Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel’s second ‘Loveuary’ movie and it asks the question is there real magic in a birthday wish, is fate a real thing, or do things just happen randomly in the world?
The Wish Swap star Emily Tennant as Casey, a young woman who loves her job of helping other people find better jobs. But as her co-workers are well-aware, Casey leave little time for her own life. Jake Foy co-stars as Henry, a farm manager who one day hopes to have a little farm of his own, but in the meantime he is content where he is. By coincidence — or is it? — the two also share a birthday, and when their assembled friends and family meet at the same restaurant and are seated at tables next to each other, Casey and Henry strike up a conversation. When Casey’s large cake is brought to the table, it becomes clear that Henry’s brother forgot to cake him a cake so Casey offers to share hers, and the two make a wish at the same time and blow out the candles.
Almost immediately Henry gets a call to appear on a television dance competition called ‘Dance Your Heart Out’, a Dancing With the Stars type of show but with everyday people instead of celebrities. Henry does not want to put himself on television to be ridiculed for his two left feet. Casey is stunned by the call because her number one wish for this birthday is to be on ‘Dance Your Heart Out’. Later she sees that she missed a call at the same time asking her to visit a lawyer’s office the next day. She does and learns she had an aunt she never knew who left Casey her farm as she was the only known living relative. This prompts Casey to surmise the two wishes got swapped somehow, and she visits Henry at the farm to try and convince him that there is obviously some magic at play here. She begs him to do the show, and in exchange she will let him run her farm for a year. Knowing he can’t dance, she assures him that they will be eliminated first so it’s no big deal. He agrees, they practice but Henry actually performs well and they make it to the next round — and with that Casey has to up her offer for two years at the farm and he can live in the house … and even if she gets mad at him she can’t throw him out. The pair become a hit on TV thanks to their natural witty banter with the host, and suddenly an offer comes for them to open for a comedian at a local comedy club. Again, not what Henry wants to do but the comedian does not allow phones at the performance so there’s no chance anyone outside the club will see him fall on his face. But, with a little help from some friends planted in the audience by Casey, Henry finally warms up and it all goes well. But Henry begins to wonder just how many wishes Casey made on her birthday, and she explains that she just made one wish: to have her birthday wish list come true, and the first two have. He wants to know the third but she refuses to tell him, insisting it has nothing to do with him. But the two begin to develop more than a friendship, even though Casey doesn’t seem to want to admit it, and Henry does the unforgivable — snoops on her laptop to see what the third wish is. Once Casey discovers this violation of trust, she pulls out of the last round of the dance competition and gives Henry the cold shoulder. Can he fix things before the TV show goes on air, and will her final wish actually come true (or has it already)?
The Wish Swap is an utterly charming romantic comedy, and no one does this better than Hallmark. Some of their recent movies have ventured into whimsical territory where ‘magic’ seems to have a hand in the plot that makes wishes come true (see Tell Me Santa). Here it’s all about a simple birthday wish, and thankfully it’s not one of those ‘careful what you wish for situations’, more like just make one wish at a time. Betsy Morris’ screenplay creates a group of wonderful characters in Casey and Henry, but also in its supporting characters, in particular Casey’s co-worker Jess and Henry’s niece Charlotte and farm hand Peter (with the story also giving them a hint of romance). The notion that wishes can be magically swapped and come true is silly, but here it feels perfectly natural and the whole premise works. Director David I. Strasser also firmly grounds the situation in reality, avoiding any techniques that would explain this all away as something purely magical, so the audience is completely invested in the story.
Hallmark Channel
Hallmark is well-known for its stable of lead actors, all of them with their various charms, but Tennant and Foy just ooze charm and have great chemistry, making their two strangers in a strange situation easily fall into a rhythm together, never really making it obvious that they are falling for each other but still having those feelings just under the surface so that when it all seems to blow up in Henry’s face we need to seem the patch things up because fate most certainly brought them together. Tennant plays the tightly wound and extremely focused Casey to perfection, and even though she is very career-minded, Tennant never makes it seem out of character when she does begin to realize slowing things down and begins delegating some of her work to her co-workers. Foy also seems right at home on a farm, and the awkwardness he gives Henry is totally endearing, especially because he also allows himself to grow in his confidence. The way he looks at Casey clearly shows he sees her as more than a dance partner or farm owner, even though Casey doesn’t seem to notice. These two just work so well together you want to see more by the time it’s all over.
While all of the supporting cast is excellent, Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe is a stand-out as Casey’s friend and co-worker Jess. She is the one who forces Casey to let go a bit, and she seems to clearly see that Henry is falling in love. Through her performance, you feel like Jess and Casey have known each other for years, and Jess is certainly a very nurturing person, supporting Casey and her dreams but also there to knock her back into reality, especially when Henry messes up, agreeing that what he did was bad, but pointing out that Casey exacerbated the situation by not being completely honest with him. Now that’s a true friend and Jess is written and performed just perfectly. Also terrific are Molly Saunders as Charlotte and Jason Fernandes as Peter. Saunders delivers Charlotte’s witty zingers with such skill that it just seems so natural. She also shines in a moment with Henry when she actually has to be the adult and points out that while he and Casey might have this little hiccup, it’s not the end of the world and he needs to be the big man here and apologize for violating Casey’s trust and telling her how he feels. Fernandes is great with his deadpan ‘what she said’ reactions to Charlotte, while also clearly showing he has feelings for her even though she seems to just be in a ‘friend zone’. Also fantastic is Pascale Hutton as the dance coach Gloria. She does little to hide her disdain for Henry’s ‘dancing’ skills, but she covers it up a bit with some sarcastic one-liners that feel more humorous than mean-spirited. She has some great facial reactions and has one funny moment when Casey storms into the dance rehearsal to confront Henry, clearly seeing that she does not need to be part of this drama.
Everything about The Wish Swap is perfection. The script, the direction, the production design, the lovely outdoor locations, and the outstanding cast make this one you can watch repeatedly.
The Wish Swap has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.
Preview – The Wish Swap
Hallmark Channel