Marrying Mr. Darcy: Movie Review

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Marrying Mr. Darcy

Runtime- 1hr 26min

Air date- June 2nd, 2018

Director- Steven R. Monroe

Writers- Teena Booth, James Iver Mattson, and B.E. Braun

Filming locations- Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Where to watch- Rent/buy on Prime Video or stream Hallmark Movies Now on Prime Video Channels

Starring Cindy Busby as Elizabeth Scott and Ryan Paevey as Donovan Darcy

Source

Summary

In this sequel to Unleashing Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth, and Donovan are absolutely in love, and together choose to get married. With social pressures due to Donovan’s status all of a sudden, the wedding timeline cuts drastically short. Elizabeth starts second-guessing who she is marrying. As these two worlds collide, can love prevail through these differences?

Initial Thoughts

This movie did branch off and became a bit far off to be considered a “Jane Austen-inspired” work. But it is a sequel to a “Jane Austen-inspired” film, so I feel it is fair to give it its day.

I want to say for the most part it stayed with the continuity of the first film. But as I progressed into the film and reflected a bit after, I began to disagree.

Changes from the first film

There were some minor changes, like I believed that Elizabeth and Jenna had a younger sister who made a very brief appearance at the beginning of Unleashing Mr. Darcy alongside their mother, (I remember first thinking that this might be a “Lydia” character). But no mention or appearance in this film. 

Another change was that Felicity did not make a reappearance in this film either. I understood that she was the “villain” type in the first film. But she is also Henry’s sister and childhood friend of Donovan. Even Violet Darcy returned and played a major part.

Another slight change is they had another actress play Zara Darcy in this film, played by Yasmeene Ball.

Donovan’s work

The biggest change, however, is Donovan’s work. I might have missed something in the first film, but I was under the impression that Donovan was extremely wealthy with ‘old money.’ With his large wealth and influence focused mostly on the Darcy Foundation. Plus his other ‘job,’ which could be considered a hobby-like activity since he is so rich was a dog show judge.

In this film, he spends a lot, and I mean a lot of time at his company. The excuse the film made for this reason is that he ‘wants to plan a month-long honeymoon and to surprise Elizabeth with it at the wedding.” This all of course has to be done at his company. And in terms of being a dog show judge or even Elizabeth being a dog show handler, they seem to drop the hobby after Donovan’s puppies got old enough to go to new homes. They ‘keep’ a puppy, and have one of Elizabeth’s cavalier, but no sign of the mother dog that Donovan had in the first film. I know dog actors can be such divas that it is hard to maintain these animal actors. I kid.

Theme

Anyways, in terms of what the main theme of the film is, it is certainly not one I can connect to the main themes in Jane Austen’s novels. I could try and bend and warp a theme to it, but that would just be ridiculous.

The theme or trope is two people are very different with very different lives and the challenges they face and whether or not love is enough.

Final Thoughts

It is a cute movie. If you love and can’t wait to know what happens next at the end of movies, this might fit your bill and fulfillment for Unleashing Mr. Darcy.

Also, Ryan Paevey is still consistent with the voice he used for the first film if anyone is still curious.

Would I watch this again? Maybe.