It’s time for a rare ensemble cast Hallmark film. This one has a whole lot going on with the different plots which naturally means there will be some plots that are stronger than others. I do think it ends up being weaker than the average Hallmark title but is naturally still a really good film filled with solid writing and good character work as you would expect.

The movie’s main character is Jessica who decides to write some cards to different people who have helped her in life. This includes a big time singer, a lady who taught her music, her aunt, and her brother. These letters end up helping everyone out and they all begin moving forward with their own character arcs. Meanwhile Jessica was going to be in for a rough Christmas with her getting dumped by the boyfriend but now she has met a new guy who may end up being her prince charming.

So lets get the obvious issue out of the way, the romance here is a pure rebound. Jessica has only just broken up with this guy for about a day or so before she is already getting with the next one. The relationship falling apart came as a shock to her so she shouldn’t be completely over it just yet. There was clearly a little hesitation here with how she didn’t immediately say yes to the proposal but it doesn’t really change things. She still shouldn’t be moving on this quickly and she barely even knows the guy.

Getting carried away with the Christmas spirit has its limits after all. I did enjoy her as a character though. She is really invested in Christmas and is the type of person who will always be having a lot of fun. Jessica also has a supportive friend at the music shop where she works and it always helps to have someone to vent to. From all the characters in the film, Jessca had the most fleshed out plot which makes sense.

When we get to the inevitable misunderstanding, I would also say that her situation was slightly more understandable. Her guy should have stood his ground and not been taking photos of the girl that was assigned to him as a blind date a while back. Sure he was doing his job but this girl was already shown to be crazy like when she humiliated him in the diner so he needed to cut off contact at that point. Meanwhile he walked in when she was joking with her ex boyfriend about getting the ex discount. Yeah…not the best conversation to be having.

Well things worked out but the romance wasn’t very strong anyway. Both characters could stand to be a little more mature about they handle these things. If something looks sus, you need to just walk over and start asking questions. If your worst fears are realized, well then it’s better to know now rather than finding out later right? Just walking off is the worst possible action you could make because now you will never know one way or the other what was really going on. You can suspect stuff, but won’t have that confirmation.

Meanwhile in the first subplot with the brother, he falls for another army worker over there. He does his best to flirt with her and while the attempts are mainly shaky, it ends up working out. It’s a harmless enough plot but just doesn’t have a whole lot of connection to the main story outside of the letter. Additionally it’s just too fast for much development.

Another plot is Jessica’s aunt meeting the guy who walks a dog next door. She just lost her husband two years ago and he lost his wife 3 years ago so they start flirting and it looks like things are gonna be happening. I don’t have to go into detail on why this is a crazy rebound right? I thought the dog was nice though so it was good to have a wholesome animal having fun here.

Then you have the music guy who was in a slump for a while. Jessica’s letter allows him to regain his confidence and go back to making new songs. He actually doesn’t get a romance plot but I guess there was no room for one. It was nice that he even got to play his next concert nearby where Jessica could hear him. I actually thought he was going to be the one to play matchmaker but that’s not how it went down.

So this was an ambitious one with so much going on. Generally I think the film would have needed to have been longer to have really given all of these plots the screentime that they would have needed. Still, it did well enough with what was going on and the writing was good as always. While the stories may have been rushed, they will still keep your attention.

The film still succeeds at the most important factor for any movie which is that it was fun. Watching this title is enjoyable and you feel the festive vibes. If you can block out the rebound nature for a minute, it’s also just nice to see everybody having a good time. If you ever enter into a relationship, you want it to be filled with fun and whimsy like this. I would like to see Hallmark tackle more non rebound romances as well but for now this will have to do.

Overall, Write Before Christmas has a great title. The pun was particularly inspired and the film’s plot device of the letters being sent around was a good one. I generally prefer solo stories unless there is a big climax where all of the characters meet up though. Something like that would have been really cool here and I think it would have worked even if it may have seemed rushed. The film was already rushed so what’s one more scene right? While I prefer the average Hallmark film, this is still a good movie that I would recommend.

Overall 6/10