Good Singing on Hallmark At Last

I really enjoyed this one. It was well-written and I liked all the attractive cast and characters. Even the “big misunderstanding” made sense, not one of the stupid OVERHEARING PART OF A CONVERSATION AND LEAVING RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT PUTTING THE LOVE INTEREST IN AN UNJUSTLY BAD LIGHT WHICH ALSO COMPLETELY CONTRADICTS HIS OR HER ALREADY ESTABLISHED GOOD CHARACTER. I hate that one.

Lisette is an established Grammy award-winning R&B singer who is being supplanted by her record label by a young whippersnapper who is not as talented but gets a lot of buzz on social media due to her relationship with a hot actor. When her manager, who is also very hot, but in the looks department, reminds her that her best and most popular album was produced by her ex, Matthew, she makes it clear that it was a bad breakup that she is still bitter about.  Before she goes to visit her jazz club-owning family in New Orleans she pays a visit to a Christmas Market. She drops a ring on the ground and a nice man picks it up and hands it to her while still on his knees. And who is the chivalrous gentleman but her ex, Matthew! And caught in a classic will-you-marry-me pose on camera which immediately goes viral! Her mother, Orca, (Orca?) video-calls her wondering what the heck is going on and she catches them both together. In an amusing scene, he confirms the engagement to her mother and agrees to visit and meet the family. By mistake. It’s pretty funny. So we have a classic fake fiance situation with the two leads really clicking. There also is a subplot involving a prominent music journalist who is also a fellow New Orleanian whose family is friends with Lisette’s family. She seems to have a history of giving stories about Lisette a negative spin, and they are hostile to each other. The reason for the breach and how it is healed provides a nice little twist in the plot.

Lisette’s well-off family is nice and the characters are well-developed. I thought I was not going to like the stern and strict father, but he turned out not to be overly annoying. There are some funny scenes. One of which is the intimidating father entering Matthew’s room with an ax. Turns out he was just going to cut down a Christmas tree, but the visual was a highlight.  The movie is both well-written and well-acted with some apropos commentary on social media and the music industry. And bonus points for the great singing and music, plenty of scenes showing off New Orleans at Christmas time, and the nicely done finale and resolution to all of the botherations.