I Do Love a Christmas Tree Made out of Lobster Traps.

This one started off great. I am quickly becoming a huge fan of Rachel Skarsten, and of course, Andrew Walker is always welcome as the romantic interest. Rachel plays Kate, a commercial airline pilot. She was perfectly cast and totally believable in the role as she does “professional, respected, and successful” so well. However, her character is stuck on boring regional domestic assignments and her dream job is as a private pilot for corporations and the rich and famous. She snags an opportunity to fly the Sharpe family to Switzerland for Christmas with the opportunity to turn it into a permanent position if things go smoothly and the Sharpes like her.

In the first few minutes, we see that the Sharpe parents and their two children, a teenage girl and a young son,  are desperately in need of a Christmas reset as they have gotten very much off track. The parents run a famous and successful lifestyle empire (think Chip and Joanna Gaines) which has taken first priority over their children. Predictably, Callie, their daughter is glued to her phone (as are her parents, for that matter), spoiled, and resentful. Their little boy Finn is just lonely. They have forgotten how to be a family.

As Kate is about to start across the Atlantic, she is forced to land in Nova Scotia due to stormy and dangerous weather. But not before she tangles with a grouchy Air Traffic Controller, Andrew Walker, who does not appreciate Kate’s attitude. Kate and the family end up in his hometown on Christmas Island, the nearest community to the airport they are forced to land at. And as you might guess, it is far far from the fancy sophisticated milieus the Sharpes are used to. And ever since her father died on Christmas Eve, Kate avoids the holiday, and as you also just might guess, Christmas Island is all about Christmas. Anxious to please Kate takes the kids in hand so the parents can get on with running their empire. But this is Hallmark so the stage is set for a lost family to do the hard work of finding their way back to familyhood and for Kate and Andrew to make their way from enemies to lovers. I was looking forward to some drama, suspense, revelations, and maybe a bit of turmoil as the parents learned how to be parents again culminating in a touching and heartwarming scene or two. And maybe seeing a little of the same from the romance.

Unfortunately, everything got on the right track far too soon for my taste. It wasn’t long at all before the parents saw the error of their ways parenthood-wise and started to get back to the homespun roots of what started their company to begin with. And Andrew goes from grumpy and sarcastic to a jolly Christmas elf (literally) falling in love with equally mushy Kate in record time. It’s just a big giant flirt-fest well before the halfway point. All great for the Christmas cheer, but I like a little tartness with my sweet. The movie was still good: well-written and well-acted with some good scenes. I loved the authentic-seeming setting and traditions of the lobster fishing community. It also managed to avoid what could have been a dangerous pitfall near the end, which would have all but ruined the movie for me. **spoiler**

<<Andrew does not lie about the weather clearing up just to keep Kate and company on the island, thank God.>>

But the romance, plot, and character arcs just did not fulfill the potential that I felt was promised in the initial setup. It was all too easy and therefore not as engaging or interesting as it could have been.