I watched it more than once.

REALLY bad!

[moviereviewer99 · 1/10 · 20 January 2020]

Had a nice storyline, but REALLY BAD ACTING, except for John Reynolds (Dan Payne) and Pops (Corbin Bernsen).

They showed emotions whereas the others, especially Abby Reynolds (Jennie Garth, who I've never been a fan of).

They sounded like they were just reading a bland script and told, "Don't show any emotion" and they didn't.

Yes, the script was predictable. It's a Hallmark movie, but they couldn't have gotten some better actors/actresses to play the parts.

Glad I didn't spend any $$$ to watch this movie. I got it from my local library.

Missing something.

[tiam-80313 · 9/10 · 18 July 2022]

Like all Kingsbury novels this one too includes faith. However, it is sadly missing from the movie. An example of the world's hatred of Christianity and its attempt to cancel God. It's ok to discuss every other belief but not Christianity. Kingsbury should move her book/movie deals to GAC.

YUK

[LtlHippo · 1/10 · 12 March 2022]

Considering how many marriages end in divorce, I wish for once, it would have played out like real life. They grew apart. Get divorced, live your life over for YOU. Never saw any real chemistry between them as adults anyway.

Omg

[bronxgirlcl · 27 July 2016]

Okay so Jennie Garth is so so unhappy being married to a wonderful man who is handsome and bright but wears sweatpants and sweatshirts... Poor. This woman is so annoying. If she smiled once in the first hour her face would have cracked. Miserable to be around and if I were her daughter I'd say HEY MOM for goodness sake smile. What is with those kids anyway? They can't see misery in that woman's face and the attitude she's throwing off? Give me a break. The doom and gloom of mom is enough to turn the channel. I felt bad for the husband John who didn't have a clue . He's better off divorcing that sour puss and hooking up with the red head.

Big Disappointment (Spoilers from book and movie)

[daveswife-05265 · 2/10 · 30 May 2024]

I have read this book many times, and I really like it. Believe me, I understand creative license when making a movie based on a book, but honestly, they could have made this movie without the book at all. Other than the basic synopsis---husband and wife heading for divorce only to find out their daughter is getting married, so they decide to postpone telling their kids until after the wedding---And the main (movie) characters' names, they might as well have just written their own story.

1. This movie was based on a faith-based book. John and Abby may have stepped a bit away from God in this title (although it is clear that He is calling them back to Him), but Nicole and Matt definitely did not. Their faith is strong. None of it is shown in this movie. Although, there is one scene in which they are leaving church and talking in the parking lot. In the wedding scene, of course, the Pastor does mention a scripture verse.

2. In the book, John's relationship with Charlene is MUCH deeper than it is depicted in the movie, and Charlene has definitely made her desires for him known. In the book, they are making plans to be together after John and Abby's divorce. In the movie, John seems oblivious to even the minimal flirting coming from Charlene until close to the end of the movie and then he apologizes to Charlene if he had given her any indication that they were more than just friends. Charlene replies that he didn't.

3. "Pops" is much sicker in the book than in the movie, and in fact, during the "love her" scene, John and Abby are having a hard time figuring out what he is trying to say due to the severity of his stroke. He actually ends up dying shortly after his stroke, but before then, he lives in a nursing home battling Parkinson's disease.

4. They barely touch on Kade's report on the eagle, which is a big part of how John starts looking at Abby in a different way. And of course, there is nothing in the movie showing how John and Abby are remembering scripture in relation to their relationship, and their problems concerning it.

3. There are important characters in the book that were not even mentioned in the movie. At the same time, there are characters that are made more important in the movie that are only slightly touched upon in the book. Where are Matt's parents, Jo and Denny?? They were important characters in the book for many different reasons. In fact, Jo is the reason that Abby makes the scrapbook for Nicole in the first place. Then, of course, there is Jo and Denny's reconciliation (they divorced after Matt was born), as well as both of them becoming Christian and growing in the faith.

Abby's editor?? He is only mentioned in the book as an editor she keeps in touch with via e-mail. In fact, she has never met with him face to face, but is definitely having an emotional relationship with him--so much to the degree that she is planning a trip to New York after Matt and Nichole's wedding to finally meet him. Yeah, the movie makes it out like she was innocent, but in the book, she definitely has her issues too. Oh!! And John and Abby have a younger son named Sean. They also had a daughter that passed away a few months after birth (Hayley Ann) that is brought up a lot in the book. Abby's sister is only mentioned briefly in the book (Abby is talking to her), but in the movie, they have made her an important character. John's coach friend?? I have no idea who he is, but he ends up getting together with Abby's sister. That whole story line was only in the movie.

There was never really an attempt on either part to try to work things out until the very end of the book. Really though, even if I had only seen the movie and not read the book, that scene with John and Abby at the dock, was poorly written too. John looked like he was attempting reconciliation with Abby at first with the flowers, the note and the license plate. Yes, Abby was late, but how did he not see from the start how sorry she was? I mean, for someone who seemed to be making such an attempt, to not even give her a chance to explain---especially after she told him that something really good had happened to her?? That was just heartless. And then for him to respond that the good thing that happened to him was that he saw that they weren't going to work---that whole scene just seemed so far-fetched. Of course, that's pretty much how it goes with Hallmark movies anyway, isn't it?? There is a misunderstanding and the one person is truly sorry trying to explain, but the person that supposedly loves them refuses to hear them out. Anyway....

I could go on, but I think I have made it clear how much of a disappointment this movie was---at least if you have read the book it is based on. People can say "well, they didn't want all of the "faith stuff" in the movie" but really, why did they even bother to, theoretically, base it on this book? And the thing is...the people who would have been most drawn to this movie at first would have already been fans of Karen Kingsbury anyway. Even if someone didn't know who she was, the movie would have been better if they had stuck closer to the author's original intent rather than take such a huge amount of "creative license". I mean, if you don't want to make a faith based movie, than don't base it off of a faith based book. And if you like the book, then don't take such license to change it into something barely recognizable.

Beautifully Done

[tamlynn-149-554270 · 9/10 · 13 October 2020]

This story was taken from the pages of Karen Kingsbury's book, which I have yet to read, and the premise piqued my interest, having just celebrated 25 years of marriage. Not only did the story line not disappoint, the writing, acting and directing all came together beautifully. Having seen so many couples around us not make it, and knowing first hand that marriage takes work, this felt like a real peek into a nice family's story that was quickly unraveling, even though from the outside, everything seemed perfect. The film opens showing the main couple when they were high school sweethearts, then fast-forwards 25 yrs later. As they make plans to draw up papers and begin to dissolve their union, they are surprised by their daughter's engagement. They decide to hold off telling anyone of their plans until after the wedding. A heart-felt lesson of the importance of not throwing away promises.

Painful to Watch

[lalighton · 1/10 · 4 April 2021]

Hallmark let me down on this one. I don't watch the Crown's movies to watch miserable people be miserable. And the groom to be didn't ask his girlfriend's father for marriage permission? Doesn't bode well for theirs to succeed either. Don't give the writer another chance to bomb.

Marriage is hard

[MickyG333 · 8/10 · 11 February 2024]

7.6 stars.

Marriage is hard and that's what I learn from this story. What a sad tale of a couple who've been married for over 20 years and have two kids going to college and now the marriage has failed. But the daughter has just gotten engaged, so they can't announce their looming divorce anytime soon. There are a lot of tears shed feeling sad for two people who just don't know how to get into the marriage zone like they used to. This happens to almost every marriage that I'm aware of. Let's not forget the percentage of couples that get divorced, then you have all the single people who never get married, and then the ones who almost get divorced, but they stay together for appearances only. How many HAPPY people have I just described? None. The only happy ones are married for life and they've discovered the secret. One such gem of knowledge is to ask the question: what is marriage? The answer: It's a job. You have to treat it like your job. You have to show up on time, do the work right, get the work done, get along with your co-workers, improve and excel and promote until you are the boss. If we remember to treat a marriage like our life depends on it, something that creates a livelihood, supports family and children, puts food on the table, and its first and foremost ahead of everything else - including the "day job", maybe, just maybe, it will succeed. I bet almost every person reading this has experienced divorce, separation, or never got married. If you are still married, good for you, but don't continue taking your spouse for granted. If you aren't certain whether you are taking them for granted, then YOU ARE! If you aren't bleeding, sweating, and crying every day to save your marriage, to love your spouse with all the energy you have, wearing yourself down to the bone, then you aren't doing it right. Don't let your current successful marriage fail because you think you've got it right. If you're not working tirelessly to maintain love for your spouse and to do and be all you can for them, then you will fail (luck runs out eventually). Take from someone, one of the many billions of humans in earth's history, who has experienced a failed marriage.

True Love Must Be Unconditional and Forever!

[robert23-1 · 10/10 · 2 January 2018]

Jenny Garth, one of the best actresses in Hollywood today, was superb in her role. From the days of Beverly Hills 90210 until now, she continues to make those around her better. Her acting generosity, again, shines in this movie. The chemistry between her character(Abby) and Dan Payne(adult John) is a casting tour de force. Their scenes together, especially on the dock, make this movie worth watching. The rest of the supporting cast, especially Corbin Bernson(L.A. Law) as Abby's father, was very good. Although the ending was predictable, this movie is not to be missed. Congratulations to the casting department, director and writers!

Robert(Canada); [e-mail]