Stream It or Skip It: ‘Never Too Late to Celebrate’ on Hallmark, Where Alexa PenaVega Learns about Her Mexican Heritage from IRL Hubby Carlos

Hallmark’s Never Too Late to Celebrate is the latest Hallmark movie to star IRL couple Alexa PenaVega and Carlos PenaVega, who you may have grown up watching in the Spy Kids franchise and on Big Time Rush, respectively. But this ain’t the usual Hallmark romance that centers around a holiday or a season. This one’s all about a brand new kind of personal celebration: the Double Quinceañera. Will this party be twice the fun? Or will you wish you’d stayed for half as long?

NEVER TOO LATE TO CELEBRATE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Alexa PenaVega plays Camila, a high-strung dentist who’s taken on so many new clients lately that she can’t even think about her upcoming 30th birthday. She’s also grieving the loss of her father, and the thought of turning 30 without him isn’t sitting well with her. But a chance encounter with her mom’s (Sherry Miller) sometime co-worker Javi (Carlos PenaVega), a substitute teacher who teaches Spanish classes in the evenings, nudges a reluctant Camila towards embracing her father’s heritage and exploring her Mexican roots. It also doesn’t hurt that Javi is hot, knows how to sing, is great with kids, loves his family, and spends his nights helping others.

When Javi finds out that Camila’s 30th birthday is coming up, he has an idea: why not throw a double quinceañera? Get it, 15×2=30? Camila’s best friend/roommate Maren (Marisa McIntyre) is fully behind this idea and throws herself into party planning mode. But how will Camila handle the traditional father/daughter dance? And will diving into her father’s culture bring up painful memories? And what past trauma is Javi hiding from her (because you know he has some)?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Think of a romance movie wherein the lead character learns to embrace cultural traditions that she once kept at a distance, maybe like a My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and there you go.

Performance Worth Watching: While the best friend role rarely tanks a movie, a great best friend character can definitely take a movie up a few notches in quality. That’s exactly what Marisa McIntyre’s (Chucky) Maren does in Never Too Late to Celebrate. She easily elevates every scene she’s in with her spot-on comedic timing and the spunky chemistry she has with every character. She’s definitely having fun. I mean, she gets to call someone a “certified hottie,” which feels like the kind of classic romcom line that every actor secretly wants to say in a movie.

Memorable Dialogue: When Maren tries to convince Camila to go to Javi’s niece’s quince, Camila responds, “Learning about surgical dentistry seems like a much better use of my time rather than going to a 15 year old’s birthday party.”

Our Take: While watching Hallmark’s year-round movie lineup, I’m continually surprised by the way the network expands the definition of the Hallmark movie. Sometimes they’re a little bit hipper, or a little bit funnier, or a little bit more diverse. Never Too Late to Celebrate impressed me in a few ways, the most general one being the subject matter. Not the quinceañera aspect; it’s not surprising that Hallmark would turn a Latin American tradition into a romance. What struck me is that Never Too Late to Celebrate is just… a movie. It’s a movie with an original concept (a double quinceañera). It feels like every other Hallmark movie I’ve watched is anchored to a very specific holiday or season, like Christmas or Valentine’s Day or summer weddings or pumpkin spice season. But Never Too Late to Celebrate’s premise is anchored to a character and a culture rather than a season, and that makes it feel less compulsory and more original.

This vibe is enhanced by the work of director Felipe Rodriguez and cinematographer William Smith, who work together to make Never Too Late to Celebrate visually distinct from every other Hallmark movie I’ve watched this year. This story comes complete with ambitious camera angles and an overall warm, amber glow. It makes the movie feel familial, cozy, almost like a hug — and that’s appropriate considering all the performances.

Never Too Late to Celebrate is full of character relationships that feel lived in, from Camila’s relationship with her mom to her best friend to Javi. Even Javi and Camila’s mom feel like co-workers. And the fact that Camila and Javi are played by an actual married couple gives their scenes an extra spark. That actually goes a long way with Alexa PenaVega’s lead turn as Camila, a character who spends the first half of the movie in varying states of emotional distress. It’s Javi’s grounded reactions to Camila that help make those choices feel sincere and from veering into camp.

And while Never Too Late to Celebrate does get in a few good laughs, it’s primary concern is with its theme. Yeah, it has a theme — and it’s deeper than just “heritage is important.” There is that, yeah, but the movie is invested in exploring the ways that holding onto our past can enrich our lives and also hold us back. It’s always fun to see a Hallmark movie go the extra mile and dig into some real human experience stuff. After all, in the most sincere of circumstances, isn’t that why we give greeting cards to each other? To communicate something deeper that we don’t have the words for? Geez, where did this review go? Who am I, the Don Draper of greeting cards?

Our Call: STREAM IT. Never Too Late to Celebrate is a surprisingly rich movie with more going on underneath its original premise.