Hallmark+’s The Groomsmen: Second Chances is the second film in its Groomsmen trilogy, about three lifelong best friends who fall in love. Each film tells their individual stories as they chase the person of their dreams with the support of their besties, and so far, they’re two for two with charming, cozy romances that span the globe and feature great performances from the talented ensemble. In Second Chances, impulsive Danny (Jonathan Bennett) follows his friend and business manager Zack (Alexander Lincoln) to Greece to help him plan Zack’s wedding to a lawyer, but as they work together on the planning, Danny can no longer keep it to himself that he’s in love with Zack. This being Hallmark, you can guess how things turn out, but their romance is not without it’s ups and downs along the way.
Opening Shot: The titular groomsmen, Pete (B.J. Britt), Danny (Bennett) and Jackson (Tyler Hynes) knock on the door to an Irish pub with a “Closed” sign on the door, in hopes of finding a runaway bride. This might not make sense if you haven’t already watched The Groomsmen: First Look, which began with a mystery bride running away from the church where she was about to be married.
The barkeep turns the men away and heads back inside to the bride she’s been secretly harboring, and asks, “Just why are you hiding from the groomsmen?” and we cut to the opening credits.
The Gist: The first film in this trilogy was The Groomsmen: First Look, which was a love story about Pete (Britt), who met and fell in love with his wife Chelsea (Heather Hemmens) with some help and support from his two best friends Danny and Jackson. The Groomsmen: Second Chances turns the love story over to Danny, who has been harboring feelings for his friend and business manager Zack (Lincoln). But Zack is totally unaware, and is currently in a relationship with Nolan, a kinda dry, humorless lawyer that Danny can’t stand. Zack proposes to Nolan, which comes as a shock to Danny – because who knew it was that serious? – but at first Nolan says no, and that he’s not ready. It’s at this point that Danny realizes he wants to tell Zack how he feels, no better time than right now, but Nolan comes back into the picture, full of regret at saying no, and he and Zack get engaged for real this time.
Even though it’s a bad idea to be the best man to someone you’re hopelessly in love with, Danny agrees to it. As he helps Zack plan a wedding at a winery in Greece, he finds himself more and more invested in Zack, while Nolan is always absent because of his busy job. And then, with only two weeks before the wedding, Zack learns the winery he chose as his wedding venue has abruptly shut down. With Nolan busy with work, Zack and Danny scramble all over Greece looking for a new venue, caterers, everything, and at one point, the two have a tender moment that leaves both men with a shared realization that a spark exists between them. When Danny brings it up to Zack next day, Zack explains defensively that he’s getting married and nothing actually happened so they should just forget about it. There’s some friction between Danny and Zack after this point that’s made even worse after Danny professes to Zack that he loves him while Zack stands on the altar the night before the wedding, and Zack shuts Danny down for good.
With only about 15 minutes left in the film, it seems dangerously close to the two not getting together – until Zack finally comes to his senses and ends things with Nolan. We time hop one year, back to the very same altar in Greece, with the two men saying “I do.”
Our Take: While each of the three Groomsmen movies follows a linear chronological timeline, with one story happening after another, there’s also a little bit of a Rashomon quality, as there are a few scenes in each film that overlap to tell some of the story from other peoples’ perspectives. It’s a clever way to tell the three men’s stories and helps bring everything full circle.
As for the actual story of The Groomsmen: Second Chances, it’s the type of “best friends realizing they’re destined to be lovers” trope that, in my head, I refer to as a Vanessa Williams “Save The Best For Last” story. You know her song: “Sometimes the snow comes down in June, sometimes the sun goes ’round the moon, just when I thought the chance had passed, you go and save the best for last”? About a friend pining for the man who dates everyone else until he realizes he’s in love with the BFF who was right there in front of him the whole time? That’s the gist of the movie. “Sometimes the very thing you’re looking for is the one thing you can’t see…” Sing it, Vanessa!
In my review for the first Groomsmen movie, I applauded the way this series turns the traditional Hallmark formula on its head by telling a series of love stories from the man’s perspective, and this second film goes even further by telling it from a gay man’s perspective. It feels pretty amazing to have a Hallmark movie where the gay man isn’t relegated as the funny sidekick or part pf one of several stories that share equal time; here, Danny and his feelings for another man are on full display and are the central focus. While the film is somewhat formulaic (and Nolan is honestly the worst and doesn’t deserve sweet, Tom Hardy-esque Zack), to its credit, the film treats the same-sex romance exactly as it would any hetero love story. It just allows these characters and their relationship to have the same story beats and qualities that any other Hallmark would have. Bennett deserves a lot of the credit for that, he is not only billed as one of the creators of the film series, but he and fellow actor Brad Harder shared the first same-sex kiss on the Hallmark Channel in 2020, and he has fought for normalization and representation on the network.
Second Chances may be a little predictable, but there’s a winning formula here with the three leads and their natural ease with one another that makes us glad there’s still one more film in this series.
Parting Shot: As in the first movie, the final scene returns us to the young mystery bride regaling the barkeep with the story of this wedding. The barkeep presses the bride, asking her if she loves her groom-to-be (which she does), and asks why she’s hiding from her own wedding. The bride is getting to that, but before she does, she asks, “Can I tell you one more love story?” We know this is the setup for The Groomsmen: Last Dance. “I was hoping you were gonna say that,” the barkeep responds.
Performance Worth Watching: As Zack, Alexander Lincoln is meant to be the serious foil to Jonathan Bennett’s whimsical, funny Danny. Though he’s meant to be all business, he manages to layer the character so he’s not just a one-note businessman, he’s serious while appreciating Danny for his bad jokes and impulsiveness, and plays the character with empathy and sincerity.
Memorable Dialogue: “Don’t miss out of love just because you’re not willing to take a chance,” Pete advises lovelorn Danny in the days before Zack’s wedding. It’s advice Pete himself took when he followed his heart to Chelsea, who was all the way in Bulgaria, in the first movie and feels like it serves as the general thesis statement for all the Groomsmen movies.
Our Call: While there’s never a doubt how the second film in the Groomsmen series will end, the film earns its happy ending and feels more earnest and emotional than most romances. STREAM IT!
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.