Jeff Fahey and Dee Wallace have got to be two of the busiest actors in the business, with resumes longer than your arm and several projects in the can every year—even now, long after their second-tier Hollywood stars have dimmed.  They’ll turn up almost anywhere; and it makes sense—in a “Six Degrees of Stephenation” sort of way—that they’d both wind up in the same movie eventually, given that Wallace starred in Stephen King’s Cujo and Fahey in The Lawnmower Man.  Not great cinema, either of those films, but both memorable and high-profile.

Matchmaker Mary, the vehicle in which they’ve connected this year, is sadly not memorable—which makes the fact that it is also not high-profile rather fortunate, I suppose.  Some aircraft fly better below the radar.

Fahey and Wallace play Cameron and Karen, one of three couples paired up courtesy of a trio of Golden Lab puppies… and titular ray of prepubescent sunshine Mary, Karen’s niece.  When Mary drags Aunt Karen along to pick up new pup Tillie from the pound, Karen and laconic pound operator Cameron Banks just sort of hit it off.

Eric and Cynthia are a little harder for Mary to get together.  Cynthia has recently been jilted, while Eric’s canine best friend is recently deceased.  But gosh darn if that little matchmaker Mary can’t persuade the pair to forget their grief in a matter of minutes after Mary connives a meetup between the new owners of Tillie’s sibs.

Mary’s folks are also struggling, with Mom absorbed in her career and Dad feeling kind of left behind in the dust.  After Mary enlists the help of the Two New Couples, though—and after Mary’s sunshine is obscured for at least a couple of minutes by clouds of sadness—Mom and Dad are just ripe for reconciliation.

And I’m not giving anything away by telling you any of this.  Tom Whitus’ directorial debut telegraphs every plot development well in advance, so there’s very little surprise about how the various storylines play out.

It’s nice that the film’s producers bankrolled a couple of recognizable names for supporting performances; but in the future they might well look to similarly-budgeted productions like Dog Days of Summer for tips on how to cast, score, and photograph a movie.

Fans of Fahey or Wallace won’t be doing any cartwheels about their performances here. Fahey almost looks like he’s trying to hide behind his facial hair and hat, and Whitus never once gives us a decent look at his trademark irises.  Wallace just seems happy to be working, as usual.

Fortunately, young Katherine McNamara is decently cast as Mary.  She appropriately plays the “meddler” as blithe and naïve, merrily skipping through life with hardly a care in the world, and perfectly willing to insist that adults join her in breezing past the darker side.

I get a real strong sense that this is a very personal project for Whitus, a heartfelt tribute to the power of love and reconciliation; has he perhaps known a young girl like Mary, and been touched by her spirit?  If you’re in the mood for a more childish, upbeat version of Marley & Me, Matchmaker Mary might just keep your interest. 

But I just can’t muster up much enthusiasm for encouraging you to have a look. If you come to this film thinking you’ll find more of the spunk, style, and relative sophistication previous Pureflix productions such as Hidden Secrets and The Wager have offered, you’ll probably be disappointed.

Matchmaker Mary is unrated—but you can’t get much “safer” than this.  Nothing remotely troubling about it.  But isn’t art supposed to be troubling on some level?

Courtesy of a national publicist, Greg screened a promotional DVD of Matchmaker Mary.