This is a movie which can be divided into two halves. A bad half and a pretty good one.
Is it bad acting when it is deliberate? The acting and the story were deliberately exaggerated in the first half. There was a definite hit on the romantic reality show genre. The actors all seemed so unnatural in this part. While there were definite aspects of the story that were spot on, such as Kelcie, I find it hard to believe the scenario of what was happening to Wil's business could really happen. But that seemed necessary to set up the romantic story in the second half and the engagement plot.
Rachel Boston has a very appealing personality and I have always enjoyed her in this kind of role. She has very nice chemistry with Trevor Donovan. I felt the attraction between them. Unfortunately, the setup took up so much screen time, basically the whole first half of the movie, and then there were a few other distractions in the second half so in total, their relationship screen time was diluted.
The story in the second half was more natural even with the conflict and twist. Not a huge twist. I'm sure some people saw it coming. It was obvious the deception would come out, but I didn't see how that would happen.
As to Rachel Boston's figure, it sure looked obvious how the director was trying to hide it. Boston welcomed a baby in early 2022 and I'm not sure when this was filmed. Either way, it should be irrelevant if reasonable efforts are made to minimize it. And it is done quite often.
There is a religious aspect to the story. Hannah is called Holy Hannah for a reason. This movie treats her faith sympathetically but without a lot of preaching or Bible thumping. More than anything, it emphasizes that Hannah makes choices based on a certain moral code, especially with the ultimate aim of honesty. And she is also allowed to make mistakes because she ends up taking responsibility despite tremendous embarrassment.
Overall, I have a positive take on this movie. The bad half is deliberately used to set up and emphasize the good half. Much of that is thanks to Boston.
