Hallmark-ian Review: 'Twist of Fate'

Interior designer Kelly Sands (Cassie Steele) is reluctant to re-enter the dating scene again after a painful breakup with her unfaithful ex-fiancé. Advertising executive Jeff Gates (Ryan Kennedy) is still reeling from the death of his wife, leading him to quit his job and take a position at an auto call center. Their lives unexpectedly collide when a freak car accident has Kelly temporarily trapped in her car, with Jeff answering her call for help. Over the course of their conversation, Kelly and Jeff open up about themselves and a connection is forged.

Afterwards, however, both become convinced they will never find each other again, and attempt to busy themselves in their careers. But with help from their respective friends, it appears fate is working to bring Kelly and Jeff together. But with various mishaps and their own insecurities getting in the way, will Kelly and Jeff ever be able to meet and act on their connection?

On paper, Twist of Fate (originally titled Rescue Me and an original for Hallmark-esque channel Pixl) has a solid concept for a romantic comedy: two people meet and form a connection by chance, and try to connect afterwards, leading to various mishaps that keep them apart. In the right hands, this premise could be utilized to make a heartwarming little feel-good movie for those looking for light and soft to watch. But despite the promise of the film, Twist of Fate fails to be as fun or heartfelt as it wants to be, largely due to the film's poor sense of plotting.

What do I mean by this? I mean that Twist of Fate has a second act that really drags on with little standing out as entertaining. Rather than focusing on the "Will Kelly and Jeff reunite?" conflict, Twist of Fate instead focuses on both protagonists in their respective careers while their respective colleagues' attempts to bring them together is pushed to the sidelines. Given the minimalist nature of this plot, having the second act contain other story arcs that flesh out the protagonists and build tension over whether they will be able to reunite or not is natural. But in the case of Twist of Fate, these arcs are dull, overly drawn out, and sparsely provide moments of substantial development for the protagonists. This lack of focus on Kelly and Jeff's growth throughout the story is a critical failure, as it leaves little room for the audience to become invested in their potential relationship.

Thankfully, Twist of Fate has a strong cast to weather its tedious plotting, with Cassie Steele and Ryan Kennedy succeeding in making Kelly and Jeff's quick bond authentic and real. The pair also succeed in making their respective characters quirky, easy-to-like, and (when the movie takes the time to let them develop as characters) sympathetic. Kennedy has a few rather heartstring-tugging moments in which Jeff is dealing with the loss of his wife, allowing him to make use of the rare moments when the film takes time away from the second act's stale "goings on" to devote time to its main stars.

WARNING: Spoilers below

However, there is one aspect of Twist of Fate that goes beyond dull and into aggravating territory: the character of Tom, Jeff's new co-worker/"friend" who is easily the worst character of the film. This is no insult to actor Andrew Francis, as I doubt anyone could play Tom in the way he's written without evoking frustration from me. With better writing, Tom could've made for a solid surprise antagonist, given how he poses as Jeff in an attempt to date Kelly (the film even managed to pull a nice misdirection and make me doubt that they would go that route with Tom). But instead, Tom's attempt to win over Kelly quickly fails, with Tom later hindering Jeff's attempts to reconnect with Kelly for no real established reason.

Now, had Tom gotten called out on his self-serving and callous actions and gotten a proper telling off from Jeff, this could've made for not only a very cathartic moment given Tom's irritating demeanor, but also as a satisfying conclusion to Jeff's character growth. But instead, Tom's deception isn't revealed until literally moments before the film ends, and he not only doesn't suffer the consequences for it or show any remorse beyond a split second near confession, he ends up being paired up with Lori, a vastly more fun and likable side character played by Andrea Brooks whose arc deserved a much better conclusion.

Spoilers Over

Twist of Fate has some good moments of storytelling sprinkled throughout it, which while nice, unfortunately amplify the weaker elements that surround them. Along with the misdirection mentioned in the Spoiler section, the way Kelly and Jeff's paths interconnect during the film's conclusion was a genuine, effective surprise to me. And while it took a while to get going, the subplot revolving around Kelly and Jeff's friends Rachel and Zack getting together after bonding over their shared attempts to help their friends was sweet and well performed by Karissa Tynes and Nathan Mitchell (both of whom also share nice chemistry with Steele and Kennedy, respectively). Kurt Evans also appears as Jeff's understanding former boss Dave, who plays well off of Kennedy, particularly during Jeff's emotionally packed moments.

For all the good peppered into Twist of Fate, however, it ultimately stands as an example of a Hallmark-ian movie that forgets to keep things lively and instead becomes so sleep-inducing that it crushes any good elements that the film has going for it. Twist of Fate is an unfortunate waste of a good premise and solid cast; one which I hope Pixl has learned from.

Score: 3 out of 10 rare sci-fi books.