Tag Archives: Hallmark

A Christmas Detour Review

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Whenever you’re planning to go somewhere and your ride ends up getting delayed it definitely makes you hope that you’ll at least be able to grab some food. Some may really enjoy the detour while others will just eagerly await the moment where they can just get to where they were planning to go. This film deals with the main character having an exceptionally long detour but will this time allow her to avoid a potential mistake with her future? Right now there’s definitely a whole lot for her to think about.

Paige arrives to her plane with a decent amount of time to spare. This is fortunate because in the end she has to barter with the staff a while as she tries to bring more luggage on board than what the plane allows. She makes it onto the plane but then gets involved in a debate with Dylan on true love. Paige believes in this 100% as everyone has a soul mate and that’s the one true partner for them. Dylan doesn’t think that makes sense and thinks the odds aren’t in its favor. Well, they’re going to have a lot of time to be able to debate this with each other because as it turns out the weather is really bad so nobody will be getting to New York anytime soon.

For Paige this is troubling news because she had been heading to her fiancé Jack’s house so she could finally meet his parents. They are about to get married so this was a pretty big deal for her. Jack also warns her that if she doesn’t make it by Christmas day then they will have to put the marriage off for another year. The stakes are high. Meanwhile Dylan wasn’t thrilled about going home for Christmas anyway so he is thrilled whenever these occurrences happen. He has a lot of fun teasing Paige throughout the movie since she is very easy to trigger. There’s also a married couple of 20-30 years tagging along. They fall in the middle of the main 2 on emotions. They’re ready for a nice Christmas but are enjoying the detours as best they can.

This film has one of the better dynamics with Paige and Dylan. Certainly Dylan’s teasing can go a bit far at times but he’s just determined to have a lot of fun the whole time. Nothing is about to get him down and it makes him a pretty interesting character to follow. Of course you know the film is ultimately going to set him and Paige up but at least he has a lot of personality before that. He does have the right attitude about their situation. The heroes can’t exactly control when the storm will end so the least you can do is make the most of it in the meantime.

Paige definitely isn’t able to see the bright side here because she is very stressed out about her plans not going through. There’s also the added pressure of the marriage going back but that should have just been a red flag. When we meet up with Jack and his parents it’s hard to see how she ever liked him. Now, of course she would not have met the parents before so we can’t take that into consideration. They are portrayed to be comically antagonistic the whole time as they insult Paige to her face many times. Jack never actually defends her on this either so he loses more points right off the bat there.

The thing is, Jack isn’t really any better. He takes shots at Paige as well and is all too willing to have her lose out on her wedding plans. He just lets the Mom choose everything and expects Paige to follow suit. He doesn’t seem to care about her at all. I guess Paige was just a little oblivious at the time but there just didn’t seem to be much of a friendship between them at the bare minimum. It makes the whole soulmate thing look even more suspect as a result since this clearly didn’t end up working out. In theory you should go into a relationship as if it’s the only love you’ll have but the problem is in a film like this there are always constant rebounds so you can’t even take the premise seriously.

Unfortunately this whole plot ends up hurting Paige quite a lot though. She started the film off on a relatively strong note but started to really decline after that. She lies to Jack quite a few times and even by the very end of the film she continues to deceive him. She is basically forced to come clean once the photo is brought to light and Dylan himself appears. That already seems like a rocky start to her sticking through this next relationship. Keep in mind that she was already engaged prior to the film starting so no matter how she justifies it, she wasn’t exactly holding strong up to this point.

Additionally, Paige allowed herself to get steamrolled by the Mom during the whole second half of the film. She put up 0 resistance as all of her wedding plans were dashed. She would just shoot everyone astonished looks the whole time but wouldn’t say anything in her defense. That’s just not a good look. It shows that she’s not going to stand up for herself no matter what happens. Allowing everyone to walk all over you is never a good thing.

I ended up liking Dylan a lot more than Paige as a result. At least he always has a lot of good one liners at the ready and quick retorts. That said, Maxine and Frank were probably the more interesting characters here. They’re a very jaded married couple as mentioned, but they’ve still got a pretty strong bond going on. The end of the film actually gives them more of a serious plot than I expected. I kind of figured they were already doing well and the sarcasm was something they had fun with. Either way by the end of the film they’re pretty tight again. Without them Dylan and Paige definitely would not have been in a great spot. It’s been a while since I saw a Hallmark film with a supporting couple like this who get a big role. In fact, it may be the first time and I enjoyed it. It was a nice angle to have included.

Overall, Christmas Detour started out a lot better than it ended. The ending was just a bit weak with a lot of the decisions Paige ended up making. Still, I do like the premise quite a bit and so of course the best scenes of the film are before they actually get back onto the main path. There was a lot of good humor here and as always a lot of good writing as well so there’s nothing to really dislike in the slightest. You can expect a very balanced film here and I would definitely recommend checking it out if you want to see a good Christmas movie.

Overall 7/10

Christmas Under Wraps Review

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Time for our next stop on the Hallmark channel express. They’ve always done a tremendous job with their Christmas lineup and unsurprisingly that is true of this film as well. Christmas Under Wraps is another solid entry in the franchise and is a very solid all around title. There are no real issues to be had with the film. It’s just a nice adventure where we get to enjoy some time at a local town where they have a fun time celebrating Christmas. Definitely gets you excited since that’s coming up pretty close now.

The movie starts by introducing us to Lauren who is a doctor getting ready to get promoted into the Fellowship where she will be able to finally have completed her life’s plans. She’s always lived by her plan and prepares to get married which will check another box. Unfortunately things don’t go quite so smoothly. Her boyfriend dumps her during dinner and then she loses out on the program. Lauren’s only available option is a small town in Alaska where they need a doctor. It’s not exactly what she signed up for but she lost out on the position in part because she didn’t have out of the box experiences so this is her chance to change all of that. It’s definitely a very different atmosphere. Can Lauren get with the program or is she doomed here?

Lauren starts off as a fairly reasonable character though compared to the last Hallmark adventure where the lead came in with a bad attitude from the start. Lauren’s not perfect and does show some clear disdain for the small town environment at first but the townsfolk do a good job of ignoring her slights and continually trying to get her on board. Eventually she does realize that the town’s actually pretty great and that’s when she can really start having some fun here. It’s no surprise that she would eventually get used to the town. All the people there are really nice and the town has all of the essentials on hand. As long as you keep an open mind you’re bound to have some fun. I didn’t see any pizza places though so I’m hoping they’ve got at least one.

Naturally there is a romance plot in this film as handyman Andy shows up to have a good time. I can’t give the romance here a thumbs up since Lauren literally went from being ready to marry someone else to dating this guy within a few days. Perhaps if we’re being generous you could say there were massive time skips and Lauren was at the town for months but I have my doubts. So that falls into the rebound territory. Otherwise Andy’s a pretty good guy though. He really helps out around the town doing whatever he can to help the others. He’s portrayed as just a very decent guy and he never really lets things get him down. It’s hard to find a more balanced character.

Although my favorite character would be Hattie. She was great at memorizing the coffee orders real quick and seemed to have a solid knowledge of the town as a whole. She was always around and ready to step in when Lauren was having trouble. She’s the kind of character who will always have your back. The rest of the town members are solid as well of course but she really stood out. Then you’ve got Billie who is the head nurse and also a good friend to Lauren. I’ll give her props for not beating around the bush and just asking the guy out. I do feel that if you like someone you should just go ahead and make the move as opposed to waiting to be asked out. Of course, when you make a game of it like in Love is War that can make for incredible dynamics but that’s more the exception to the rule.

Henry and Maggie are also portrayed as pretty nice parents to Lauren. Finally we have a more reasonable group here as her father is glad that Lauren will be following in his footsteps but doesn’t put any extra pressure on her. When she makes her decision to enjoy the town he’s quite supportive of it. Meanwhile Maggie was especially happy since she was hoping Lauren would slow down a bit to enjoy her time while it was around. After all, a career’s important but you do always need to make sure to leave time for everything else too.

Then we’ve got a subplot with Frank, a man who looks like Santa Clause. Throughout the film Lauren keeps noticing things that don’t add up like Elves running around and the fact that Frank even owns a Reindeer. The official story is that he’s part of a little parade the town throws on Christmas but is that really the whole story? He’s quite secretive about his shipping business to the point where he doesn’t tell anyone outside of the town about it. The whole town seems to be involved in some kind of conspiracy. Frank’s definitely a great character though and he certainly enjoys his cookies. Of course, why wouldn’t he right? Christmas is the perfect time to snack on a bunch of cookies. Chocolate Chip will always be my favorite but naturally sugar cookies are a lot of fun too.

Frank may not take great care of his health but he’s definitely a good guy doing his best during the busy season. He probably could have been more receptive to Andy taking over parts of the business but I do agree with him that they shouldn’t be so quick to tell Lauren the truth about the business particularly if she was still thinking about going home. That’s the kind of secret you have to wait until both characters are fully committed. Based on Lauren’s final decisions she clearly hadn’t been 100% committed at that point. In the end the big twist of what the whole town is involved in with the business is pretty fun. It helped add a subtle mystery element to the movie.

Overall, as always Hallmark delivered another great adventure here. The writing is really good and the cast of characters are solid as well. You just can’t go wrong with that combination. It makes for a really solid Christmas adventure and shows you the appeal of small town environments. Personally I’m still more of a NYC kind of guy since I just like having all kinds of stores around and the ability to go anywhere on a whim but I wouldn’t mind some of that weather. It feels like a while since we got a decent helping of snow and over in Alaska that definitely would not be a problem in the winter. If you want to see a nice uplifting film that gets you into a festive mood then this is definitely a good movie to check out.

Overall 7/10

Let It Snow Review

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It’s time to look at a Hallmark film from a while back. They’ve always been very consistent about churning out great products. They have a lot of Christmas movies and I have yet to see a bad one. They always tend to have a solid plot and good characters arcs for the cast. In this case we don’t even have the usual rebound plot so that was an extra bonus. I’d definitely say there are no real complaints here. Naturally some of the story elements may seem very familiar and I’m sure you can guess what will happen before it does, but it doesn’t take away from the solid execution here.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Stephenie. She is a top executive at her father’s company and he has a new task for her. Stephenie has to head to a Christmas cabin that their company has just purchased to see how they handle Christmas. Her job is to take away the glitz and glamor and figure out how to make this a successful enterprise. Right now mostly families rent out rooms here but the firm needs this to be a place for single people with lots of cash to burn. Stephenie is ready for this since she’s not a big fan of Christmas and doesn’t even like the cold. She’ll enjoy taking everything apart. Things all begin to change though when she meets up with Brady, the son of the current owner. Is it possible that she will regain her Christmas spirit?

I think we all know the answer to that question. The scenery is really nice as always. We get to see some gingerbread cookies being baked and there are a lot of solid decorations all around the cabin. It’s clear that the family puts a great deal of effort into the project. You may wonder why they are selling the place. Is it because they got a great deal and can just take it easy now? Well, I’m sure that didn’t hurt but it’s really because nobody is prepared to take the business over. Brady wanted tom, but he also wanted to enact a lot of changes to the place which his father did not approve of. As a result they hit a stalemate. Stephenie is quickly brought into this drama as well and wants to help but the business deal is done. It’s not like she can really do a whole lot about the deal at this point. Still, she gives it her best shot.

Stephanie’s a pretty decent lead. She definitely starts out as one of the meaner ones though. She is absolutely not on board with having a good time at all. She definitely overreacts to just about everything and really gives Brady a hard time. Still, she ultimately gets past this. Then you have Brady who doesn’t get along with her at first but it looks like he is usually a pretty nice guy. Everyone at the camp likes him as he is typically seen as a very reliable figure who is always around to help out when the kids need a hand or something seems too difficult. He’s a man of many talents.

Then for the supporting characters you’ve got a good cast. Stephenie had a friend in the first scene but she ends up vanishing completely after the opening so we won’t count her. Stephenie’s father is definitely a fun character to have around although he seems a lot less reasonable after the opening scene. At first he definitely is shown to not like Christmas or anything like that but he isn’t shown to be quite as antagonistic towards it as later on. That’s where he really begins trying to crush all the ideas Stephenie has without really listening to the pitch. I like the idea that he sat there listening to her for over an hour only to completely disregard everything at that point and go on to the pre prepared topics he already had ready. The guy certainly wasn’t budging.

Then you have Brady’s parents who are pretty nice. The Mom does her best to get Stephenie settled in even if she is met with a ton of resistance. The lead not trying her home baked cookies was definitely an emotional moment. Brady’s Dad also does a good job as it must take a lot of effort to keep on getting the cabin set and participating in all of the events at his age. He did well in keeping the place going as long as he could. He and Brady have a lot of disagreements on how to make the place better but as we only see the aftermath of their arguments it’s hard to say who takes more blame in their disagreements there.

The movie really flies by. Let It Snow has solid writing and pacing as you’d expect from a Hallmark title so that won’t come as any surprise. You can definitely imagine visiting a place like this to have a good day. I can’t imagine actually spending a Christmas out there over the comforts of home but I’m sure you would still have a good time. I’d be going all in on the cookies and the rest of the desserts displayed in the film. Then the fact that there is also a pretty nice breakfast spread is also very enticing.

Overall, Let It Snow is definitely a very good movie and one that I would recommend checking out for Christmas. You’ve got a solid story and a good cast of characters which always serve as strong fundamentals for a movie. The romance is a bit cliché and could have been written out of the movie for sure, but otherwise the rest of the story beats end up working out quite well. It’s not the most ambitious film out there but it’s a pleasant one. As they say, it’s the journey that counts and even if you know how the movie is going to end, the execution is on point the whole time so you don’t feel bored or anything like that.

Overall 7/10

Christmas at the Plaza Review

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It’s time for the third Hallmark film. This time we’ve got a big hotel to play with in terms of the decorations so it looks really nice by the end. The Hotel already looked good on its own so that doesn’t really come as a surprise anyway. It’s another good movie and while it does borrow a lot of elements from the others, that’s true for most of these titles. It’s all about how you use the elements and this one does a pretty good job I’d say.

The movie starts off with Jessica heading to the hotel as a historian here to do a piece. She finds out that this actually entails finding a theme for the hotel’s big Christmas anniversary. That’s not really her area of expertise as she prefers history to celebration but then she meets the guy in charge of the lights, Nick. Nick is all about Christmas and he loves putting on a good shot. He’s going to help her find her Christmas spirit and make this big showcase a success. The toughest part is going to be finding the missing ornament. See, every year the hotel always had a different tree topper for the Hotel except for one year where it seems to have been empty. The owner Amanda will not accept a blank spot in her presentation so Jessica is going to have to move planets to find this. Can she do it?

First off, I have to say that Amanda is definitely a little more unreasonable than the other Hallmark owners I’ve seen. She refuses to listen to a single thing that Jessica says. Now I know that she is hyped for the big celebration and there’s nothing wrong with that, but if Jessica does have an actual issue you’d think that Amanda would want to hear about it. Then you can also factor in the fact that Jessica almost did leave the project and Amanda really would have been in quite a bit of trouble there. I suppose she just likes to live dangerously.
Reginald is one of the main characters here, but he can be a bit on the annoying side at times. He has a past that really comes into play as the film goes on so you can give him some sympathy points. That being said, he could have been a little more helpful. Even if he didn’t want to actively help Jessica he could have at least given her a direct answer on what he knew and that would have saved them all a whole lot of time searching and everything. It’s one of those things that should have been simple, but he complicated the issue.

Nick’s a pretty good main guy. I was glad that he was very assertive compared to a lot of the others and also didn’t even entertain his ex’s proposition to show up once more. In this case he handled the situation perfectly even if Jessica did take things the wrong way. Nick was firm without being rude and didn’t let any of this psyche himself out of the job. He was professional at all times. Meanwhile Jessica is one of the weaker heroines. She jumps to conclusions pretty quick with Nick near the end of the film which didn’t seem all that reasonable. Additionally I feel like she was a bit rude to Nick at the start for no reason. Once he pointed out that he did have a sign up warning people not to get too close, Jessica seemed to take it personally. She was the one who bumped into him so I don’t see why she was so defensive. She even refused his help right away even though Amanda is the one who told him to help. Things worked out, but it was in spite of Jessica as opposed to being because of her at some points.

While she may not be as good as some of the others, it should still be noted that the character cast is still good. You don’t have to be perfect to be a great character after all and these two were able to hold their story up pretty well. We got our classic family Christmas party as well and this time we even got the “current boyfriend” character. I feel like it’s been a while since we got this guy to show up so that was nostalgic. He’s about as obvious as you would expect. The guy always loves talking about his job and barely seems to care about what Jessica does.
He’s quick to tell her to give up her job to work with him on his project which shows how dismissive he is. The guy was more eager to get his next drink than to hear what she was going to say. All of the warning bells were there from the start and the party was probably one of the last straws. That was a time where he openly said her job didn’t sound as important and he sent her off on her own. The cab driver helped to salvage the situation at least. It does mean that this romance is a complete rebound even compared to some of the others though so that part doesn’t work quite as well. Even if your current relationship didn’t work out, you’d think that it would take a few weeks or months until you move on to the next guy. If you can do it in the span of a day then the feelings may not be as serious as you think.

Overall, Christmas at The Plaza is a fun film. It’s a pleasant Christmas movie as you would expect. There’s a lot to look at with all of the Christmas lights and having one of the characters actually be an professional decorator was a good move so the film could really go all out. We get some nice Christmas movies as well and this one will have a lot of replay value as you’d expect. It’s true that after a while all of the Hallmark films start to feel the same, but I’ve never thought that was a bad thing. It’s like having a favorite movie and then you see everyone remaking it every year. It may be the same story, but it’s just as strong as it ever was. If you haven’t watched this one yet then it’s time to change that. The period from Christmas to New Year’s is still super festive outside and it’s never too late to check this one out.

Overall 7/10

My Christmas Dream Review

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Time for the next Hallmark title! This one definitely puts the lead in the toughest dilemma yet because you need a lot of creativity to get out of this one. I don’t consider myself a very artistic person for the masses. I’ll make things that look great to me which is really what I tend to focus on, but if I have to make something to impress someone else then it’s gonna be tricky. I take the same approach to things like cooking as well. I make things that I would love to eat but making things for someone else to find delicious is trickier. I figure if they don’t like it that means more for me….

The movie takes place at a McDougal’s store. They are celebrating their 50th anniversary and the store always has a unique Christmas display each year. As it’s their biggest one yet there is a lot of pressure to make a really good one. Unfortunately, the store had to let go of their main painter a few days before the display because he was missing deadlines and also ruined Christina’s outfit right before her meeting with the big wigs. Christina took this assignment for granted herself, but now Victoria has implied that if she does a good job of it then a promotion is at hand. Not just any promotion, but a promotion to Paris! Christina has always wanted to go there so now she is prepared to do whatever it takes to make this display a success!

One of the big impact moments here is when Christina allows Kurt to be fired in the opening scene. It’s sort of like a Peter Parker moment from his origin only this time I don’t necessary believe Christina handled the situation that badly. Sure, she could have spent a little more time discussing the situation, but her logic was pretty sound. The boss is the one who should be making the call about his subordinate particularly as she had never even met him before. The guy missed the deadline and while he gave his excuse about a second job (Which is a little sketchy because everyone guilt trips Christina throughout the whole movie, but it’s not like he’s out of jobs right?) you do ultimately need to pull through. If the organization is counting on you to get something done and on their 50th anniversary meeting as well, you’ve got to get it done. This would have been even worse if the owner Victoria had been the one to walk in there. She absolutely would have gotten rid of him in a snap.

Kurt’s a good guy otherwise. He mostly stops guilt tripping Christina after the opening scenes. The guy’s a little timider than some of the other guys though as he doesn’t really ask Christina out directly and instead uses his son as a shield the whole time. I don’t blame him for being a bit dismissive the first time they meet since he had literally just been fired, but after she helps his kid out he’s nice enough. The party they went too was also pretty neat. I’m sure I would have passed on the karaoke but it was a good way to get her mind off the deadlines.

The kid’s a little on the annoying side though. He escapes from home just to go to the mall and complain to Santa without thinking about how much it would make everyone worry. He gives Christina a hard time throughout the movie as well but she really handles the whole situation super well. The film treats Christina taking 30 minutes to an hour off from work as the end of the world, but that just means the rest of her staff are terrible at their jobs. I don’t care if she’s the best staffer in the store, they can’t rely on her to the point where she can’t leave for a few minutes.

Her second in command was very unreasonable to this effect. While she ultimately didn’t rat her out to Victoria, I don’t think there was anything to rat out. The whole point of being a second in command is that you have a lot of work to do so if you can’t handle it then it’s not the position for you. I couldn’t believe it whenever she would appear and start sulking. It seemed a little unreasonable to me personally. Meanwhile Victoria was mostly good although the one part I took issue with was her decision to use last year’s display over the one Christina presented. While I understand that you wouldn’t want to use a low quality one, you can’t just re-use the last design. For one thing, people would remember it since it just happened. If you’re going to use an old one then it has to be one from way back in the day. It also felt like she gave up a little too easily considering that she’s such a big business guru. What would have made more sense was to have a meeting with another employee and then promoting him or her if they came up with something.

You will feel bad for her in the end though. She’s about to have some good character development and has great Christmas plans only for Christina to walk in with a revelation. It’s a super happy ending for Christina but not a great one for Victoria. The ending is a little on the cheesy side this time since Christina really gets to have her cake and eat it too. It takes away from her decision a bit because it feels like both options could have worked. I am glad that the friend didn’t get the position though.

What I was expecting to be an option from the start is Christina inviting Kurt to come to Paris with her. He would bring his kid and could start his art business fresh there. It would have been a pretty ambitious ending and of course he might not want to leave at the drop of a hat like that, but I think it would have just made a lot more sense. Ah well. Christina is a solid lead although I think she probably should have started planning for the end of the year display a lot sooner. Considering that she was pretty obsessed with work at the start, I was surprised that she didn’t have it ready.

Overall, this is another really solid film to watch. As always the landscapes chosen here look really good. We also get some nice Christmas music which is always fun to listen to. The soundtrack is just on point and helps give the film a festive feel from the start. The writing is great as always so there’s nothing really negative here. Films like this are just a lot of fun to watch and they’ll leave you feeling happy as well. It’s perfect to watch around Christmas, but naturally I can recommend it at any point in the year. A good movie is a good movie no matter what day it is.

Overall 7/10

Coming Home For Christmas Review

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It’s time to look at a classic Hallmark Christmas film. I’ve actually seen quite a few of these as of late so expect for a mini marathon of reviews. First up is Coming Home For Christmas and it hits all of the right notes like most Hallmark films do. This one is a little weaker relative to their usual ones though due to the addition of a love triangle which really wasn’t all that necessary. Still, you can expect a wholesome experience as always.

The movie starts with Lizzie’s friend getting her a gig as the house manager for a rich family. She is eager to get to work, but unfortunately the lady of the house does not like her. This is an old lady named Pippa who is currently at odds with Robert, the executor of the estate who plans on selling the place. While they may be mother and son, they disagree on getting rid of the house. Lizzie has to find a way to get these two to open up to each other while also making this the best Christmas they’ve ever had. She has always loved a good Christmas party and hopes to get these characters to appreciate this as well. Meanwhile Robert has a brother named Kip who likes Lizzie so she will have to decide what’s more important, romance or her job.

It goes without saying but going out with your boss or even another co-worker is typically a bad idea. There’s a lot that can go wrong and there’s no real way it can help your job performance. Lizzie also isn’t all that interested in Kip from the start. If you’ve ever seen any romance film you know who she was going to choose. Interestingly though, the film doesn’t paint Kip in as bad a light as they usually do for the fall guy. The traditional formula for these films is that the girl is already with someone, but it turns out that he isn’t too invested in the relationship so then she rebounds with the first guy she meets.

In this case Lizzie wasn’t with someone at the moment so there are 2 new guys with one of course having to lose out. Kip is introduced as a bit of a flirt who can’t deal with a serious relationship so that means he is doomed here. He does try to say that this time will be different and while I’m not inclined to believe him, the film doesn’t send clear signals on this. I suppose it’s up to your interpretation, but either way Lizzie wasn’t interested so that was that.

This means that this film had a little more romance than the others although to an extent they all have a lot of romance with Hallmark. The film’s at its best when it’s not worrying about the tension here and instead focuses on how Lizzie makes a good party. With enough resources and time you can do a lot of creative things and these films will give you some good ideas.

The characters are also solid. Lizzie’s got a good attitude when working on the job and doesn’t let all of the antagonistic characters keep her down. She keeps trying to win over Pippa with her ideas until she eventually succeeds. She also doesn’t jump to conclusions the way that Robert does. There’s always one character who makes the leap but she stayed strong here. Lizzie really did her best to make Christmas special for everyone, but I think one important thing about her character is that she is a professional. Whether or not she became their friend you can’t deny that she did an amazing job setting up the party. The house looked a lot better than it had originally.

As for Robert, he’s a decent character. He takes a while to come around but for the most part he was still pretty cordial. He didn’t get upset every time he happened to show up and Lizzie was taking a break. He was reasonable there since he knew she was doing a good job and that’s how a boss should be. I do think he could have done a better job explaining to Pippa and the others why they had to sell the house though. Due to how the plot twists go and why they need to sell, I don’t see how everyone was so aggressive towards him. Surely at least Kip and the sister should have understood.

As for Kip, he wasn’t as good as Robert mainly because he was trying to be with Lizzie from the start. She brought up the valid point that effectively she works for Kip since he’s a part of the family so that dynamic was never going to work. Kip really should have given up at that point. Meanwhile Pippa is definitely not the nicest character, but she’s not too exaggerated or anything. She may not be all that kind to Lizzie, but she’s not slamming doors in her face or anything like that. She also does go along with the lead’s idea when she acknowledges that it is sound.

As mentioned earlier, this film is just solid all the way around. The writing is good and I enjoy the scenery we get in the various shots. The characters are all written well and the movie’s pacing is on point. There’s time for a lot to happen, but it never drags on. Romance movies really aren’t my thing, but the Hallmark Christmas films consistently deliver so maybe this is the winning formula. The ending surprisingly isn’t quite as happy as most of the others when you think about it. Of course Lizzie and Robert get a happy ending, but Lizzie’s sister and some minor characters we didn’t know the name of had to lose a bit. The sister should be okay since I think the agent keeps money no matter what but the other guys were ready for a new experience. Naturally Kip lost out as well. Still, the positive parts of the ending outweigh the sadder parts as no character should be particularly crushed with how this turned out.

Overall, Coming Home For Christmas is a solid film. It does remind you that you gotta be careful not to let business get in the way of enjoying Christmas and spending time with everyone. Without Lizzie at the ready Robert probably would have completely lost touch with everyone in the end. The setup is more old school with everyone arriving for several days at a large mansion to do all these traditions, but you can certainly do the same in a smaller set-up as well. The only thing this film was missing was more Christmas food as we didn’t get to see the cast eating all that much.

Overall 7/10

A Wish For Christmas Review

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The Hallmark Channel has returned for another adventure. By this point you’ll likely know whether you enjoy the films or not. Hallmark is very well known for its formula in these Christmas films and stays true to it through thick or thin. I guess you could say that the big change here is that for once there is no “other” guy. There’s only the heroine and the guy who will inevitably fall for her. By removing the rebound angle it makes the film a lot more heartfelt.

This film starts off by showing us how much Sara loves Christmas. It’s something she looks forward to every year and she makes sure to take the day off to be with family. However, she is unable to enjoy the office party because her boss steals the idea she came up with and gets the credit for it in front of everyone. Sara prepares to leave the party but then Santa shows up and grants her wish to be brave. However, his powers are waning in his old years so he can only give her this ability for 48 hours. After which she will become the meek pushover that she always was. Sara intends to make the most of it and exposes her boss. After he is fired, the true head of the company, Peter, decides to take her with him to close out a deal with his biggest customer of all time. The whole company is riding on this. Sara agrees to go, but on the condition that she makes it home in time for Christmas.

Adding that supernatural twist here helps give the film a fresh edge. It works a little like a truth serum as Sara is unable to stop herself from being very outgoing and direct. If she has a thought in her head then she has to say it and even if it could lead to bad situations. As a result it’s not a purely positive thing, but for the most part it always tends to work out. It is important to be able to stand up for yourself so the film’s got a good moral to it. The boss taking the credit for your idea is something that is to be expected to a certain extent, but it has to be within reason. When you’re supplying ideas to your boss to help the company naturally he will take the lion’s share of the credit, but you need to at least get a honorable mention. Since Sara got none of that it was good that she took the boss down a peg. I do think that changing the whole presentation without letting the boss know in the email was a little dicey if he needed it that day though.

Sara makes for a good protagonist. I do think she could have managed a better equilibrium between being nice and sincere. Bringing drinks for everyone at work every day is a nice gesture even if it is something that I would never do because of the cost and the lack of convenience. That being said, if you secretly resent doing so or are only doing it to curry favor with the higher ups then naturally that is not a good thing to do. Sara’s friend seemed really nice even if she could be a bit cheap art times. With Sara’s new position hopefully she doesn’t go on a power trip and remember who had her back all this time.

Then we have Peter who I can’t say is a particularly good character. He seems all well and good for most of the film but when Sara is unable to close the deal with the main antagonist of the film we see his true colors. The guy leaves Sara feeling awful and just lets her get on the plane herself while he hashes things out with his father. That’s a big part of the film and it makes sense that he would do that, but why make Sara worry so much? From how it seems at the end he would have let Sara just up and leave without getting the letter she gave him. The guy switches sides way too fast and didn’t seem genuine to me. He definitely gets a thumbs down from me.

The supporting cast was pretty solid though. As mentioned, Sara’s friend was pretty good. I also thought Peter’s family was pretty solid too. The Mom and Aunt baking cookies was definitely fun and their setup was good. Every topping was there including the fruit candies although I can’t imagine putting that on a chocolate chip cookie. The father naturally had a bit of a rocky start but things were awkward with him and Peter both not wanting to be the first to approach but thanks to Sara he is able to get over it.

As always the writing is pretty solid here, but the romance ends up being a bit on the weak side. Peter just doesn’t seem like a team player at all and as mentioned he was very quick to ditch Sara. When they come together it’s hard to buy into it and you can’t help but feel like Sara shouldn’t want to be with him either. The romance doesn’t play a huge role in the film at least. If anything it comes almost out of nowhere at the end.

Overall, A Wish For Christmas is another solid title. It’s a solid film in all areas. It goes by very quickly and is just a pleasant experience. I’m not sure about the Christmas remix song at the beginning of the film though. This rendition was a little too slow I think and lost the energy that the original had. The soundtrack is still pretty good overall though. A little Christmas music is always a good idea to liven things up a bit. If you haven’t seen this film yet then I’d recommend checking it out. It’s also a good time to start thinking of what your Christmas wish/New Year’s resolution will be.

Overall 7/10

Pride And Prejudice And Mistletoe Review

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Hallmark returns once more and this film is actually super new. I can’t say that you really notice the difference from the time since these films aren’t exactly heavy in special effects, but the backgrounds and such look good. After all, they are filmed on location I’m thinking so real life’s graphics are as good as ever. This is a pretty solid film. We do go back to the more retro trope of the first guy losing out to the old friend, but I guess if it isn’t broke don’t fix it right?

Darcy has had a lot of success at her company. It is now a big corporation and she is one of the highest ranking members on the board. Unfortunately, her views have stayed close to the ground while her partners want to sell out and keep on charging high premiums. They are now ramping up the pressure to kick her out. The problem is that she already went back home to Ohio to help out her Mom with a big fundraising event. She can go back to her job to secure her clients or she can stay with her family. If she leaves them at this stage then the event will be a disaster. What can she do?

It’s definitely a bit of a tougher problem than what we had in the last few films. Of course helping the family is the right option, but it’s also hard to not go back to work when you’re about to be kicked out. The film also makes you think who is making the right call here. Darcy wanted to switch the entire company’s policy towards letting in people with no bottom line. There’s a reason why most companies have a bottom line so taking it away would naturally be controversial. Of course, the antagonists are also trying to get her out of the company without a word so it’s not as if they’re in the right either. If I was Darcy I probably would have waited to bring this up until after she had returned from her vacation though. Her secretary was definitely very helpful though. Without her Darcy would have been doomed.

This film goes back to having a pretty strong supporting cast. I thought Darcy’s Dad was pretty solid here. He kept his end of the bargain as to not asking Darcy to come and work for him even though he knew that she was making a mistake in declining. He still raised up a pretty good empire in the meantime and was always around for Darcy to talk to him. I also think the backup guy here wasn’t all that bad. He was certainly hoping Darcy would go with him, but once he was rejected he accepted the answer and left. It wasn’t the answer that he was hoping to hear, but he didn’t get sour or try to get even.

As for the main guy, Luke’s pretty fun even if the “tough guy” approach doesn’t work as well with him since you know that he’ll be paired up with Darcy anyway. I think a film about him and Darcy being on the debate team would probably be fun. He does seem like the kind of guy who would probably enjoy taking the conflicting opinion just to spark a debate. He has a lot of good ideas and he’s certainly filled with confidence. Aside from quickly buying into an unlikely scenario at the end he doesn’t seem nearly as timid as a lot of the other guys. It’s good to see someone talking tough for the whole film this time.

That being said, I still wouldn’t say that the romance is particularly good here. It’s all pretty generic stuff and Darcy takes too long in shutting down the backup guy. He has to ask her first because she took forever to say anything. Granted, they were basically apart by this point but she was doing the whole “We’re not actually together” when talking about Luke only to go to him 2-3 minutes later to make it official. She had made up her mind by that point even if she couldn’t admit it. I think without the romance angle we could have gotten more of a focus on the party and the rivalry between her and Luke. Imagine a good rivalry like that which doesn’t lead to romance in the end. I think it could have worked out quite well.

As always I’d say that the writing is pretty good here. Darcy is also a good lead taking away the romance angle. While it is played out to be a bad thing, I do like how independent she is. Asking for help is a last resort for Darcy and she’ll typically try to do things on her own. If she makes a promise she’ll do everything she can to fulfill it. If it’s too much for her then she’ll ask for help, but she never does things halfway. That’s exactly the kind of person that you want on your team. The deal she made with her father also works out pretty well. She’ll be able to realize her dream while also keeping his company up. I would have liked to have seen a final scene with the hot dog guy though to show that he got to open the account. I was expecting it the whole time and was a little disappointed when it didn’t happen.

While the moral is that Darcy needs to trust in others more I feel like the movie almost completely backfires in trying to show this. Every company that the Mom called in to help ended up canceling at the last second. At the end of the day they weren’t able to trust anyone and the party was nearly ended several times. I mean, that’s not the point of the film of course, but Darcy’s loner approach was really working quite well. Trusting others within reason is always good of course, but maybe the film could have showed some more examples of trust actually working rather than the opposite.

Overall, This is another good Hallmark film. It definitely earns its Hallmark seal of approval and keeps the streak alive for these titles. There are no negatives to speak of here and it’s just a really fun film to watch. I think it’s one of the stronger titles I’ve seen from this series. Maybe I’ll make a ranking of them at some point or something since I’ve seen so many of them. If you haven’t seen this film yet and want to watch a fun little Christmas story then I recommend checking this one out. It’s just good all around and has no real weaknesses.

Overall 7/10

A Royal Christmas Review

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Hallmark has returned for another Christmas title. This one brings a royal air to the mix and we get a lot of new scenery compared to the first two films which is nice. I still say that the first Hallmark film I saw was the best one and this one also loses to the second, but don’t think that the series is already starting to decline. The first two films just set a rather high bar and this one is still roughly at that same level. The main character can just be a bit annoying again.

The film starts off with Emily having a good time. She is going to be spending her first Christmas with Leopold so naturally she is looking forward to it. Unfortunately, he chooses this time to drop a landmine on her. He is actually a prince and must get ready to inherit the throne. Emily is really upset at this since it’s a rather big secret to have been kept for so long but he assures her that he is the same person. To test that out, he wants her to come with him to the kingdom. Emily does so but quickly learns that Leopold’s mother Isadora is very against their relationship and will do whatever she can to destroy it. Can Emily stay strong or will she be humbled?

Most of the positives in this film mirror the last two. The writing is pretty solid and the film’s pacing is on point. You won’t be bored during the adventure and the film makes sure to steer clear out of any serious negatives. The scenery looks really nice and it’s just a pleasant film to watch. There’s no reason to cringe or turn away except for some decisions at times. This film does have less positives in general though which is what hurts it a bit. For starters, the supporting cast isn’t nearly as impressive here. Emily’s Dad can be a bit over the top and comes off as more annoying than supportive like when he forgot that his camera was off during the final scene and basically spoiled the moment.

Emily’s friend isn’t quite as helpful as the sister was in the last film and doesn’t really get to do much in general. Then you have the maids who turn on Emily a little too easily. They get along at first, but then Isadora decides to sack them to get at Emily and they quickly go into the guilt tripping tactic. Considering that they knew the rules and that Emily certainly couldn’t have been aware I don’t see how they can blame her. They come around by the end since the head butler re-enlists them but it’s hard to really like these guys. Of course getting fired is emotional and it was in the heat of the moment, but the point still stands.

As for Emily, she is a little too sensitive. She falls for every trick in the book and gets very easily offended. Just having the Leopold’s ex explain how close they are is enough to put her on edge. At times she tries to put on a brave face but it cracks with ease. In this situation everyone made it abundantly clear from the start that there would be several people trying to break her and Leopold up so Emily doesn’t have the excuse that she was unprepared. She knew exactly what she was getting into. Emily also decides to cut ties with Leopold so as not to be a bother but instead that just comes off as her giving up way too easily. If she is really serious about this relationship then she simply needs to keep on holding tight.

Meanwhile Leopold could certainly have done better as well. He basically lets Isadora walk all over him and to a large extent it’s fine. She is still his mother and he has to keep up the family legacy. That being said, there are some things he could have done better like not agreeing to go on a horse walk in the morning when Emily can’t ride. Alternately he could have rode with her since two people can ride a horse. I can’t really take too many points away from him though since Leopold does a much better job of actually going after Emily repeatedly rather than giving up.

Meanwhile Isadora is the main antagonist of the movie and does a good job in the role. She puts a lot of thought into her plans of getting Emily away. She always has the edge in this battle of wills. Naturally you can probably see where her character arc will go from the start, but she was still convincing up until that point. She also took her share of risks like approaching Emily while she was holding a sword. Some things may be a bit much like when she puts Emily on the spot both at a party and in the middle of many prestigious individuals. Wouldn’t it reflect poorly on the family if the Prince’s girlfriend is low class? Isadora should try to get rid of her privately, not publicly.

There is also the ex, but she gets less of a role than you might expect. Not only does she not have a chance from the start, but she doesn’t even feel as mean spirited as some of the others. She doesn’t actually do anything to Emily which is nice since sometimes bullies should be a little more subtle. Also, it’s not as if she is typically a bad person, she is basically acting under orders. That’s no excuse, but she was certainly not as bad as she could have been. With Emily giving up so easily that also doesn’t help the main heroine’s case.

Overall, The Royal Wedding is a fun film. I don’t think it is quite as strong as the last few films but it’s still a good watch. The Butler can be fun as he constantly talks back to Isadora. At first you’ll wonder why he hasn’t been fired yet, but there is a big plot twist that certainly explains this rather satisfactory. It could have been better, but I still recommend this film nonetheless. As long as you are looking forward to a fun Christmas (Well, it barely feels like one at times) comedy and you can get past the romance then this is a good film to check out. You’ll likely roll your eyes when Leopold first lets Emily know that he is a prince since the odds of that are so slim, but that’s a natural response and you’ll be able to get back into the movie after that scene.

Overall 7/10

The Sweetest Christmas Review

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It’s time to look at the next Hallmark film. This one is another Christmas rebound adventure but with a food themed plot to spice things up. When competitions are on the line even Christmas can get a little hectic. Still, the main characters are ready for anything and this is another solid film to check out.

This film starts out with Kylie lamenting her loss for the Gingerbread contest. She sent in a submission weeks ago but never received a response. At least things are going well at work and she thinks that Alex may be ready to take the next step as he invites her to a fancy restaurant. Her hopes are dashed when he says that he just brought her over so ask if she would like a promotion so they can be a team at work. Honestly it wasn’t a bad idea but Kylie already had her heart set on something else so she ends their “partnership” as he would put it. She then meets rebound guy #1…her ex Nick. Nick is living the tough life of being a single Dad at the moment since she formerly dumped him as well but now they can get back to the past. Also, Kylie ended up doing well on her submission, the letter was just loss behind the fridge. She is now determined to win the contest and prove that her cooking skills are the real deal!

This is a pretty fun film like the other Hallmark title. While I don’t think it is quite as impressive it still has all of the fundamentals down. First off, it’s an enjoyable movie with no real negative scenes to drag it down. I wouldn’t say that any of the characters are downright terrible and the pacing is on point as well. The cooking scenes are always nice and the supporting characters had nice contributions and managed not to feel tacked on. The writing is pretty good and I continue to be impressed with Hallmark in general.

On the other side of the spectrum, once again the whole film’s plot revolves around a rebound and the film pretty much justifies it here like in the last movie. I certainly find it hard to root for Kylie myself especially since Alex doesn’t even seem like a bad guy. Oblivious to be sure, but at least he’s not cheating on her or anything like that. I think the main character is where the last film really takes the edge. That’s a good segway into talking about our heroine. So, Kylie is an aspiring chef who has had a hard time breaking into the industry but is looking to do so now. This is her golden opportunity but you wouldn’t know it since she is so quick to throw in the towel all the time. As soon as she hears that a professional is joining the contest she is ready to throw in the towel and must be told repeatedly not to do so. Why does she have to be convinced to enter the contest she’s been waiting for her whole life? She throws the pity party way too quickly.

Then we find out the reason why she broke up with Nick and it’s a bad one. Basically his Dad died and Kylie didn’t want Nick to have to be busy driving to her place all the time since it was so far…so she broke up with him. She acts like she was doing him a favor but I think it’s pretty obvious why this would be one of the worst times to break up with him. With his life basically being turned upside down all she is doing is amplifying that even more. Things could have ended up pretty badly for him. Now when Nick is just getting over him she is ready to reconnect.

Meanwhile, Nick is fairly reasonable as he does his best to turn her away and also doesn’t make any kind of move until he is sure that she is no longer together with Alex. For him this is also a rebound since his wife died and the time frame can’t have been too long based on the timeline of when this all went down. Naturally the romance in this film is more of a weakness than anything. The movie is at its best when it’s focusing on the comedy and just having a good time. The film never gets too serious though and even the negatives in the romance are typically glossed over. I don’t think you’ll notice it much unless you are paying a lot of attention to it.

Ralphie is Nick’s best friend and he does a good job of looking out for him. The guy’s a lot of fun and certainly is supportive. Without him Nick and Kylie would have definitely been doomed. Likewise Kylie had a sister who was also with her throughout all of this and always had a good attitude about her. Again, the supporting cast was just quite good. I didn’t care much for Nick’s kid, but they can’t all be good. Alex was still fairly decent. He does his best to try to make things right with Kylie. He seems to have a hard time really expressing himself but you never get the feeling that he doesn’t care for Kylie. He’s just grown up in a business environment and doesn’t really know how to differentiate the two. He probably gets the saddest ending from all of the characters. His plan for the contest was certainly convoluted and didn’t work too well but again it was all for Kylie. If anything I found him to be a lot more impressive than Nick and he was certainly a more likable character. He’s the kind of guy where you knew he was doomed from the start though. He never stood a chance.

Overall, This was a fun Christmas film. There’s a lot of baking and solid characters to root for here. Even though this is primarily a romance/comedy film it only succeeds in half of its genre. That’s enough though especially since there are no true negatives here. There was no scene where I thought to myself “I’m gonna drop a star for that.” That’s definitely important and a big reason as to why I can safely recommend this title to anyone. It’s a nice feel good film to end the year with.

Overall 7/10