Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Unnecessary sequel about nonsensical custody battle.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
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Where to Watch
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The Wedding Pact 2: The Baby Pact
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
THE WEDDING PACT 2: THE BABY PACT is a sequel to The Wedding Pact. Elizabeth (Haylie Duff) is pregnant and widowed, moving back to family in Indiana as she puts her life together and prepares for motherhood. Welcomed by sister Rachel (Heather McComb) and given a job by high school friend Joe (Quinton Aaron), she settles in only to be served with a petition to take custody of her unborn child by Jennifer (Chase Masterson), the mother-in-law who never liked her. The case in court is based entirely on a letter supposedly written by her dead husband and sent to a law firm to be delivered to his mother in the unlikely event of his untimely death. The letter professes the husband's love for Elizabeth but also questions her before-the-fact competence as a mother. The fact that he wrote it years before, anticipating his accidental death, and that he somehow how felt strongly enough that his mother should take Elizabeth's child away in his absence, strains credulity but doesn't bother the judge presiding over the case, who by the way, talks to a large hand puppet through the proceedings. The fiancé (Scott Michael Campbell) Elizabeth left at the altar years before comes forward to unravel the mystery.
Is It Any Good?
In The Wedding Pact 2: The Baby Pact, the unlikely "wedding pact" that brought Elizabeth and her husband together was implausible enough. The baby pact of this title isn't even a pact, a fact that sets the confused, slow, boring, and incompetent tone going forward. Why does no one describe how the young husband died? What's the big secret? Who would ever hire a lawyer (Connor Trinneer) who offers his unsolicited services in a coffee shop without vetting him first? How come the friend who goes to Lamaze classes with Elizabeth only shows up after the birth? Why does the judge (Kevin P. Farley) talk to a hand puppet while conducting a potentially life-changing hearing? And did no one edit this movie and catch several major gaffes, including the lawyer who argues that granting custody of a baby to the mother-in-law would be in the "best interest of the court." The court? A minute later, opposing counsel pretends to be quoting but changes the remark entirely as "the best interest of the child."
A woman has a long talk with her dead father played by Richard Riehle, and that actor, playing a dead guy, gives the only competent performance in the film. Two people we've never seen before show up in the hospital room after the birth. Who are they? Even if they were characters in the earlier film, they still need to be introduced here. If there are teens anywhere on earth who might express interest in this, they would do far better exploring films that reflect at least some semblance of the way human beings behave in actual life.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the likelihood of a judge considering a case that seeks to remove a child from a mother before the child is born. Do you think this could happen? Why or why not?
Would you hire a lawyer who walked up to you at a coffee shop without checking his or her credentials? Do you think we are supposed to believe this?
Why do you think the details of the young husband's death are never revealed? Does it matter, or does the omission make it seem as if the filmmakers don't know the answer?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : June 14, 2022
- Cast : Haylie Duff , Richard Riehle
- Director : Matt Berman
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Freestyle Releasing
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 100 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 15, 2022
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