Elizabeth's Baby Drama

Bruce Von Stiers

About eight years ago, the film The Wedding Pact came out. It was about a pact between two graduating college students. Mitch and Elizabeth were best friends and made a pact that if neither had married in ten years, they'd marry each other. So that happened, but not without some extraneous things. But that's for another time, and a different review.

Fast forward three years from the events in The Wedding Pact. Mitch has died in a tragic accident. And Elizabeth is pregnant with their child. Thus is the beginning of the sequel to the first film. The new film is titled The Wedding Pact 2: The Baby Pact.

As in the first film, Elizabeth is played by Haylie Duff. Aside from roles in Deadly Illusion, My Sweet Monster and Blending Christmas, Haylie also starred in the film, Hacker.

Elizabeth moves back to Ft. Wayne, Indiana and moves in with her mother and her sister. The sister, Rachel, is played by Heather McCombs. Her previous roles include the shows Profiler, Ray Donovan, Prison Break, Party of Five and the upcoming series American Gigolo.

Running an errand for Rachel, Elizabeth runs into an old friend at a flower shop and gets a job offer. Later, working at the flower shop, Elizabeth gets a visit from her mother in-law Jennifer. It seems that Jennifer is going to sue Elizabeth for full custody of the unborn baby. This is the set-up for the remainder of the film, in which Elizabeth must find a way to thwart Jennifer's plans and keep her baby.

Jennifer is played by Chase Masterson, whose career spans from Star Trek: DS9 to Pandora.

The attorney that Jennifer has hired for the lawsuit is Robin Pyle. She represents a wide variety of clients, including, as we find out in the scene that introduces the character, people convicted of DUI's. Robin is played by Gail O'Grady. From NYPD Blue to Boston Legal to Criminal Minds and a whole slew of other television and film roles, Gail has had a lot of screen time.

It just so happens that while at a coffee shop, a guy overhears Rachel and Elizabeth talking about the lawsuit. He offers to take on Elizabeth's case. We find out that he is Kevin Pyle, an attorney, and brother of Robin Pyle. Kevin is played by Conner Trinneer. He has had recurring roles on show such as Stargate: Atlantis, American Odyssey, The Purge and 9-1-1.

There are a couple of scenes in the film that don't seem to fit at first. One is at the bar & grill that Rachel works at. One of the servers, Julie, needs help from Rachel about a food ticket someone had left at her station. But that scene sets up the next scene where Elizabeth comes into the bar & grill to tell Rachel about the new job at the flower shop.

The other scene involved Jake Jones, apparently a corporate real estate owner. The scene is about him selling off a building. That scene introduces Jake to the audience. He will later provide a pivotal role in the film. Jake is played by Scott Michael Camp who has been in Suits, Longmire and other shows.

The remainder of the film is all about the struggles that Elizabeth has trying to win the lawsuit and the people around her who try to help her.

Other people having roles in the film include Kevin P. Farley, Quinton Aaron and Richard Riehle. Farley, notably the brother of Chris Farley, plays the strange but likable judge who presides over the lawsuit. Aaron plays the old friend of Elizabeth's who is the flower shop owner. You might remember him from the film The Blind Side. Riehle, who has too many credits to list here, has a short but decisive scene in the film. Eva Ceja is the bar & grill server I mentioned earlier. Some of the other people appearing in the film include Kelly Perine, Sandra Taylor, Leslie Easterbrook and Cirroc Lofton. Perine plays an old friend of Mitch and Elizabeth's who ends up being a character witness in the lawsuit.

Matt Berman wrote the screenplay and directed the film. He was also the director and screenwriter for the first film, The Wedding Pact. Jason Andrew was the film's cinematographer.

Producers for the film were Malorie Mackey, Damion C. King and Jack Serino. Also listed as producers were Ryan Binse, Victoria Britton, J. Margo Giron, Steve Istock and Ben Thatcher.

Scott Glasgow did the music for the film. His previous music credits include the films Slay Belles, Breach and The Ninth Passenger.

The editing was done by Matt Pavlo. He's been the Director of Photography on shows such as Tag Your Friend and Weird World Adventures.

There were several good songs in the film, including a couple from The Bulletboys and two from Official Hot Mess.

And three of the locations in the film, the coffee shop, the flower shop and the bar & grill are actual businesses in the Ft. Wayne area.

There are several ways that this film could have gone. It could have been overly dramatic, gone for comedic relief or been a bit too sappy. Instead of all that, the film is a nice melodrama. It has a couple of funny parts, but overall sticks to the basics of a light, dramatic story. That is, if you could really call a custody battle light drama. While the film isn't quite a Hallmark type of film, it has kind of the same feel-good vibe to it. It is definitely a film to add to your watchlist.

The Wedding Pact 2: The Baby Pact is available on most streaming services, including iTunes, Amazon Prime and Vudu.

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© 2022 Bruce E Von Stiers