In the fall of 2024, Hallmark Channel launched an intriguing initiative with a romantic comedy trilogy titled The Groomsmen. This unique series centers on three best friends—two straight and one gay—navigating love and matrimony from the perspective of groomsmen. I’ll focus on the second film in the series, which highlights the gay storyline, but let’s briefly set the stage.
Danny, Jackson, and Pete are childhood pals who have always supported each other. In the first installment, we see Pete find the love of his life at Danny’s sister’s wedding. Pete also has a teenage daughter who frequently spends time with the trio.
Danny harbors feelings for Zack, his business manager and best friend. While both Danny and Pete are aware of this, Danny is hesitant to express his emotions for fear of losing their friendship if Zack doesn’t feel the same way. Complicating matters, Zack starts dating Nolan, which troubles Danny. As their relationship becomes serious, Zack and Nolan decide to get married, leaving Danny in shock despite his deep feelings for Zack. When Zack asks Danny to be his best man at the wedding in Greece, Danny suppresses his emotions and commits to being the supportive friend, especially since Nolan is often preoccupied with work—a significant red flag.
Due to their busy schedules, Danny and Zack end up going to Greece a few days before the wedding to finalize preparations, spending every moment together, which intensifies Danny’s struggle. While Zack’s feelings remain ambiguous, a near-kiss one night adds to the tension. The day before the wedding, Danny can’t hold back any longer and confesses his love to Zack, who is taken aback and unsure how to respond. In a classic runaway bride scenario, on the wedding day, Zack realizes he feels strongly for Danny and chooses to marry him instead.
Honestly, the movie is quite predictable, but the stunning locales of Greece were a highlight for me. It’s clear that production values were high, and money was not a constraint. However, I found myself questioning Zack’s feelings throughout. While Danny and Zack shared a close friendship, there was never a clear indication that Zack reciprocated Danny’s feelings. Although Nolan displayed many red flags, was that enough for Zack to recognize his love for Danny? It’s true that sometimes it takes an outsider to help uncover one’s true feelings, but this twist felt a bit hard to swallow.
The actors performed admirably, especially considering it’s a TV movie. The actor portraying Danny has taken on similar roles in other gay Christmas films, but I was pleasantly surprised by the actor playing Zack. He brought a brooding charm that was quite captivating. I also watched the other two films in the trilogy, which were decent but not particularly memorable. Hallmark seems to be trying to cater to its conservative audience while successfully incorporating a gay narrative.
As expected from a Hallmark film, this one delivers a feel-good, syrupy plot, but it stands out for portraying gay relationships in a more normative light, closer to reality than the stereotypical representations often seen in mainstream media. Overall, it’s an enjoyable watch, albeit predictable.
