Hallmark Spring Fling: Don't Go Breaking My Heart

 

Breaking up is hard to do ... unless you go to boot camp.

Miranda has started a breakup boot camp to help those with broken hearts. The movie begins with Miranda explaining the program to two (bickering) co-hosts of a talk show that were interviewing her. Cue another bickering couple Ben and Jenna as he's focused on becoming an editor and her wanting more from the relationship than he seems to want to give. Ben then meets Miranda outside of the restaurant not realizing that he's speaking to a breakup expert.

"Boy meets girl. Girl gives boy an unreasonable ultimatum. Girl storms out leaving boy to eat both entrees." 

Miranda is hard at work as the instructor of her program with an activity that has her class writing a letter (timed) to their ex and a decision for the end of closure week. They can either send their letter or burn it at the bonfire. Miranda is quick to give advice about broken hearts but it seems that taking her own advice is easier said than done when she's seen cyberstalking who we assume to be her ex after telling her clients to not do that. The theme of the movie is focusing on two main themes: broken hearts do heal and the struggle of moving on from a breakup. Hallmark typically has a theme to each of their movies that have a subtle commentary woven throughout with two people that are struggling in relationships: one that hasn't moved on from an ex and one that won't move forward in his relationships.

Ben's sister comes to him for help not calling her ex who recently got engaged. To not let her call him or ride by his house on her bike. This is the catalyst that will bring Ben to Miranda's boot camp with his sister trying to convenience him to join her for support. The search for Miranda's new instructor is easier in theory when they interview a woman who is perfect on paper before talking about past lives. This adds humor into the story which Hallmark always does with their movies and the interactions between the two create for a humorous start. 

Ben runs into Miranda again to complain about the boot camp about how the woman running it is trying to make money from a new fad and that it seems a little out there. Ben is a little oblivious to the fact that he's got his foot in his mouth until they enter the building and he realizes she's the breakup boot camp teacher. Though this doesn't keep him from chiming in about having fear on the list while she only wants to do activities that empower and uplift. Because it's easy to be angry and cynical with the desire to tear stuff down. She even takes a moment to talk to him and his claim that he's moved on from his breakup after four days.

"Bruises heal faster than breaks." 

Ben then calls Miranda to say that the boot camp is not for him but he's still up for going out for pizza with her. His need to quit the boot camp is short-lived when he ends up encouraged to return to find the story beneath the story and return with a story with the promise of an editor job dangled in front of him. One cyberstalk later and Miranda receives a voicemail from her ex-husband when she accidentally liked one of his photos online. The struggle to move on from her marriage is clearly a trial that's still going on in her life regardless of her advice to her clients. Ben returns to the boot camp with claims that he just saw his ex on a date but leaves out the fact that he's investigating her and the camp for a story. This leads to a humorous scene of the clients punching and kicking bags to release their anger and pain. The boot camp is a metaphoric journey on moving on from a breakup and striving for closure 

Week One: Release

"Less talking, more punching."

Ben steps in to help Miranda when her ex shows up to talk by coming up with a slightly awkward excuse about a reservation at their favorite restaurant. This moment, while humorous, is also a way for the two to talk and for Ben to see how she's still struggling with her ex-husband leaving her. We sense trouble on the horizon as Ben continues to investigate her in an attempt to expose her camp as being a fad or leeching money from people, especially considering he's looking for any reason to find fault with the program such as her "not believing what she's teaching or using it herself." His skepticism will clearly lead to the dark night of the soul between them when she either finds out or a scathing article is released. 

Week Two: Endurance 

"Dogs know, Kim. Dogs know."

Kim is bonding with the handsome host Bink as the two are beginning to bond during the Boot camp while they work out with exercises and obstacle courses. While the boot camp seems over the top (according to Ben), her purpose of the camp is to help her clients feel empowered after a breakup and to remember they have a support system. Her whole philosophy is to create positivity and strength for those that have had their hearts broken. Ben sees her rock climbing on social media so conveniently shows up to get more information. 

His viewpoint is about using negative to grow while she wants to focus on the positive which he uses to subtly interrogate her for more information. He pries into her reasons for starting the boot camp such as treating it as a rebound for her own problems, how many unhealed hearts she's had, and that she doesn't want to deal with her own issues. The two are seeing from two sides of the same coin with her wanting to stay uplifting and positive, while he's more skeptical and negative. Though he doesn't want to see it, the boot camp does seem to at least be getting him to see his own issues with "maybe almost" making a commitment. 

Week Three: Teamwork

"Don't yell at your partner. Lean on them." 

This week is focusing on trust and leaning on others which leads her to bring the clients into an escape room to get everyone to work together to get out. If something's not working, we try a different tactic. She hovers around the room to help them uncover different clues and takes a turn when Miranda and Ben find a secret door that traps them in a small room. Now it's up to the clients to work together to get the two of them out before she has a panic attack from being trapped in a small space. The entrapment of the two leads to a heart-to-heart about letting down your guard which is then interrupted when they manage to get the door open... after failing to actually escape the room. 

Ben may be skeptical and find reasons that are wrong but he's realizing that he's still holding onto an ex from before his last girlfriend. We sense conflicting thoughts for him when it comes time to turn in an article and he must choose between her and his career. Coincidentally this is the exact reason that leads to the breakup with his girlfriend. Hallmark may be a channel of love stories but they had a tendency to say a lot with a little through their romantic plots and their characters. 

Week Four: Connection 

"Empowerment can be kind of a mirage at first."

They are salsa dancing to find a way to be vulnerable and will be doing a dance called a life of love. Originally Miranda is to dance with Bink until Kim and Ben find it too weird to dance with each other so the partners switch up and Miranda ends up dancing with Ben. This is to remember what it feels like to be safe in the arms of another person again. Crisis alert occurs when Kim breaks the rules and sends her letter early to her ex which leads to Ben calling Miranda for help and a heartfelt moment. The use of the different week themes hits upon elements of a breakup and each element is part of the steps to moving forward. 

Danger, danger. Ben's editor wants his notes, no matter how far along they are, and even wants photos. This is the downward spiral to the dark night of the soul as his article at this stage will no doubt be unflattering on Miranda and on her boot camp. 

Week Five: Trust

"The past isn't prologued..." 

Ben shares with the group about when he proposed to his girlfriend when he was twenty-five only to be rejected and for her to take off with her first love. This is a trust exercise for the group that finds Ben trusting the others to catch him when he falls backward. This shows a significant part of the movie that lies underneath which is the use of team and support through the group. While she's helping each individual to move on from their breakups, she's also creating these systems of support which may be more important than anything else. By having them work together, she's giving each of them a bond that helps them move forward as a unit. 

Miranda receives an unexpected reaction from herself when her ex tells her that he's getting married. She doesn't care at all. Despite what she's said, she's finally addressed the issues she's not wanted to face and has finally reached closure with her marriage. The two are opposites from their positive vs negative approaches, but the two also have different ways of facing challenges and interests which gets them to help each other explore new avenues, find closure, and spark a connection. 

Week Six: Closure 

Time to write letters and come full circle from where we saw Miranda at the beginning. Not only have the clients grown but we've also seen Miranda in a better place than she was before. We also see with the end of the class, Miranda discovering Ben's article and learning that he's been writing an expose the whole time. This leads her to take her own advice and writing a letter to Ben to get her feelings out on the paper. The bonfire comes with a moment of clarity and closure as they make the choice to either burn or send their letters. We see a variety of choices with some choosing to burn and others choosing to send while others make the choice to burn mementos such as a chair or a sweater. At the heart of the movie is healing and this moment is where the story comes full circle with the characters letting go of their pain, anger, and broken hearts.

Ben's article has been published which comes with a twist... it's entirely positive and honest with him sharing the steps he took to get back to himself and invites others to give the program a chance. In Hallmark's classic end, all is right with the world and the couple finds their way into each other's arms. His article gets him a promotion to editor, helps give great publicity to Miranda's business... and has a kiss between the two. The movie ends with a jump ahead three months later with Ben and Miranda on the talk show with Bink interviewing them about the boot camp and her new book. Overall, this was a great movie about closure, healing, moving on, facing yourself after a breakup, support, and taking steps to find yourself after a relationship ends. 

Check out the upcoming movies on Hallmark:

One Perfect Wedding - April 3

As Luck Would Have It - April 10

Right In Front of Me - April 17