[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]
Starting next weekend, Lifetime is taking a break from its true crime cycle with a quartet of love stories. First up is Love, Again, a romantic drama with an unusual love triangle arc that’s a solid throwback to the days of the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies that balanced the loss of an impending tragedy with hope and love.
Headlined by an excellent Valerie Bertinelli, the story centers on Caroline and Henry (Bertinelli and Henry Czerny), a happily married couple marking their 35th wedding anniversary and finally due to take their long-delayed Italian vacation. He’s a sitting judge, and she’s a homemaker, mom, and aspiring painter who volunteers in the hospital gift shop. Their son and daughter are in their 20s and starting down their own paths.
They live very, very well, but that idyll starts to fall apart when Henry’s kind, friendly, lighthearted demeanor starts to fade beneath forgetfulness, unusual behavior, and angry outbursts. When they receive a dreadful diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s, their plans disappear. Over time, Caroline steps into the role of Henry’s sole caretaker, which soon becomes her identity.
She’s lost in the sadness of what was and what will now never be while trying to lead with love for someone who only knows her in fits and starts and is instead often combative and afraid. It’s a terrifying spiral. For anyone who has previously cared for someone in cognitive decline, or is currently on that path now, those scenes will be a hard, familiar watch. I’m so sorry. I’ve been touched by that reality, too.
The light in the dark who pulls Caroline back to herself, for a little while, is Leo (Eric McCormack), the head of anesthesiology at the hospital, who is himself recovering from the loss of his wife. Their meet cute precedes Henry’s diagnosis and they develop a fun, easy banter, and he offers gentle guidance and reassurance when her concerns about Henry set in.
When they reconnect again, months after his diagnosis, she’s exhausted and afraid and already grief-stricken. He offers her a weekly chance to take a break and just be. As they spend more time together, it’s clear their connection runs much deeper, but she is transparent that she still very much loves her husband. And there lies the titular quandary. While Leo is finding love again, Caroline is still living in the shadow of a love that isn’t fully extinguished, and that’s not something she will betray.
The film, anchored in Caroline’s POV, doesn’t dig too deeply into Henry’s day-to-day care as his dementia progresses, instead filtering it through Caroline’s emotions. As she loses more and more of him, she’s also losing part of herself. They had a very big life together, and he’s not just losing his memories–he’s losing theirs. That’s an especially impactful mirror for anyone who’s cared for someone in cognitive decline.
Bertinelli is outstanding, and I’m so glad she did this. She’s also an executive producer. I love her in romantic roles, and two of my favorite films of hers from way back, Finding John Christmas and Personally Yours, were among the last of the CBS Sunday movies of the week before they made their way into the Hallmark rotation. The first is only available on DVD; the latter is now streaming a few places. Czerny is very good portraying a man who was brilliant, and very proud of that, who rails against losing that identity until he retreats wholly into himself.
McCormack hasn’t done a romance in a stretch, and it’s really nice to see him play lighter and softer after gleefully tormenting people in recent appearances in Slasher, Hell Motel, and The Hunting Party. Hallmark regular director David L. Strasser directs a script by Chesapeake Shores‘ creator Nancey Silvers. Hallmarkies will also recognize Lossen Chambers and Samantha Ferris as Caroline’s friend from work, Brenda and neighbor, Tracey, and Max Lloyd-Jones as her son, Adam. Upload‘s Mackenzie Cardwell plays her daughter, Rachel.
Love, Again premieres Saturday, May 9th, at 8 pm/7c on Lifetime, repeating at midnight/11c and then streaming the next day. Here’s a sneak peek.
Photos and video courtesy of Lifetime.
