Tag Archives: Romance

Fit for Christmas Review

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It’s time for a very classic kind of romantic comedy film and this one really executes on what’s otherwise a fairly simple plot. At the end of the day I’m going to keep on calling this the Hallmark formula and so of course it’s filled with a romantic rebound and a lot of good burns being dished out by both of the main characters. The path that the story follows may be generic but you’ll have a good time as the film slowly takes you there.

The film starts off with Audrey heading back to her old hometown for the first time in a while. She’s on a “break” from her boyfriend after he decided to cancel their wedding at the last second. Well, this gives her more time to re-open her dancing/fitness classes back up and it’s almost Christmas so this’ll be fun. Unfortunately the town is about to get in the middle of a crisis because a giant corporation has decided to move in. They’re going to be building new places, fresh eateries and improving the quality of life in the town by 1 billion percent but it will likely lose that old town vibe as a result. Audrey has decided to stop this at all costs but it’s difficult since most of the people in the town seem to be on board with the idea. Even worse? The guy representing the company is a man named Griffin, one of the most eligible bachelors of all time! She will have to try and resist his looks, charm, and money but can she pull this off when everyone is rooting for them to get together?

Right away one thing I like here is the banter between Griffin and Audrey before they get together. He really embraces the villain role while always taking the high road. She jumps in with a lot of insults and everything right out of the gate while he takes it all in stride and at least acts nice on the outside. He did a good job of bluffing through his lack of Christmas knowledge during her quiz while they were doing the fitness routine and he did manage to make friends with everyone in the town. That’s impressive since they all started out not wanting to like him since he was a part of corporate.

Griffin is clearly very good at his job and it shows. I’m glad that he wasn’t incompetent or anything like that. You could make the case that he was a step ahead throughout the whole film and ultimately the spirit of Christmas is what it took to stop him. He definitely could have stood to be more confident when talking to his father though. That was absolutely his weak point. Particularly since as we see his father is very reasonable the whole time. I think he would have supported Griffin’s change to the plan right from the start and so we didn’t need all of the secrecy or anything like that.

The characters were all written rather well and realistically. The antagonists were not too far gone. At most you could just say that the romance was really rushed the whole time and that’s definitely true. They’re moving way too fast considering that Audrey was really close to marrying the last guy. It’s always been one of my biggest problems with the concept of the rebound. If you were so close to being married to the point where she would have been had he just said yes…then is her love for Griffin really the real deal? If your feelings can change so quickly then I have doubts on just how deep they are. It’s just not how these things work and you’ll have a very hard time convincing me of anything else.

In general though the instant you have to take a “break” in your relationship then it’s as good as over. A break is never needed for the person that you really love. Audrey was on the fence about this longer than she should have been. The other guy seemed decent overall but the fact that he wasn’t ready to commit is a dealbreaker. You just can’t really come back from that, at least not easily. The movie randomly tries throwing in another romance subplot which was more on the weak side though. Particularly since this guy’s wife was dead which was the main reason he didn’t want to get back into the dating scene.

It’s a super valid reason but it’s just brushed aside the whole time with the whole “She’d want you to be happy.” Yeah maybe but sometimes she actually would want her husband to just stay loyal to her, particularly since he’s rather old at this point anyway. I know the phrase is til death do us part but you can sometimes stand to stretch that out until both people are dead you know? You don’t have to just move on like that every time.

Well, romance aside, the rest of the film was a blast though. The fitness scenes were actually pretty good since it does feel like that would give me a good workout. I liked the sets and it was nice seeing the whole town come together. The fact that Griffin was nice to everyone even while working for corporate was great because it makes the ending less cheesy and more realistic. There are no hatchets to be buried or grudges to get past because everyone was on the same page from the start. It’s an extremely refreshing thing to see here.

Overall, Fit for Christmas is a very well made movie. At its core it’s a super enjoyable film and of course that is the most important part for any title by far. You have to be a blast in order to be remembered as a super solid title and this one really holds its own there. It has a lot of replay value and would stand as one of the stronger Hallmark styled films that I’ve seen. I always love good banter and this film definitely delivered with that. So in the end I really have no major complaints with this one and would recommend it. You’re bound to find a lot of scenes that make you smile.

Overall 7/10

Operation Christmas Drop Review

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It’s time for an emotional Christmas story that would do Hallmark proud. It’s a fun movie all around and the pacing is on point so you’re always having a good time. The plot is fairly straight forward and you can see a lot of the story beats coming but the execution is on point. The movie never tries to do too much and mainly focuses on one key plot instead of trying to jam in a ton of them. Less is more in this instance and so that ends up working pretty well.

The film starts with Erica being tasked with her most difficult mission yet. She has to prove why the army should close an air force base so that the funds can be reallocated. Of course this means a lot of people would be losing their jobs which is rough. Additionally the biggest loss would be the Christmas Drop program where the Air Force flies supplies, gifts, and a lot of much needed convenience items to people in the nearby islands who could really use some essentials. They aren’t very well off and so this is one way to help boost morale while helping a lot of people in very real ways. All in all, this is a PR nightmare for Erica as she is basically the bad guy here. She keeps deflecting by saying that she is just following orders but maybe it is time to make a stand. Maybe it is time…to save Christmas!

You would think optically Erica’s boss would like to keep the base to show how benevolent she is but of course in politics you always have a thousand voices yelling at you to different things so at this point and time the pressure is simply higher on the other side. Sometimes that’s really all it boils down to. Erica is certainly ready to submit her report and bury the place at first as well until she gradually sees how it helps out. I have no doubt that some money is likely spent on the program even with all of the donations but the fact that the base went out of its way to try and make this a good deal for everyone does speak volumes. It shows that they are really trying hard to be responsible at all phases of the project.

Andrew is the main guy sticking up for the program and he does a terrific job. He always has the right answers on hand and isn’t intimidated by Erica’s boss. He makes the pitch to her directly as well and you can tell that the guy has put a lot of effort into this program. Even with the romance aside I’d say his pitch would have been fairly convincing to any reporter looking in on the situation. That’s because by every objective metric this is a really good idea. For the cynical onlookers at least it’s good PR, for the people hoping to make a difference in the world this gives them an avenue to do it, and for all of the islanders it obviously helps them out a whole lot since they are in a tough spot.

It’s always good to see the army doing good and using all of their equipment for something like this is great. So yeah Andrew steals the show as the main character here. Meanwhile Erica is solid as well. Obviously she does have to go through a bit of a character arc to end up as the selfless lead she was destined to be but it’s a character arc that is definitely handled well. When it comes time to make a stand, she picks the right side and helps the team out on their mission.

As for the romance in this film, there’s no rebounding going on so I appreciate that. Often times there is a poor ex running around or a character was already with someone and breaks up after making it to the main plot. In this case that doesn’t happen. The romance is still on the weaker side since it’s all moving a little too fast though. Given the stakes here you’d think romance would be the last thing on either of their minds. Andrew has a mission to save after all and letting your feelings interfere with that would be a grave mistake.

It is definitely a bit odd to see a Christmas film taking place by the beach like this but it certainly helps the film stand out. That is also the normal setting for plenty of people so that’s a nice way to see their perspective. Of course if given the choice I would always want a Christmas that’s sub zero temperature with plenty of snow but at the end of the day you should be able to have a good time no matter how hot or cold it is. It’s more about enjoying the day and the festivities than what’s going on outside right? This does mean there aren’t any big montage of holiday foods this time around though but that’s fine.

The writing is on point so even the antagonists aren’t written to be super crazy or anything like that. Everyone has reasons for doing what they are doing and the film does give the main antagonist a good amount of presence. Whenever she walks in you know the characters are going to be stressed. You also can’t blame her for being upset since from her point of view this all does look pretty bad. Imagine walking into the army base to see the person you hired in the middle of a party instead of researching? Bosses tend to have tricky timing like that sometimes.

Overall, Operation Christmas Drop is a pretty good film. It has a good story with a solid moral and ultimately just spreads good vibes the whole time. It’s the kind of movie where you feel good after having watched it and you can’t say that for just any film. Mix in a lot of fun visuals, songs, and a good cast and you have a winner here. Being fun is one of the main positives I would say for the film and that’s really all that you need. It kept the plot fairly basic and the character cast rather small. It has a very specific focus with the story and doesn’t deviate from that. I had a good time watching it and so I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

The Holiday Review

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You might as well call this the rebound movie because that is constantly what is going on here. The characters jump from one person to the next with limitless speed. It’s completely uncanny and ultimately takes away from any message of true love that the film is trying to express. It ends up getting too dramatic and so ultimately none of the characters really make a lot of sense here. I cringed a lot more during this movie than any other recent title.

The movie starts off by introducing us to two characters who have both experienced a lot of heartache recently. First is Amanda who is super rich and owns her own film trailers company where she excels. Unfortunately her boyfriend cheated on her and so she breaks up with him and now has nobody to spend Christmas with. She decides to enroll in this super sketchy program where you swap houses with someone and flies all the way to England to get started on her vacation. Now she can be away from all of the usual neighborhoods which could remind her of her ex but she just can’t be alone anymore. So when some guy shows up at her new house she is ready for a quick one night stand.

Meanwhile Iris is having guy trouble of her own as she is in an unrequited love with one of the guys at work. He’s engaged to another woman and has lots of affairs but she is satisfied with just receiving his attention sometimes. He knows that she likes him and continues to exploit this fact by telling her that he needs her and letting her get some action now and again. It’s a very unhealthy dynamic though so Iris ends up swapping houses with Amanda. Now she can finally enjoy being rich for a little while but the colleague continues to call her because he needs some help on his projects. Can she learn to block his number in time?

In a lot of these adventures I really don’t get why the characters don’t just block the number. Seriously it’s not that hard and then you don’t have to worry about seeing any of those messages or calls ever again. In particular from the two characters I also can’t really sympathize with Iris all that much. She’s just too much of a pushover. Unrequited love is one thing. Sure that can be rough but at the same time it’s not this huge mess she’s making it out to be. When you’re in love with someone then you’re happy as long as they are. A crush is when you’re sad that your girl/guy got snagged before you could make your move. True love is much deeper than that and so as long as the girl he is with is a good person then that’s it.

So her jealousy the whole time isn’t great. You either move on or just really enjoy the moments you have with the guy. You do not continue being a homewrecker or just pouting the whole time. Then when you find out that the guy actually knows the whole situation and keeps weaponizing it, that is when Iris should have gotten out of there. How does she even love the guy when he’s this toxic? Yeah her plot just didn’t win me over in the slightest and it really hurts her as a character.

There’s a scene near the end that hurts her a lot too. So she’s ready to rebound with the nice music guy when her ex shows up again. Iris is ready to throw all of that away immediately to get back together with him and the only thing that stops her is that he’s still engaged. Meaning?? She would have gone back together with him if he had claimed that he called it off. It’s a horrible look and is why I can’t root for any of the romances in this film because this kind of thing keeps on happening.

Miles is the guy she’s supposed to end up with but he’s not much better. For starters I think he is a bit too much of a flirt. I half forgot that he was even dating someone because when he meets Iris he’s being super friendly, gives long awkward stares, kisses her on the cheek twice later on, etc. So then his girlfriend cheats on him so he feels bad and goes to Iris for the rebound…..only to then go back to the ex real quick when she asks him over. Ultimately he says no this time and goes back to Iris but again why is he tempted at such a late date? It implies that she could have won him over depending on how she handled this. Real bad look for Miles.

Men and Women reading this blog, always remember to know your worth. If you’re someone’s second choice then that isn’t the person you want to be with. The other wise words of wisdom I’m going to impart is to be careful if someone is too easy as well. Because the way you obtain someone is often the way you lose them. So if someone you like offers you a one night stand right away…know that the offer may be extended to others as well. So yeah when it comes to advice in the ways of love, I’m your guy. I’m something of a romantic expert myself after all….

Yeah back to the movie though, we’re cutting back to Amanda’s plot now. Her plot is also one that’s hard to be sympathetic with. I will say that she handled the Ex way better than Iris though. He cheated so she punched him in the face and kicked him out. Boom that was it for him. No second thoughts, no half hearted apologies, etc. He was gone and out of the movie. Where Amanda’s plot goes wrong is it takes a few seconds upon meeting some complete stranger for her to go all the way with him. Are you kidding me? If that’s similar to how fast she went with the first guy then it’s not too surprising that he ended up being a cheater. The entire point of dating is to find out the true character of a person after all. So you don’t get to learn about that if you’re skipping that whole phase.

Of course, knowing someone isn’t super easy and there are tons of ins and outs to romance that take years of experience and other parts that just require faith. This guy named Graham has a lot of secrets of his own which he doesn’t share and that does make him look bad by the end. Ultimately this plot was just annoying with Amanda and Graham both appearing to have no morals the whole time. I wouldn’t trust either one with my groceries let alone in a relationship! They just seem way too desperate.

The only real quality character here is Arthur. He’s a fairly old guy who is having health issues but still has a fairly positive attitude. He’s a fierce guy too who doesn’t let anyone push him around. He injected some humor into the film and had some of the best moments. The film could actually be inspiring and emotional when it wanted to be rather than being super dramatic all of the time. So this was definitely when the film was at its best. If it could have skipped the romance and just focused on making friends and learning how to enjoy yourself then that would have been a much better film.

The fact that the main characters cannot function by themselves without constantly being in a relationship is in itself a red flag. You should be able to be fairly self sufficient as needed because if not then you’re probably going to be a very clingy partner. You should always have your own interests as well so if you guy/gal needs to be on a business trip or working late you have something to do beyond blasting their phone with endless texts and things like that. None of these characters really seemed all that happy on their own so they aren’t in that perfect spot yet.

Overall, The Holiday is one of those films where you don’t really buy into the characters having a happy ending. They’re all too quick to rebound so it’s hard to see how they could possibly trust each other. There’s just too much baggage and so the relationships probably won’t last. The film could have really worked on making the characters more likable all around if you ask me. The writing isn’t the best and while the film is long, it stuffs itself with so many plots that it doesn’t really matter. It’s just used to create more and more problems for the heroes with made them more and more irredeemable. There are some fairly high quality songs thrown into the mix at least though.

Overall 3/10

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Review

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It’s time to look at the sequel to the original Cardcaptors series. It accomplished something that is usually very tricky to pull off which is that it’s simply a whole lot better. In my mind it’s not even close as this one had a better villain, higher stakes, and better emotional moments. The series is still fairly low key so I’m not saying it’s a great title or anything but I had a good time with it. I imagine it also works even better when you’re binging it because you can get to all of the story beats quickly. At its core this is a series that is very peaceful and has a lot of wholesome moments. The ending is solid enough and while you may have preferred a more explosive climax, the series delivers when it counts.

So the series starts off with something odd happening. All of Sakura’s cards end up being depowered and turning back to normal. This is rather concerning but what is even more concerning is the fact that Sakura is having some odd dreams about someone in a cloak. Well, Sakura doesn’t scare easily so she goes about her business and then one day her school gets a new transfer student named Akiho. She looks a lot like Sakura and is also very kind and timid. They may as well be twins and Akiho’s guardian is a nice man named Kaito. He exudes a powerful presence but hey that just means that this guy is legit. For some reason Syaoran has started to keep some secrets from Sakura though, will this cause some friction to develop?

I will say straight from the start it is annoying that Syaoran is keeping secrets like this. Seriously he and Sakura have been through so much already. He should be telling her everything that he can. Yes, there are certain things he is physically unable to tell her because of a spell so I’m not counting those of course. No, I’m talking about the secrets that he does know about and chooses not to tell her anyway. Sakura is cool with this because she’s super understanding and will forgive anything but it’s a bad look for him.

Syaoran ends up getting wrecked quite a lot in this series because he can’t really keep up with the power levels at this point. It is nice to see him act a bit in the climax but for most of the story expect him to stay on the sidelines. That’s also true for most of the supporting characters but that’s mainly expected since that’s usually what they do. At this point they’re there for the school scenes but aren’t really intervening in the plot too much. The series is long enough where those scenes do add up but I do think the cast is one of the weak points of the series. There aren’t many characters that I love. There are some solid ones but not a ton of them.

The character doing the heavy lifting here is absolutely Kaito. This guy is absolutely excellent and really controls the plot. I looked forward to seeing him every week because as long as he was around I knew that things would move forward. His goals are also very noble. He is the antagonist but he’s not trying to murder everyone or anything like that. He’s trying to make life better for one person in particular and is willing to do whatever it takes to help her out. That’s what I like to see in a solid villain. I would even say he is more of an anti hero to be honest.

Basically he fought off an entire council of super wizards to protect Akiho and then he also risked his eternal soul in addition to his life in order to save her. It’s all incredibly impressive stuff. Stuff that you wouldn’t see from the average villain trying to mess up everyone’s day. Clamp has had their share of evil villains too of course so it can happen but I was cool with having a more heroic focus this time around. Self sacrifice is always a great character trait to have and I also liked how powerful he was.

Kaito spent his life trying to be as powerful as possible and learning spells to help Akiho. The fact that he reached such a high level is a testament to his dedication. The two of them had a really strong bond the whole time. Although he really saw Akiho as more of a close friend while she was hoping for more, that’s how it goes sometimes. Akiho is a solid character but she’s too young to really know what is going on. In part that’s due to Kaito though because he really wanted her to be able to lead an ordinary, quiet life. So he succeeded completely in that part.

He didn’t count on her still being worried about him though but there’s not much that he could have done about that. No matter how expert he was in using his abilities, it would still show a little from time to time and when it comes to Kaito, Akiho would be fairly observant in that area.

The manga also has a little fun with the time travel like when the series literally rewinds a few chapters because Kaito used his powers. This happens more than once and it’s a lot of fun. It shows just how advanced his abilities are. Of course eventually that won’t work on a true powerhouse like Sakura. Another thing I liked about this sequel is that it treated Sakura with a lot of respect. This makes sense because at this point in the series she should absolutely be stronger than most of the people who show up. Sakura has been fighting for much longer than them and she has mastered the cards. So seeing her defy time stop and overpower fate was great.

Of course this series isn’t about action like that but when it happens I am always glad to see it. That’s when the series is at its best and of course the general plot with Kaito. Where it tends to be less engaging is in the slice of life stuff which of course is rough since that’s the majority. Again it goes back to the characters because I’ve read tons of Shojo at this point and they always tend to be more engaging. From rom-coms like Love-Com to the more dramatic ones like Arisa, you get hooked on the story. For Cardcaptor, it just feels like a lot of the dialogue is fluff. Like the characters talking about a picnic or a nice dress to wear. It’s all just so down to earth that it goes too far into not being very entertaining the whole time.

I would really love to see the series go full on action. There are enough fighters at this point where that could happen and Kaito could easily take on just about anyone in the verse. It’s a dream of course but it would be really nice. Clamp has shown in the past that they can absolutely do a battle series when they really want to. It would make things more eventful for sure. After all this series is over 10 volumes and yet if you cut out the fluff/filler you could probably adapt the whole thing in 4 volumes. That may be a slight exaggeration but at least to me that makes sense based on how much you don’t actually need to get involved with. It does make for a much shorter review than most titles of this size would be as well since there’s not a whole lot to discuss.

Really the bulk of the discussion points are about Kaito and I’ve already went into that. He was an amazing character with a great goal and I was supporting him the whole time. I know you could say a flaw of his is that he tries to do everything himself without asking for help but it is completely understandable. He’s the one with time manipulation abilities after all and putting anyone else into the mix could put them in some serious danger. So it’s just not that strange that he’s a solo act even with everyone telling him to calm down all the time. He knows what he is doing so they need to let him cook.

I will say that Sakura has had some noticeable character development since the original series which isn’t something that you can say for everyone. She is a little bolder and more outspoken now. She did confront Syaoran when she needed too and also stood her ground with Kaito. She’s still very humble but was ready to fight and knew the length of her abilities when going up against the villains. I’d still like Sakura to eventually get more aggressive but it can’t be denied that she has improved which is always great to see.

The artwork here is definitely pretty solid. At times Sakura and Akiho look so similar that you can mix them up but given that this is actually a story beat in-universe I can let it slide. It’s clearly intentional after all. It’s always easy to read through the chapters and everything is very detailed.

Overall, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is a good sequel. I do think it could have stood to be a little more exciting of course but ultimately it was a fun ride. I had a good time at least and while it would not be my highest recommendation to someone, I wouldn’t tell anyone to avoid it or anything like that. You should prepare for a very slow burn though. It lasted a lot longer than I remember and that’s in part because nothing really happens most of the time. The strong art and intriguing plot carry it but in between those moments there is a lot of emptyness. It still has wholesome messages that are fun for everyone and the whole Kaito plot is really written well. The final twists involving some names are a bit underwhelming and dare I say pointless but till the series had a good run. If we ever get another sequel it’ll be interesting to see what happens there.

Overall 6/10

The Preacher’s Wife Review

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Uh oh, it’s time for another Christmas film that I’ve got some issues with. I’m talking serious issues here that definitely do take away from the film. It’s aiming to be a fairly wholesome experience but by the time I’m done with it you’ll see why this didn’t actually work. It’s a shame because the film had some real potential here but ended up fumbling the bag by the end and leaves you wishing that it could have managed to make it to its full potential. It really should have been the next big thing but ultimately it was not to be.

So the movie starts off by introducing us to Henry who is having a hard time as the pastor of his Church lately. Everything in his life is just falling apart, he feels like he can’t get his message across to the congregation anymore and some of the community are starting to get into trouble. One was accused of robbing a store at gunpoint, another is being taken away into a foster home, etc. He also hasn’t made any time for his wife in a long while. Just as things look like they’re about to break, an angel named Dudley appears. He says that he will help make everything better and yet…it seems as if he is after Henry’s wife. If Henry doesn’t move fast then his wife may be gone for good, but how do you stop an angel with unimaginable power?

The bulk of my complaints with the film are about the angel here. As an angel Dudley should be a very virtuous being, one without any real faults who is here to help. If I’m being extra technical he shouldn’t even be a human who died and then became an angel since all will rise up together but there are different theories on that so I can let it slide even if I don’t agree with it. But at the very least he shouldn’t still be interested in romance. I think the plot is partially to hype up Julia as being so attractive that even the divine want her which if that was the film’s intent could be funny but I think the film just seriously wanted a romance which makes no sense here.

The film really goes hard into this plot as they go out on dates and Dudley looks visibly upset when he has to go back to his mission of getting Henry and Julia to be together. One of the worst scenes is the very last one where Julia wants him to stay and he says how he has to go and the two are basically sobbing internally until the guy runs off. We absolutely did not need a final kiss scene there or for both characters to be so filled with regret. It should have been a full break with Dudley just running off. He really didn’t feel like an angel, he was written to be too much like some ordinary joe.

That’s probably the character he should have been written as then. Just make him a friendly ghost who decided he wants to help Henry out to get over the fact that he died early. It doesn’t change much of the plot but makes his flaws a little more understandable. It would still be bad since he is being a homewrecker of course but at least it’s not an angel doing that. That’s just such a crazy plot all the way around. Come onnnnnnnnnn.

I’m afraid Julia is partially to blame here as well. It takes two to tango after all and she’s still having fun dancing with him and doing all of this stuff. She’s even called out on it by her mother and admits that she is window shopping. Look, this is all behavior that is completely inappropriate once you’re married. I actually do believe that guys and girls can be friends which is something that would get you booed off of a lot of streets but it’s a real thing. You just have to know the boundaries. What are those? No 1 on 1 sit down lunch “meetups” because that’s basically a date, absolutely no dancing all right. Let’s not get crazy here. Ice skating together like that is a bad idea because it’ll probably involve a lot of contact, mountain climbing, etc. So yeah a lot of activities are out of bounds now but hey that’s the price of picking your one true love and getting married. You have to acknowledge that your personal life will never be the same. As bad as Henry was throughout the whole film, Julia still has to stay strong on her end as long as they are married.

As for Henry, he was practically begging Julia to cheat on him throughout the movie. He did every single taboo that typically causes this to happen in real life. Completely ignoring her every day, always being outside, not showing her any kind of romance, etc. Part of what makes Henry so bad here is that there is absolutely no excuse. He’s busy yes but he’s not so busy that he couldn’t have made time for her if he actually cared. Choosing to visit someone at the hospital instead of going on the date with her was egregious for multiple reasons. One is that he could have just brought her to the hospital with him and then at least they’re still together. That’s pretty obvious right? He also could have stayed to personally explain this to her instead of ghosting her. Henry finally could have not told Dudley to take her on a date in his place. Henry was just so annoying here and then he has a scene near the end of the film where she makes him a hot chocolate and he ignores her to head out.

Why was that scene so bad? Well, it’s near the end of the film, past the point where he’s supposed to have mostly learned his lesson already. So this scene showed me that he hasn’t learned a single thing. He’s still making the same mistakes over and over and over again. One area where this film was particularly weak even compared to the original is his big confrontation with Dudley about the guy going after his wife. Henry mostly just does a lot of whining here when I was expecting him to be a little fiercer and more direct. Maybe punch the guy out or something right?

The movie does have good humor from start to finish though with some solid writing throughout. You will laugh from time to time because the burns are quite sharp. Outside of the problematic stuff I wrote about above, it can be a pretty wholesome movie as well. It’s just that it’s really hard to overlook the stuff I mentioned. In fact I would say it’s impossible because that’s part of the main plot of the film. So yeah it’s one of those things where whether you like it or not, it’s a big factor and that’s a shame.

Overall, The Preacher’s Wife is a film with a decent plot but one that it doesn’t fully understand. It really wanted to have fun with the premise of the main guy getting so distracted by tons of random stuff that his marriage starts to fall apart. You can do a lot with that plot but having the angel be the one slowly encouraging the wife to cheat is a massive no no. There’s no way he would be doing this much flirting and leading on. He wouldn’t forget his mission like that and it’s a very distracting part of the film. There are good things to be found here but on the whole I would have to give this a thumbs down as a result.

Overall 4/10

Christmas at the Drive-In Review

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It’s time for our next wholesome Christmas adventure! This time we’re bringing in the Drive-In theater to the mix which is a fun little element to make this one more unique. Ultimately it succeeds on all of the classic Christmas elements you would want to see here. Definitely no real negatives to say about this film and so you’ll have a fun time from start to finish.

The film starts off by introducing us to Sadie who was a very impressive lawyer back in the day but she has decided to hang up her career in order to move back home and become a teacher. She is quite fulfilled in this role but then runs into her ex-boyfriend Holden. There’s a lot of history between these two as Holden stood her up on their last date and so their relationship fell apart. It’s been many years but the reunion is not under happy circumstances as Holden wants to destroy the Drive-In theater. Sadie is resolved to save it though and so the town is giving her until Christmas to prove that it can still be a hit. If not, then it will be destroyed to pave the way for new jobs. As Holden technically owns the Drive-In, he is forced to assist her as a good faith effort but his heart’s not really in it. Can Sadie pull this off?

Now as soon as they said Holden and Sadie used to be together you knew that things were going to get a little dicey for them. Holden’s excuse is that he saw Sadie cheating on him back in the day so that’s why he didn’t approach her and so the two of them are still single to this day. You can probably guess what kinds of misunderstandings are going on here. You’d think both characters would be a little too busy following their interests for romance at this late time but hey that’s how it goes I suppose.

I was glad that the film brought in more of an emphasis on baking and showing off different Christmas snacks because I’ve missed that from some of the recent movies that I’ve seen. The sugar cookies looked like fun as well as the chocolate drink. It’s definitely the time of the year to eat as much as you can and just have a good time with it. The Christmas decorations and backgrounds are also handled really well. The town looks like it would be a fun place to hang out and the Drive-In looks nice. Now that’s not really something I’d be all that tempted to do because being in a car just feels a bit too confining, I’d probably prefer to stand outside and watch but with the cold temperatures outside the average civilian would probably need the heater.

The writing is on point here. While the story may be somewhat predictable, I always say that it’s all about the execution. Just because you know how a story will end doesn’t mean that it’s bad. You shouldn’t always try to subvert everyone’s expectations after all as sometimes the expected ending is the right one to go with. The pacing is good and the film really goes by quickly. The main cast is also quite small here. You have the main two of course who do a good job. Holden may not have been very enthusiastic at first but he’s a good guy and gradually started putting in more and more of an effort. He even spent a ton of money on this project which was impressive.

Sadie of course was doing her best from the start and it’s great that she was looking out for the town the whole time. Losing the drive-in would have been rough even if granted, I think the town would have ultimately been okay. She also does her best to help someone in fighting a legal battle. I appreciated Kendra as a solid antagonist who sympathized with Holden’s plight but had the highest obligation to her shareholders. She was going to get a profit out of this no matter what and that’s the attitude you have to have when you’re in charge. It’s nothing personal after all, just business.

Then you have Bobby who was another antagonist. I mean from his perspective Holden is the trailer since the two had long since signed the contract. That said, he does play a dirty trick in bribing the council so the guy ultimately does not have the moral high ground at all. He really should have kept to playing fair all the way til the end. It’s always good to have a true antagonist to spice things up though so that was fun. He was an entertaining character all the way through to the end.

At the end of the day this film spreads a good message about friendship and uniting the people with a common cause. You don’t really see this kind of experience as much in the big city but in a small town where everyone knows each other you like to think that everyone would have each other’s back for a situation like this.

Overall, This was a pretty fun film. As always what I like to see in a Christmas film is a solid message and good vibes all throughout. The ending should always leave you feeling happy and fulfilled which this movie pulls off. You definitely feel good watching it and it properly captures the Christmas spirit. I would definitely recommend checking it out and having a good time with this film. It should get you in the mood to celebrate as we are getting very close to the end of the year right now!

Overall 7/10

A Very Merry Toy Store Review

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The poster’s a bit of a missed opportunity here if you ask me. The plot involves the two toy store owners reluctantly teaming up and while we all know how it will end, I feel like the poster should at least be playing up the battle a little bit right? Try and trick the audience into thinking that this will be the next big fight. That would have made a lot more sense if you ask me. Ah well, you can’t win them all but the film itself is still very solid.

The movie starts with introducing us to Connie and Will who both own fairly successful toy stores. There is a lot of bad blood between them, mainly from Connie’s side. The reason for this is due to a long family grudge when Will’s ancestor ended up making his own store right down the block from Connie’s after a dispute involving the name. Connie never forgave Will for this so she goes for as many cheap shots as possible. Well, one day Roy moves into town and he’s the owner of a massive corporate toy shop. He’s here to completely change the game and upset the hierarchy of the toy environment. He has a massive amount of money to throw around so Connie and Will may have to team up to stop him. Will even that be enough though?

I always love the classic team up trope. It’s one of the greatest in the business particularly when it’s very reluctant and you have the hero and villain bickering the whole time. Granted there isn’t really a villain from the duo although Connie comes the closest. Throughout the film you never get the vibe that Will actually dislikes her while Connie clearly has nothing but contempt for the guy. He’s always trying to help while Connie keeps on throwing insults and trying to make the whole thing harder on both of them. It takes her an extremely long time to get past this as she really took the family grudge personally while Randy was mainly pretty cool about it the whole time.

He also tended to get the best lines so he was a really fun character all the way through. I liked the Looney Tunes references and the guy was always game for any plan. He was just really enthusiastic and had a ton of energy. Now granted he does fold to corporate rather quick but in the end it’s a fairly practical move once the tide was turning. Meanwhile Connie could be really stubborn but she still pulled her own weight and did good. The reluctant team up doesn’t work as well if both people are excited about it so by being the debbie downer she helped to keep things in perspective and offer a contrast the whole time.

This film also had a fairly large cast for this kind of Christmas adventure. Usually you don’t expect a lot of characters, just the main 2, the boyfriend who loses out at the start and then the villain. Here we have quite a few side characters, some who could have been cut out to be honest. For example we have a subplot about a guy named Joe who gets a crush on Pam so he lies to her about needing to learn the piano and they hit it off. It’s a plot that doesn’t really add anything to the film except another romance so this could have really been cut out.

Then we have a whole subplot about someone stealing items from the toy store and the heroes are trying to find out who this is. The plot ultimately plays a role by the ending but the thief could have really been cut out. In fact I would argue the thief was probably the weakest character here as her motivations weren’t all that solid and that plot got old real quickly. It just didn’t really work.

Then we have the comic relief character Randy who can barely think straight. The poor guy was racking up Ls the entire film but at least I appreciate that he was rather confident. He would always blame everything on everyone else which is impressive. Randy’s not the kind of guy who will end up taking responsibility for anything and that’s probably sounding like the most back handed complement ever but it makes the jokes work a bit better. When you have a character who is dumb as bricks it will either be really funny or really cringe. This ended up being more on the funny side.

We can’t forget about our villain Roy though. Now here was a really fun villain who kept the heroes on their toes the whole time. I loved how smug he was throughout and I felt like he won the verbal battles constantly. The heroes would try to get one step ahead of him and he would always counter. He used every dirty trick in the book and for the most part you just had no clue how anybody was going to stop him. That’s the kind of villain you need. He really helped elevate the whole experience and in part it’s also because he was treated seriously the whole time. He wasn’t some comic relief villain to be mopped up by the heroes or some random who never stood a chance. No, this guy was a big CEO of a major company and he acted the part.

His best scene was probably when he was in the board room as everyone was telling him what a great position the company was in. He was clearly on cloud 9 at that moment because he had flat out won. He had beaten the odds and that was it. Now naturally you can guess that things would ultimately not go very well but the film was a very satisfying watch. The writing was good and the character cast was very solid. You really can’t go wrong with this title.

Overall, This is one of the stronger Christmas films that I’ve watched. I really enjoyed all of the banter and fighting going on. The film may have been a little overstuffed at times as these subplots took time away from the main battles that you wanted to see but it still succeeded more often than not. The Toy Stores made for a good backdrop and it was fun to see each side keep trying to outdo each other whether it was in handing out free pancakes or hiring a professional singer. Both sides just did not want to lose and you need to have that energy in order to come out on top.

Overall 7/10

Call Me Mrs. Miracle Review

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It’s time for another Christmas adventure! You always know that things will be getting intense when Mrs. Miracle is involved and she’s here to save Christmas once again. We’ve got a pretty solid title here and I would even put it above the first film. It has the drama, hope, and fun that you would expect from a film like this with nothing really holding it back. At most I guess you could say there wasn’t really any baking here and that always makes for a really fun moment. Still there’s enough story for everyone.

The film introduces us to Molly who is a really good marketer but unfortunately she works for a rather lousy boss. Her boss really believes that she is superior to everyone else around her and so she is always insulting everyone. This makes it hard to try and sell more clothes but Molly gets the blame for this. She also has to take care of her nephew while her brother is away at the army so she has to always be happy. It’s a lot of responsibility but she is managing all right. That’s when she ends up meeting Mrs. Miracle over at Finley’s toy store and even meets the son of the owner, Jake. They hit it off immediately but can she really afford to be dating while looking after a kid like this? Meanwhile Jake is struggling to run the business as he takes big gambles that may not pay off. If he can’t sell all of the toys by Christmas then it’s it for him.

In this film Miracle works at the toy store because this allows her to cross paths with more people at once. She is trying to set up a romance for Jake’s boss, set one up for Jake, and of course in the meantime she is increasing the profit margins for Finley’s by making them a more wholesome toy store. She’s very effective so I have to give her full points here. She is able to effectively gaslight the owner for the majority of the movie and for everyone else she makes sure to be in the right spot at the right time. I would even say she is more effective here than in film 1 due to the scope of how many people she is helping.

As for Molly, she’s a very solid main character. She is doing her best in a rather tough situation and does tend to have it under control. She only makes one main mistake in choosing a date over helping her nephew pick out a present. That should have been her priority without a doubt. She does try hard though and the nephew should have been more understanding since he has certainly made his share of mistakes during the film and she was always handling it all well. He wasn’t being very grateful the whole time as it is.

Meanwhile Jake is doing his best to manage the toys but honestly I wouldn’t say that he’s a great manager. For starters his idea to not stock the new toy on the shelves for personal reasons was pretty awful. You can’t do that when you’re representing a company. You need to be cold and calculating in your approach. If he was worried that the toy was dangerous that would be one thing but he just doesn’t like the toy. He thinks that they’re all really cheap and kids should play with old fashioned ones. Fortunately for him the toys end up working as portable explosives so it’s good that his store didn’t have any but that was just luck.

He was right due to circumstances beyond his control. You know what we call that over here? Undeserved hype! Yes that was not truly his victory and I would have liked him to reflect on that a little more. For the most part he does mean well though and he is nice to the staff so you can tell that he’s a good guy. Maybe with more experience under his belt he will become a better and better manager as time goes on.

The romance is naturally a bit on the rushed side here as both characters get caught up in the Christmas spirit but at least all of the characters are likable here. There is a little drama towards the end but it’s not nearly as massive as in the first film so it is a lot more realistic when the characters manage to solve this so quickly. I thought it was executed so much better than the first time so it made for a good way to end things.

The pacing is good in the film and the writing is on point. This is the definition of a feel good film all the way through. It’s the kind of solid wish fulfillment that will have you looking over your shoulder once in a while so that you don’t miss your special moment. Ultimately it may blend in a bit with some of the other Hallmark titles but it can go pound for pound with most of them. Mrs. Miracle adds that little magic touch as well and so the film’s got a good balance of realism with some supernatural elements here.

Overall, The second Mrs. Miracle film is pretty fun. At times you may feel like she takes her plans a bit far like planning a whole big party without even letting the owners know but when you’ve got her level of ability I suppose there isn’t much to worry about. She will always be one step ahead of the competition and what’s the worst they can do, fire her? She’ll be gone after Christmas anyway. If you’re looking for a light hearted romance with a little drama and romance then this should be the ticket for you. It’s just well balanced through and through without making any real mistakes. It’s perhaps a bit more basic than some of the others due to this but basic never has to be a bad thing.

Overall 7/10

Mrs. Miracle Review

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It’s time for our next big Hallmark adventure. The films have always been consistently solid and this is another good entry to check out. It’s a bit weaker than the average title I will say in part because two kids play a big part in the story and naturally they can’t quite keep up with the other characters. The strong writing keeps this flowing together smoothly either way.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Seth and his two kids. The kids have always been a handful and this has been getting worse and worse over the years. Every single babysitter ran out as fast as they could rather than deal with the kids. Seth’s wife died a long time ago and at this point it seems like he may have to be forever alone. That’s when Mrs. Miracle shows up. It’s hard to say who she is exactly as the lady is shrouded in mystery but possesses teleportation, telekinesis, and is more intelligent than the average person. She has decided to pretend to be the new babysitter to help the kids mature while also introducing Seth to the next love of his life. Can Seth stay true to the memory of his wife or is he ready to jump into the next relationship?

So first up the kids are definitely annoying. Let me throw that out there right away, these kids are not really helping Seth out at all. They seem rather apologetic after making a mess of things but that doesn’t stop them from doing the same thing over and over and over again. Seriously they never seem to learn their lesson and yeah they’re young but all of their scenes do tend to be annoying so the film has to work on succeeding in spite of them.

Seth meanwhile is doing his best to raise the kids while working a full time job. It’s not easy but he makes it work and always has a good attitude about it. So I definitely have to give him some proper credit there. He doesn’t seem thrilled about the kids being in the big show but ultimately he still does his best to encourage them. The guy doesn’t even seem all that lonely or sad despite everyone trying to get him back into the market. He’s just living his best life and having a good time.

Then you have Reba who is a successful entrepreneur who owns her own business. She’s doing quite well for herself and has really succeeded by every metric but when the school teacher for the play goes down, Reba is asked to take over. She very reasonably points out that she has a business to run but the other characters don’t care and so she’s guilt tripped into this. I dunno, I think I’m on Reba’s team here but hey that’s how it goes I suppose. She does her best and due to some magical shenanigans she bumps into Seth and they hit it off. It’s all going well except that each of them has one problem.

Seth refuses to pay music anymore since he wants to keep that sacred between him and his wife. Playing the piano is the one thing he can’t do anymore so he asks that this be respected. Meanwhile Reba refuses to talk to her sister anymore after that person stole her fiancé and basically destroyed any ties between them. So she wants Seth to respect that. So what happens? Reba tells Seth he should play the piano again and Seth tells her to go and make amends with the sister. Yeah…the one thing that both characters don’t want to do. This is where the film loses me a little bit.

They’re lucky that the other character didn’t go for the break up right away. It’s hard to just get over something so huge and especially when you’re being told to do it by someone that you’ve only just met. It’s just not going to go over well. I think it’s very reasonable for Seth to want something that remains private between him and his wife. Not wanting to play the piano isn’t some kind of grand crime or anything like that. It’s just a personal decision.

Then on the other side, Reba is also pretty justified in not forgiving her sister. Having her steal the fiancé like that is absolutely something that cannot be taken back. What’s worse is the guy broke up with her and we already know that she only grabbed him to get one up on Reba. So she stole the guy and then the win was obtained so everything after that didn’t matter. Yeah if I’m Reba I’m probably never talking to her again either. The ending forces both characters to come to terms with this and forgive/forget but that was more than a little cheesy. I know the ending has to be perfect but they should have made the challenges a little more mild since then it would be easier to get past them.

As for Mrs. Miracle, well she does tend to interfere with the characters a lot but she sees it as her duty. She’s like Mary Poppins in a sense but hides her abilities a little more. She’s nice enough, ultimately she is just trying to help everyone out even if her viewpoint can possibly be a little skewed at some points. If she thinks that she is in the right then she will plunge ahead no matter what the other characters say. It’s her world and we’re just living in it after all.

The writing for the film is pretty solid as you would expect. The characters are all fairly pleasant after all. They can get real emotional real fast but in the end things tend to work out. The characters can always apologize and start over. They may say things they will regret later on but it never goes too far out of bounds to where it wouldn’t make sense for them to stay together. They even compromise a whole lot to make this work even if that’s where I think they can go a bit far.

Overall, This is a pretty fun film for Christmas. It’s got a fun vibe all the way through and just makes for an enjoyable movie. It goes by really quickly and the fast is also quite small so that lets you really get to analyze each character. If you’ve seen the Hallmark formula before then you probably know how the film is going to end before it actually does and yet it’s fine because the execution is on point. You have no problem seeing the beats coming since you are enjoying them as they appear. I’ll have a review up for the next film in this series pretty quickly.

Overall 6/10

The Letter Review

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It’s time for a movie that is entertaining but definitely riddled with suckers around every corner. These characters were all slacking, down bad, or just generally not very smart. Either way it makes for quite the ensemble and the whole time you’re wondering when they will wake up or if it’s just going to be game over for them. The movie’s fairly short so you don’t have to wait long for your answer.

The movie starts off with Leslie shooting the living daylights out of a guy who’s trying to scramble out of her house. He doesn’t make it though and she finishes him off with a few more shots. She summons her husband Robert and their friend Howard as she explains that the guy tried assaulting her and so she had to shoot him in self defense. Of course it is still a murder so she’s heading to trial now but should be found innocent very quickly. Howard has a lot of doubts about this case because of little odd notes that keep popping up that don’t line up with Leslie’s story. Still, he’s just ready to get this over with his bus receptionist Ong shows up and says that a letter exists which will destroy the whole case. Should Howard destroy his entire legal career to save his client when he knows that she is actually guilty or should he follow the law and do the right thing? It’s going to be a tough call.

After all on one hand you could follow the law and establish a fair case. Doing this would save his best friend $10,000, would ensure that he salvages the reputation of the deceased, would keep his career in order, and would get Leslie to actually pay for her crimes. On the flip side, he could save Leslie and ensure she gets away with pure murder, allow his best friend Robert to never realize that his wife was cheating on him, destroy the deceased’s reputation, and also spend $10,000. I’ve never seen an easier decision and yet in the film this is treated as a tough one.

It just makes absolutely no sense. The film maybe works if he actually thought that Leslie was innocent and the letter was fake. Maybe have him try to buy it only because he thinks that the jury would be fooled. That’s a much more interesting dilemma and actually makes a bit of sense. Otherwise the way it appears here is just no good. For a minute that I thought he was falling in love with Leslie which would have been awful for his character but then I would at least understand the logic. However that doesn’t even happen so you’re just questioning his judgment now. Howard’s a pretty awful character all around.

Then you have Robert who unfortunately fits into the trope of the nice guy. He’s just so nice and forgiving that both Leslie and Howard know that he will forgive her even after she was cheating on him. It’s really a bad look for this guy as he opens his heart up again just for her to break it one last time. Hey I’m all for second chances but when you’ve been cheated on then the trust is completely gone. You can never really get it back and the worst part is that Leslie isn’t even sorry about it. She’s sorry that she got caught but that’s about it. Robert really needed to stand up for himself more.

Of course Leslie’s a pretty bad character as well as she threw away a perfectly good life in search of thrills and adventure. There was no real reason to leave Robert like that and she knows it. She just let her base desires win and that was the end of that. Throughout the film she is portrayed as very manipulative and rather merciless so at no point do you actually stop and consider that maybe she’s the victim here. Because it’s obvious that she isn’t. The film does a good job of making her so unrepentant here to the point where when the ending shows up you were practically waiting for it. Leslie really handled the situation as poorly as possible given all of the hints though.

Then you have Ong who does a lot of planning the whole time. He really sets up the conspiracies and places the heroes in harm’s way time and time again. You have to give him credit for being really dedicated. Again I think it was too easy to blackmail the main characters since the ammo wasn’t that strong and the characters should not have gone for it at all but I guess that’s just how it goes.

So while I didn’t really like any of the characters, the film succeeds because the story is still good. It’s an engaging movie from start to finish and also has good writing throughout. The pacing is on point and at no moment will you get bored or anything like that. That’s why I would still say this is a good movie in spite of the characters. A lesser film would have absolutely crumbled without a solid cast but this one managed to really keep it together.

Overall, The Letter is a film that I would recommend checking out. It’s definitely a good cautionary tale to remind you how easy it can be to tell a convincing lie. If you just believe what you are told at face value then you will be putting yourself in a really tricky spot. It can be hard to know who to believe and when to believe something. Unfortunately there will never be a 100% foolproof way to determine that so just go with your gut but always remember that your gut can be wrong sometimes. The characters here definitely learned that the hard way. I would have preferred if the characters could have acted more rationally here so maybe the film could take a bit of a swerve on a remake if we ever get one.

Overall 6/10