Movie Review :: Hallmark’s The Groomsmen: First Look

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As the Summer gives way to Autumn, the Hallmark Channel finds itself in a season of transition as well, not quite ready to give us the annual ‘Fall into Love’ series of films so the time will be filled with the three-part The Groomsmen trilogy that was first streamed on Hallmark+ in 2024.

The Groomsmen: First Look stars BJ Britt, Jonathan Bennett and Tyler Hynes as the titular groomsmen and best friends, with each film focusing on one of the men. The Groomsmen: First Look is centered around Britt’s Pete, a Philadelphia pediatrician. The movie, however, begins with a framing device of a runaway bride ducking into an Irish pub, even though it is closed, asking for a moment to hide from the men chasing her. She tells the barkeep that they are the reason she’s not getting married, and when asked who ‘they’ are the bride replies, ‘The groomsmen,’ as she begins to relate her story.

Flashing back a year, First Look begins at a different wedding attended by Pete, Danny (Bennett) and Jackson (Hynes). This wedding is Danny’s sister Hannah’s wedding, and Pete is immediately taken with one of the guests, Chelsea (Heather Hemmens). The two have an instant connection after dancing together out in the lobby of the ballroom, too shy to do it inside with a crowd of people. They have a great date the next day but there is one small problem — Chelsea has her own medical practice … in Bulgaria, and a (really) long-distance relationship seems impossible. But Pete is convinced it can work and the two have regular phone calls. But Pete loses touch with Chelsea and assumes she just couldn’t make it work … until she surprises him during a layover in Philly on her way to San Francisco when she tells him she really wants to make this work, but that would require one of them to make the decision to uproot their lives and move to either Bulgaria or Philadelphia. Their feelings are so strong that they both can’t help but saying ‘I love you,’ which only complicates things further.

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Chelsea returns to Bulgaria, and they schedule their first video date, which Danny and Jackson feel the need to offer advice as this is a major deal, so Danny takes Pete shopping for just the right outfit. Unfortunately during the call, the video signal breaks up and all Pete can hear Chelsea is is ‘this isn’t working’ before she hangs up, feeling that she’s given up and has ghosted him. Undeterred, Pete arrives unannounced in Bulgaria — to propose — but he drops the ring on the luggage carousel at the airport and is nearly arrested by trying to crawl into the restricted area to retrieve it. The only person airport security can call is Chelsea, who is shocked to find Pete in the country, and even more shocked when the head of security hands Pete a small box that is obviously a ring box. Now that the cat is out of the bag, Pete throws caution to the wind and proposes to Chelsea right there in the airport in front of the luggage carousel and everyone else. Pete’s major obstacles moving forward are Chelsea’s upper-crust parents, whom he feels he must impress in order to win them over. They are surprised by the sudden engagement, but mom Jane has put herself in charge of making all the arrangements and booking the most grand room she can find, despite the desires of Chelsea and Pete to be married … on the beach. With all that sand.

The situation only escalates closer to disaster when Pete’s free-spirited mother Georgia arrives and immediately overthrows Jane’s plans, ordering the chairs in the room to face a different direction for a better energy flow … and nothing with the color red. Pete is happy when Danny and Jackson show up, but their plan is to take him on an overnight camping trip as the replacement for a traditional bachelor party. Pete is all too happy to get away from the madness, but the hike nearly turns to disaster as well when Danny discovers he can’t get a signal on his phone, therefore he does not know which direction to go. Finding a cave for shelter, Danny refuses to sleep inside because of his fear of spiders, but when Pete and Jackson go to awaken him in his hammock outside the next morning … there is a huge spider on him which totally freaks him out. They set out to find a signal and their way back to the resort, but a huge storm rolls in, forcing them back to the cave until it passes, leaving Chelsea to worry that something terrible has happened. Pete finally returns and as he and Chelsea are reunited on the beach, they basically recite their vows right then and there. But they do get dressed, and Georgia officiates as this story ends happily ever after. But this brings us back to the runaway bride reciting the story, and when the barkeep wonders what could still cause her to run from her wedding after such a happy story, she tells her there is more to this tale.

The Groomsmen: First Look is a pleasant enough rom-com with just enough drama and, unusual for a Hallmark romance, set from the male point of view. If you look deep enough into things, the relationship between Pete, Danny and Jackson is the most stable one any of them have ever had, so there will certainly be a question as to how things will change as romance visits them all moving forward. This movie already sets up a romance for Danny with his friend, whom Jackson and Pete can clearly see Danny has a thing for even though he refuses to admit it … but that will be the subject of the second movie (and it will be curious to see how truly interconnected these movies are as the friend, Zack, is present throughout (except he does not go camping). But it is refreshing to see a Hallmark movie take stock of male friendships and how they deal with the notions of romantic relationships.

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The film works well because of the genuine chemistry between Britt, Bennett and Hynes, all making it seem like they have been true friends since childhood, and while this one is Britt’s headliner, Bennett and Hynes are shuffled off to the background or completely out of sight (as seems to happen with these film series that Hallmark produces, putting one character front and center while shuffling the others off to do their own thing — and then not making the rest of the movies fall into the right continuity). Britt plays Pete as a ball or anxieties and nervous energy (hopefully he’s not like that while practicing medicine), but that makes him all the more endearing, like when he decides to chase Chelsea’s taxi as she leaves for the airport, only needing oxygen and water when he gets back to the hotel (only to find Chelsea was still in the hotel the first time that happened). He manages to keep his emotions on an even keel even when faced with Chelsea’s parents, his friends taking him camping, the arrival of his mother (whom he hasn’t actually seen for a while), and the storm that could blow everything away. Through his performance, Britt makes you root for Pete and Chelsea to find their true love and live happily ever after … wherever that may be.

Bennett and Hynes also turn in some nice performances, Bennett’s Danny the more high-strung of the bunch, the one who has to organize everything, often over-the-top with his take charge attitude, while Hynes plays that character he has perfected, the snarky, droll guy armed with a one-liner to enhance or diffuse any situation (Jackson also has a daughter who is besties with Danny, so it will be interesting to see what her relationship is with Jackson when we get to his featured film). Heather Hemmens is wonderful as Chelsea, wearing her heart on her sleeve, obviously attracted to Pete whenever they are in the same vicinity as the other. Chelsea is a secondary character in this story, but she makes the most of her screen time, never once casting any doubt about how Chelsea feels toward Pete, and never once considering throwing in the towel on the whole marriage when things spiral out of control with her mother, then Pete’s mother, taking the reins. She does a really nice job and is perfectly matched with Britt.

Of the large supporting cast, Chloe Raphael brings a nice energy and precociousness to the role of Betty, Jackson’s daughter. Alexander Lincoln doesn’t get very much to do as Danny’s friend Zack, yet anyway. Brucella Newman-Persaud perfectly plays the snooty Jane, a woman who seems to feel she has the God-given right to control every aspect of her daughter’s life, while Wendy Mae Brown adds some comic relief as Pete’s mother Georgia, while also showing some surprising motherly concern for Chelsea as they worry about Pete out in the storm.

While pretty much everything works in The Groomsmen: First Look, it still feels like it’s missing some kind of a spark that makes it as special as many of the Hallmark romances. Hopefully things will settle into place with the second film as everyone gets more comfortable in their roles and storylines. For now, this one is entertaining enough but not at the top of the rom-com heap.

The Groomsmen: First Look has a run time of 1 hour 23 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.

Preview – The Groomsmen: First Look

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