The CW delivered another cute romance as part of their Harlequin slate.
And this time, we had a dash of supernatural charm with The Flash‘s Danielle Panabaker, as the quirky Gemma tried to allow fate via the advice of an unusual psychic, predict what her love life had in store for her.
What did it have in store? The handsome, sweet, and emotionally wounded Nick.
It’s not totally out there for some romances to dabble with the unknown, pushing notions of fate and destiny as they apply to life.
A little dash of supernatural elements and magic in a romance is rarely a bad thing. For Second Guessing Fate, it mostly feels like a gimmick that doesn’t always mesh well with the story.
Sometimes, it feels like the film has to try too hard to play into it, with the occasional reference, or Gemma’s nightmares with Madame Morgana waxing on about her love life in that cryptic way that the entire plot hinges on.
Because if Gemma didn’t misinterpret what Morgana was saying, we’d never have a movie in the first place.
Her disastrous love life, all because of a fortune teller, has its cute moments. Gemma herself is a quirky enough lead to be fun, and she has some moments in the middle of the film where it’s clear she loses sight of herself, which is disappointing in that way, where you want better for her.
But she comes around to where she needs to be by the end of the film.
Although part of the issue is that her realization of how she needs to take a stance, or stand firm in her own convictions without seeking the approval of others or allowing someone else to dissuade her or mold her, is a bit too linked to her relationship with Nick.
If it’s Nick who is the one who has to tell her these things, then isn’t it merely him serving as a force of good, doing the same things everyone else is? It gets a bit iffy in that regard for me, but it’s also a matter of me analyzing just a bit too much for a cute little romcom.
We spend a great deal of the movie watching Gemma lose herself in this relationship with Enzo, which never quite sits right, all because of Helen, Enzo, and Madame Morgana.
Even when all of the “sighs” were there, Enzo was a handsome face masquerading as a walking red flag in a debonair suit. He didn’t want Gemma so much as arm candy and a woman he could influence, control, and only bother with at his convenience.
His total disregard for her job, how she does what she does, and her time was off-putting from the moment he hung up on her and then ignored her assertion that she wouldn’t join him at a function.
We also missed out on the function. To really allow how out of place Gemma was in Enzo’s world and hit all the right notes of selling that story, we probably should have had more time in the thick of it with Gemma.
On top of that, they eased in that Gemma’s reasons for often feeling as she does link to how outcast she feels with her mother and sister. Her father was the quirky sort who saw the world as she did, and when he died, she lost her person.
But because the film doesn’t necessarily introduce her mother until the last two acts, it doesn’t sell the tension, the reconciliation, or the ability to move forward.
There wasn’t enough time spent on little plot points like that for them to have any real stakes.
Nevertheless, Second Guessing Fate was wholesome and cute enough. Danielle Panabaker and Corey Sevier had great chemistry, and it was just a nice little waiting game until Gemma and Nick finally got together.
As someone who loves a friends-to-lovers arc, I thoroughly enjoyed that the film spent time building up their relationship even as she was dating Enzo.
And we mostly had Nick’s scene-stealing bestie to thank for reminding him that just because he couldn’t have Gemma in his life the way that he wanted, it doesn’t mean he had to exclude her from it.
It kept the film from falling into an all-too-problematic pattern of a guy like Nick putting the onus for his feelings on Gemma, with some all-or-nothing notion that often diminishes any other form of dynamic outside of romance.
Nick’s world was in black and white before Gemma stepped into it, and she brought the splashes of color that he needed. That was who and what she was, regardless of whether they would become romantic or not.
I was relieved that it clicked for him, and he didn’t let his love or his jealousy override his desire to keep spending time with someone he connects with and enjoys.
It was also lovely that Nick saw through Gemma and even amid her nearly screwing up the function they planned together because of her second-guessing herself, he wanted her to do and be better, not just because of his event for the kids but for herself, too.
Gemma desperately needed to trust herself. By the end of the film, she does, but I also wish Second Guessing Fate spent a bit more time on fleshing that out.
But the film also delivered one of the romantic trope flips I like, with Gemma being the one to put herself out there again and make amends with Nick to win him back. It’s her professing her feelings to him and realizing that the ball was in her court to make it right.
As a woman, I’m not above enjoying our romcom girlies having to do the work sometimes, too. A little role-reversal spices things up and makes them fun.
And that’s mostly what this movie served up: cuteness and fun.
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