Unpopular Opinion Alert!

Once again, in my view, Hallmark’s Sunday Christmas movie unexpectedly outshone its big Saturday premiere movie. Yes, yes,  I know. The football one got a lot of notice and publicity, high ratings and mostly good reviews, and this one seemed like it was meant to be kind of a throwaway. It was not a Hallmark production but an often second-rate “in association with” one. The plot and the tropes had an old school throwback feel, with our struggling heroine being bullied and abused by an evil female boss, and our hero having a few run-ins with a stick-in-the-mud controlling grandfather. Why they didn’t make him his father, which would have been more age appropriate, I do not know.

 Holly (Laura Vandervoort) is an aspiring glass blower who runs into Jack (Stephen Huszar) when she is trying to sneak into his  prestigious family Christmas craftsman festival. They seem to have some kind of unspecified history because there is definitely some snarky animosity between them. The festival has been struggling a bit and if this one is not a huge success, “Pops” is going to sell the land and close it down. Sound familiar? Honestly this plot summary almost writes itself.  Luckily they have secured the participation of Bianca Bonhomme who is a great and famous glassblowing artiste. She is the headliner and will presumably be a big draw and guarantee the festival’s success and the continuation of their legacy. While Jack is throwing Holly out of the festival, they meet Bianca stomping past them saying she is leaving because her assistant quit and she cannot participate without an assistant. Holly, who idolizes Bianca, volunteers herself as a substitute in return for Jack letting her enter the show as an “emerging artist” and agreeing to give her a recommendation to an Artist’s Residency. The character of Bianca was a real hoot. She was AWFUL:  A real diva who is so demanding, capricious, and snotty that it was downright delicious. I love a good villain you love to hate.  But wait. Was that a little vulnerability we see beneath that Miranda Priestlyesque surface? We soon learn that she has turned away from her signature colorful style because a critic gave her a bad review calling her pieces “loud” and accusing her of using color to mask a subpar technique. She was devastated and as a result the pieces she is exhibiting at the fair are clear glass, boring, and not selling. And of course the critic who trashed her work is at the festival and is as anxious to interview her as Bianca is anxious to avoid him. Meanwhile Holly’s beautiful and colorful ornaments are selling like hotcakes under a phony name. Don’t look now but the unknown is the star of the show. So that’s the basic set up. 

I enjoyed Holly’s unexpected success and anticipated the big reveal of her true identity as well as Bianca’s inevitable crash and burn. At the same time, I was kind of feeling sorry for her, and hoping Holly could help her. The (eventual) Redemption of Ms. Meanyhead was signaled loud and clear and I was looking forward to that as well. And sure enough, the reveal and the crash and burn was epic indeed but was quickly followed by the two glassblowers having a heart to heart and making up. Holly helps Bianca see the light and return to her  bold signature style that was her true strength. The romance with Jack took second place to the dynamic between the two women and the glass blowing. That is not usually a good thing in a Hallmark, but I was fine with it because Jack was kind of a dim bulb and not only did not come to Holly’s defense when it was called for but piled on and started yelling at her himself. Not good. Especially since Holly almost singlehandedly saved the whole fair. I don’t think it’s too much to ask for heroes to act heroic and have more brains than a rutabaga.

In addition to the perfectly predictable yet comfortingly familiar plot, the whole experience was elevated by Laura Vandervort who played Holly and the Glassblowing storyline. Ms Vandervoort has always been a favorite. Jennifer Wigmore conveyed the insecurity and fear beneath Bianca’s hard exterior and added some humor and a lot of drama too. She gave depth to what could have been a cardboard character. The glass blowing was very interesting, seemed authentic to me, and the pieces were beautiful. **7 1/2 stars**