Benjamin Ayers

A Christmas Angel Match

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Winging It

There seems to be some mixed, mostly negative, (man, I thought I was a little sour sometimes) reviews for this one, but I really enjoyed it. Written by the lead actress, Meghan Ory, it had some cute lines, ideas, and “world building” as far as angel and heaven culture was concerned. I thought the sets and the costuming were terrific. 

Monica (Ory) is an experienced and award winning angel who has worked at the Department of Christmas Connection all her life. She is 587 years old and we are told that she was born an angel, so has never been human. She takes a thoughtful and serious approach to helping singles find true love during the Christmas season. She goes strictly by the Angel Handbook aka The Hark. But she’s been in a slump lately.  Young people these days are too distracted and busy on their phones to look up and make an in-person connection with one who might be their soulmate. She loses the Angel of the Year award to the new kid on the block (only 97 years old), Michael (Benjamin Ayers), who takes a “fun” approach to match making. Monica believes that a more serious well planned methods facilitate more meaningful long-lasting relationships. Michael may have put together more matches than her, but how solid are they once the Christmas magic wears off? The tidings are bad, not glad, when a mistake happens and they both are assigned the same couple to match and are forced to work together. There is a lot riding on this particular assignment. “Cloud Command” is not happy with the DCC’s performance lately and they may be forced to downsize and merge with the Valentine’s Day folks. And the office manager Gabriel does not get along with Cupid.

I like when there is a lot going on in a Hallmark romance. In addition to getting together the “tenderheart” (human) young couple, their grandparents are making a match of it, as well as, of course, Monica and Michael. Monica takes the lead at first. But the plan to have Patrick and Daisy bond over cute puppies goes awry as well as the tried and true “Brewed Awakening”, the old collision with coffee routine. They are both called on the carpet and Monica and Michael realize that they have to work as a team. Along with trying (unsuccessfully) to get Patrick and Daisy to connect throughout most of the movie, Michael makes it his mission to show Monica some human type fun and get her to loosen up. Neither Michael nor Monica are exactly likable at first “We are not arguing, You’re just wrong!” But I liked their journey. As they tick off all of the meet-cute tropes on the Hallmark checklist, (Christmas crafts, picking out a Christmas tree, snowball fight, hot chocolate, getting caught under the mistletoe, etc. etc.) the two angels slowly learn to work together and develop a friendship and mutual respect.  I still haven’t tired of the self aware humor that results when Hallmark makes fun of their own Christmas romances. And this movie was all about that-right down to the partially heard convo that results in a misunderstanding and temporary heartbreak.

There were some nice touches that added a little depth.  Along the way, we learn that  Monica has been matching Patrick’s family for generations which is one reason why this one is so important to her. At one point Michael finds Monica in church looking for divine intervention, she says. He thinks church is a good place for that. It wasn’t perfect. It started out repetitive and got a little draggy in the middle and although Daisy was adorable, I didn’t take to Patrick. Some of the acting was a little forced. Daisy’s best friend was a gay man who also gets matched up and he was too stereotypical and it had too much of a “Check that off the list” feel. As was the interracial aspect of Daisy and Patrick, I suppose. Hallmark really has a lot to balance, so I can’t be too hard on them. On the other hand, “Baby Steps” just doesn’t cut it anymore. All in all, I appreciated the fast paced dialogue and banter and the out of the box plot. I wonder what will happen next with Monica and Michael. A heavenly wedding and little baby angels?

Rating: 7.5 out of 10.

The Santa Class

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Campy Christmas Camp

Kimberly Sustad plays Kate North who has inherited North Star Academy, a school for Santas from her recently retired father. “What is a Santa School?” you may well ask. Well, it’s just what it sounds like. It’s for the training of those aspiring to be “picture perfect” Santa Clauses in order nab the most prestigious Santa jobs at the best malls, department stores, and parades. After her father retired, most of her clients have left for the competition (more on that later) and she, already only reluctantly trying to run this school, is left with 6 trainees which on the surface could only be described as pretty hopeless. We have a Jewish hippie Santa, a very intense  woman Santa with a chip on her shoulder (for some  reason), A Santa who speaks through a hand puppet-excuse me- “figure” aka “ “a talking piece of felt,” an elderly cool black Santa who wants to prove himself to his grandkids, a young skinny Santa who is only there to research his doctoral thesis on Santa Mythology, and an actor named “Paul Campbell”, up for a part in a Christmas Movie and played by my and many others’ favorite Hallmark actor, Paul Campbell.

Things are not going well. To add to her woes, we have the aforementioned competition, the Saint Nicholas School, “America’s Top Santa School,” which has been has been sucking the life out of North Star Academy for years. Back in 2013, North Star Academy’s business manager Blaise left to set up his own school, because Kate’s father, a legend in the business, was too focused on turning out wonderful Santas and not making as much profit as he could. Blaise has built a very profitable corporate-backed school and is now about to branch out into training Cupids, Leprechauns, and Easter Bunnies. Kate is on the verge of selling out to the owner of many malls who has offered to buy the school. He is actually nice and not a bad guy. Kate’s love interest is a hot shot Santa trainer (voted the best in America), played by Hallmark mainstay Ben Ayers, who was recently fired from St. Nicholas by Blaise because his high salary was eating into the board members’ Christmas bonuses. Kate and Dan went on a date once but Kate dumped him when she found out he worked for money-grubbing Blaise. Now fired Dan comes to Kate begging her for a job, and she agrees to take him on as her Santa trainer for the current session. Ben and Kimberley’s chemistry was excellent. She is such a presence that she needs a strong actor as a partner, and they both shine in these goofball roles.

Can we just say that  this movie is not thoroughly grounded in reality?  And this is not solely due to the fantasy element which is introduced when, driving back to Kate’s school,  they almost run over an old fat man in a red suit who is stumbling down  the middle of the road. It’s the real Santa Claus! But he has hit his head somehow and has amnesia. Kate and Dan know he is the real one because they both see his sleigh with his 8 reindeer flying away back home. They decide to take him back to her school to take care of him and help him regain his memory of who he is before it’s too late for all of the little boys and girls of the world to get their presents.

We are asked to just ignore a lot of questionable or nonsensical plot elements. The main thing is that the action is set during Christmas season right on up to Christmas Day. Shouldn’t Santas be trained during the summer or early autumn? There they are at Santa school when they should be already fully trained and working at being Santa Clauses. Even though the ending is happy and full of hope, we are not sure why. Nothing is really resolved. Yes, our team won the “Christmas Cup” from their rival, but it really doesn’t solve any of their problems. The money-rich corporate backed competition is still there, even though bad Blaise’s heart grew a few sizes thanks to a special gift from Santa Claus. I wasn’t convinced Kate still didn’t feel trapped running the school. Is Dan really worthy of her? And other stuff.

But it was fine! The presence and performance of Kimberly Sustad and the rest of the cast of characters more than made up for any gaps in logic. The whole plot line was kind of brave and really outside the usual box. It just barreled along and just kind of dared the viewer to question what was going on with the details. It was really funny with lots of jokes (some inside jokes for Hallmark fans), snappy dialogue, snarky banter, and interesting well acted characters. Trevor Lerner was perfect as Santa Claus, whose magic keeps popping out as needed. The romance between Kate’s academic sister Bailey (Doctor of European Folklore) and the the doctoral candidate Santa was cute. As a parting gift, Santa gives Kate a beacon in the form of a magic whistle which she is to use if she ever needs Santa’s help again. So that solves everything. We don’t have to worry or question that the future success of Kate’s business or her love life will be anything but but guaranteed. And I feel like there was hint of a sequel on the horizon. So maybe the loose ends will be tied up eventually.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Santa Tell Me

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Hallmark Christmas meets Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets

For a long time, I wasn’t all that much of a fan of Erin Krakow, but in her last several movie she has really won me over. When the script has been good, she has delivered her lines with aplomb, and handled both the comedy and the little dramatic moments with expertise. At times she has been downright hilarious. I don’t notice her resting face, which I think of as “wholesome placidity” too much anymore. And she really won me over when, in the last Hallmark she was in, she washed off all of her makeup before going to bed. The last few Saturday night #CountdownToChristmas premiers have been very good, and this one was no exception. The script was amusing with some good lines and good physical comedy, a little mystery and tension, and a bit of paranormal activity, otherwise know as Christmas Magic. The acting was excellent from the whole cast. Although I am not a “Heartie” (fan of the long running Hallmark series, When Calls the Heart) I know that the reunion of Elizabeth, played by Ms. Krakow, and her late and, lately, very lamented Mountie/husband, Jack, played by the male lead in this one, Daniel Lissing, has been much ballyhooed.

Olivia is an interior designer who works behind the scenes on the “Style Home Network.” Classic Hallmark female profession. She is tapped to host a Christmas Special, and if she pulls it off successfully, she will get her own series. Again, classic. However, to her dismay they are putting the creator of a raunchy reality show, “Model Home”, (about many fashion models living together in one house) in charge. His name is Chris, and they immediately get off on the wrong foot and rub each other the wrong way from the get go. Enemies to Lovers. Check. He has the bright idea of choosing Olivia’s dilapidated childhood home for the big makeover, and Olivia reluctantly goes along with it after much protest. While doing some preliminary work on her old home with her sister, i.e. drinking wine (favorite Hallmark drink other than hot cocoa), they see a strange glow coming from a kind of cupboard and hear the tinkling of bells. When they investigate, they find an envelope addressed to Olivia and inside a childhood letter she wrote asking Santa for the name of her one true love. Also enclosed is a blank sheet of paper,  and to her shock words start magically writing themselves in gold saying that her true love’s name is “Nick.” Santa is writing back 25 years later! Remember Harry Potter opening Tom Riddle’s diary and seeing the writing spookily form by itself? That’s exactly what it looked like! Or the writing inside the One Ring to Rule Them All. Or Dolores Umbridge’s blood quill writing on the back of Harry’s hand, for that matter. Olivia declares it poppycock, and throws the magical letter in the garbage! Can you imagine? That’s when I knew that this, despite the cliches, might go purposely just far enough off the rails to be interesting. Because seriously? A glowing tinkling self-writing letter right out of Chamber of Secrets only from Santa, and she throws it in the trash? (Twice?!)

Right off the bat, she “meets cute” with three guys named Nick, two of which are big Hallmark stars in their own right. This is another thing Hallmark has been doing lately. All three are instantaneously smitten, lucky for her. One is a pediatric surgeon with Doctors Without Borders who once had to tame a reindeer to get medicine to sick children (really), and the other is a master carpenter whose work Olivia has always admired. The other one is a hot fireman calendar dude (never a serious contender.) While she is dating all 3 secretly (because now she believes one of them is her soulmate-she just needs to figure out which one) she and Chris get to know each other better and start to fall for each other. But Chris’s name is not Nick so that’s a problem, especially since she has realized that none of the three Nicks is really right for her. It all comes to a disastrous head on live TV during her Christmas Special.

Virtually everyone in the  supporting cast seemed to have a lot of fun with their roles, especially Benjamin Ayers and Christopher Russell as Nick A and Nick B. Jess Brown as Olivia’s sister had some nice moments as did Russell Roberts as a subtle Santa figure. When Hallmark shows they don’t take themselves too seriously by injecting some self-deprecating humor and inside jokes into the proceedings, it always plays well with me. And this one includes a healthy amount of that with the Magic Santa, the names of the male characters, their professions, the meet-cutes (coffee spillage!), and all sorts of little details. **Spoiler Alert** Chris’s real first name is Nick. Chris is his middle name. **End spoiler** No cliche is left by the wayside, but in a fun way. I give this one an “8” and that’s 7 in a row, if I round one up, which is some kind of record.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

Love & Jane

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Clueless

There was a good movie in here somewhere but sadly I failed to find it. And I looked pretty hard. I watched it twice on DVR and it wasn’t easy. Introduced by some really lovely opening titles and a mood-setting soundtrack, I was hopeful. But the movie was not cohesive. The plots were manifold and all over the place, I didn’t like or understand the heroine, Lilly, and the figure of Jane Austen seemed gratuitous. She appears to Lilly to guide her out of her unhappy professional and personal life but never gives her any useful guidance or good advice. On camera, at least. It was peppered with talk about and references to the beloved author and her books but the character of Jane Austen didn’t seem to have a real role other than for her entertainment value for Jane Austen fans.

Lilly is the president of the local Jane Austen Society. She was born 200 years too late. We know this because of her old-fashioned hairdo, clothes, and vocabulary. Fiddlesticks! Bejabbers! And she says she hates the internet and computers. Apparently, she only likes books if they are made out of paper, although one of her society members only does audiobooks which she seems to have no problem with. She also doesn’t have a problem with using a digital assistant in her home (Play Music!). When we first meet her, she has a meltdown because a book she wants to buy is snatched off the shelf in front of her by a store clerk for an online purchaser who bought it a minute and a half ahead of her. She is mightily and loudly offended. This did not endear her to me. I order all of my books online or download them on my Kindle from the library. On occasion I do buy hardcover books, but certainly not from a new bookstore in person because they wouldn’t have them in stock. So that is bad or I’m a bad person somehow? And this customer was buying a paper book! The second strike against Miss Lillie is the way she treated her long-term boyfriend. After meeting him late for dinner she complains that the pub where she holds her Jane Austen Society meetings is closing down and they might have to disband the Society because of the difficulty of finding a comparable venue. He in turn shares the good news that he has gotten a promotion and will be moving to Chicago. He wants her to come with him as his wife and presents a ring. He points out that nothing is holding her in New York other than a job she hates. Now, he can take her on the longed-for trip to England and she can get back to her writing because she won’t have to work. She takes great umbrage at these two fantastic opportunities because she didn’t achieve them on her own, and he is somehow behaving like “Mr. Collins” which is about the worst insult imaginable. She accuses him of trying to “rescue” her. Fair enough, but other than complaining, what steps is she taking to rescue herself and achieve her goals on her own? Nada. In fact, when she gets home from her date, she throws her almost-finished manuscript in the trash. Turns out that in addition, she doesn’t love him “like that.” Then what the Dickens was she doing with him in the first place?

At work, she meets the store clerk who wouldn’t let her buy her book and it turns out he is a tech mogul and the new owner of that bookstore. The marketing company she works for is supposed to create a campaign to drive customers to his bookstore which will somehow tie people into the app company he created. It’s all very vague and convoluted. But the important thing is he gives an impassioned speech about how he wants to foster a personal human-to-human connection between people who love books and reading and get more people to shop at bookstores. Somehow Lillie curiously interprets this as him wanting to end bookstores altogether because he is a tech guy. She is very hostile towards him even though their mutual attraction is palpable and he really couldn’t have been lovelier towards her. She is resentful about working on his ad campaign even though it is practically tailor made to her own passion for bookstores and books and a huge opportunity for her. She even has a negative reaction when Trevor offers his bookstore as the new home of her Jane Austen Society. She accepts but with very bad grace. I just didn’t get how a supposedly mature woman could be so silly. She certainly was no Elizabeth Bennett.

Interwoven throughout Lilly’s shattered dreams about being an author, her thawing hostility towards Trevor the more she gets to know him, and her bewildering project for his company are her friend Alisha’s romantic problems and misunderstandings. Most of those scenes had no reason to exist other than to invite some vague comparisons to Emma. Queue matchmaking montage.

So what is the role of Jane Austen in all of this, you may ask? Well, nothing really. She comes to Lilly as a kind of imaginary friend or ghost because Lilly longs for her wise advice. She pops in and out of Lilly’s life, teaches her about having tea, gives her dancing lessons, and tells her she doesn’t know how to be happy. Very helpful. They bond over Colin Firth’s Pride and Prejudice and throw popcorn at each other. There are some amusing fish-out-of-water situations. They are united in their disdain for Trevor, who doesn’t deserve the attitude, so no help in the romance department at all. When Lilly finally finishes her manuscript supposedly with Jane’s encouragement (off-screen) Jane submits it to a publisher behind her back because she knows Lilly is too weak to do so. Strangely, Lilly does not resent Jane’s interference and help. But boy, she does get mad at Trevor because when it is accepted for publication, she finds out that he just bought the publishing company and he may have brought her manuscript to their attention. I guess she only doesn’t want to be rescued by men, but ghosts are fine. All is ironed out when Trevor quotes from Persuasion and gets a second chance with her. In the end, she is planning her second novel, though we’re not sure what ever happened to the first one. And Jane goes back to wherever she came from presumably to “help” the next Jane Austen fan-girl. So, irrational heroine, convoluted plot that never really came together, bad editing which I didn’t get into, and a waste of the Jane Austen character. I think Alison Sweeney was miscast. Ben Ayers as Trevor was fine. Acting-wise they both competently did as they were directed. There were some nice sets and a couple of amusing scenes.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

Miracle in Bethlehem, PA.

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Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the Wee Donkey!

There has been a lot of revisionist Hallmark history going on and this movie brings it to a head. This is basically an allegory about the traditional story of the birth of Jesus, complete with The Bethlehem Star Inn, Mary (Ann), Joe, Goldie, Frankie, and Grandma Myrtle, an old barn, and even a Wise Man, a guy named Shepherd and a dog named Donkey. The story is about a new adoptive mother (told the good news that her baby is ready for pick-up by a woman named Gabriella) who is caught in a snowstorm and has to bunk in with Joe because all of the hotel rooms are filled. In short, it is a very Christian religion-centric movie where the leads actually talk about their faith, and God, and quote the bible. And Church is front and center.

Some seem to think that the competition offered by Bill Abbott and his GAF network somehow scared Hallmark back to faith-based programming when actually the opposite is true. It was under Abbott’s leadership that Hallmark got away from more faith-based programming. Here is a quote from him about Hallmark in 2019 in answering why Hallmark seems to snub other religions and traditions:

“…we don’t look at Christmas from a religious point of view, it’s more a seasonal celebration. Once you start to slice it more finely within individual religions it’s a little bit tougher to necessarily tell that story in a way that doesn’t involve religion and we always want to stay clear of religion or controversy.”

It was under his authority that Hallmark cut out Christianity from Christmas. To the point that there were no more Christmas Carols that sung about God or Jesus. Forget about “Joy to the World the Lord has Come / Let Earth Receive Its King.” What forced him out of Hallmark was the incorporation of gay and lesbian couples and more racial diversity, not that he wanted to put on “Family and Faith-based programming.” At Hallmark, he was all about keeping movies secular with no God or Jesus involved in Christmas movies. Needless to say, he has now changed his tune.

Now that Abbott is gone, Hallmark is returning to its faith-based roots with a few of its movies and outdoing GAF at its own game. This movie, and many other movies since he left exemplify that in large ways and small (religious Christmas Carols are finally back.) Christianity is included along with other belief systems. Pick and choose or embrace and learn as you will. But with Hallmark you have that choice.

That off my chest, the movie itself didn’t quite hit all the right notes. There were many things I liked about it, particularly Laura Vandervoort’s portrayal of Mary as a compassionate, successful and respected attorney who puts her Christian faith into practice. Her vulnerability about her inability to have children and her patient longing for a long-anticipated adopted child was very affecting. Unfortunately, Benjamin Ayers, who is usually a favorite of mine was miscast in the role of Joseph. This Joseph, as written, that is. The actor’s forte is as a mature, true-blue All-American Male type. Kind of Lumberjack-y. That type would have made a great Joseph in this movie and a good match for the Mary character as she was written. But for some ill-advised reason, the writers made this Joseph an ex-rock band frontman who quit that career and life in general when his father died. He has taken over his Dad’s garage and living in his old house. Nothing wrong with that, but the place is a pigsty and he has degenerated into a slovenly apathetic man-child who spends his off-time playing video games much to his put-upon girlfriend’s frustration. She leaves him and he couldn’t be bothered to care less. And the haircut Joe is sporting is more suited to a 20-something hipster metrosexual type. I mean the guy has the time and motivation to go to a hair salon to get the latest cutting-edge hairstyle but can’t muster up the energy to do the dishes. Into his life comes Mary Ann who arrives at his sister Frankie’s B & B in the middle of a dangerous snowstorm. All the rooms are occupied but Frankie cannot bear to turn away the nice beautiful woman with the little newborn baby. Her brother Joe has a spare room in his house. Of course, Joe is smitten and by the end of the movie, he has completely reformed. They are together but the pairing is unlikely, to say the least.

Besides Joe’s character, other distractions compromised the strong potential of the story. His singing, for example. Ayer’s rendering of tender and innocent Sunday-school song, “This Little Light of Mine” Joe Cocker style to the sleepy baby was just cringeworthy. And there was a flat and pitchy choir performance of “Oh Holy Night” that took me right out of the movie. Some of the links between this story and the original were a little too on on the nose. As a lawyer, Mary Ann saves the family barn by finding a tax loophole. The mother cries, “Oh Mary Ann You are an absolute Saint!!” I don’t know if that was meant to be funny, but I laughed. And I feel like it was At, not With.

So all in all, I liked the concept and the potential was huge for a moving and thoughtful story. In some ways it succeeded but some unfortunate choices kept it from being an unqualified success at what I think they were going for.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

Field Day

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“As soon as you think you’ve got it all figured out, Bam! A wall of corn.”

~~Musings in the Corn Maze~~

Very Nice. Very Very Nice. Field Day is another Hallmark plot that ventures off the usual beaten track of go to small town add festival and old boyfriend and save some tired old institution. Yes, it’s another Hallmark that mixes it up a bit. This happily seems to be becoming a trend. Rachel Boston, who has been getting a lot of Hallmark work these days, plays Jen, a widowed mother of a teenager who moves back home closer to her and her late husband’s parents for support. Needless to say, she is still nursing her grief and has closed herself off from truly moving forward in her life, especially her love life.  OK, OK, so far it does sound like business as usual. And there is a festival. But trust me.

Jen is sharp, funny, and relatable. Driving her daughter to school in her pajama bottoms, “because no one will see. I’m not getting out of the car”, the inevitable happens and she winds up out of the car, attending a PTO meeting, and roped into volunteering for the dreaded Field Day fundraising event with two other moms we have been introduced to.  Marissa is a confident and canny Lawyer Mom who has put her family on the back burner in favor of her career. Kelly is an annoying Social Media Mom with over 10,000 followers devoted to maintaining her influencer image as the perfect wife and mother. Together they form an unlikely trio intent on making the infamous field day a success, (despite the mean-girl PTO president). In the process, they become firm friends and regain the balance in each of their lives. It doesn’t start off well. Kelly and Marisa have been on the outs because Kelly once publicly pointed to Marissa as an example of how working mothers neglect their kids. And now, to compound the situation, she just posted a picture of newcomer Jen’s pajama bottoms as #3 of 5 things not to do at a PTO meeting. Kelly sounds like a real stinker, but thanks to good writing and acting, we like her anyway. After many bonding adventures and the highs and lows of putting on field day, Marissa regains her work/life balance and Kelly realizes she doesn’t need her phony perfect image and becomes her real self. Jen, who is the main focus of the story, starts to become “unstuck” and (bonus!) finds love with the school’s athletic coach played by a well-cast Benjamin Ayers. Because he has some issues to overcome as well, their romance doesn’t follow the usual predictable arc and is interesting and engaging.

Field Day is fast-paced, funny, touching, and wise. I teared up at one point and felt like cheering at another. The characters are well drawn and engaging even down to the long-suffering but loving and supportive husbands of Marissa and Kelly. If these guys love their challenging wives who have gone a bit off track, they must be worth rooting for. The humor is witty and snarky with a few doses of slapstick.  At one point, Marissa makes fun of baking montages so beloved by Hallmark scripters. The three women have an easy and natural rapport and play off of each other very entertainingly. Well-written and well-acted. It’s a lot of fun. Yay, Hallmark.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Long Lost Christmas

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A Nice Quiet Story

Taylor Cole has never been a huge favorite with me but in the past year or two, she has really grown on me. She is very beautiful but does best playing more down-to-earth family-oriented characters. In some roles, her beauty is a almost little off-putting. And she finally settled on a hairstyle that works. This quiet well-paced story really worked for me.

Haley finds out that her mother, who was adopted, had a brother from whom she was separated as a child. Her mother, beautifully played by Jacqueline Ann Steuart, has been sad and reclusive since the death of her husband. As the perfect Christmas gift for her mom, she decides to see if she can find this mysterious brother. With the help of a friend, she narrows the possibilities down to a builder of mountain cabins in Colorado. She goes to visit and meet him to see if he could possibly be her long-lost uncle. The more she learns, she is by turns hopeful and discouraged. In some ways, he fits what she knows about her mother’s brother, but he will not talk about his past and at one point tells her that he never had any siblings. But Haley doesn’t give up and will not be put off, while still trying not to be intrusive and rude. It is a very delicate balance. The truth finally comes out, the mysteries are solved, and it all concludes very touchingly.

Benjamin Ayers, who plays a protege of the possible uncle, and Taylor made a good couple. She needs a strong-looking male lead, and Benjamin fits the bill. The romance seemed right and definitely added to the story. The actor who played her uncle had a strong impact as well. The mystery of why he did not want any contact with the past and wouldn’t acknowledge that he had a sister kept my interest going. He had a lot of charisma. The other aspect that really added to the story was Haley’s friendship with the mysterious Gordon’s daughter, a furniture maker. While Taylor was kept busy in Colorado, her mother is also making progress in joining the land of the living again, thanks to the patient efforts of a compassionate and wise friend. Along with still another side story, of Taylor’s career-defining interior design project and its setbacks and successes, there was a lot going on in this. And that was good. I usually think a number of side stories keep interest up in main plots that almost by definition, have to be predictable and by the book.

Finally, I do want to give Hallmark props for doing away with the bottomless suitcase. Taylor plans only an overnight trip to Colorado and packed accordingly. In the past, regardless of only bringing minimal luggage for a trip, the leading lady pulls out outfit after outfit with different bulky and matching coats out of the magical suitcase. In this one, Taylor actually wears the same sweater two days in a row and makes a point of having to go shopping for more clothes when her trip is extended. Proof positive that Hallmark reads their reviews, as this phenomenon has been a favorite topic with Hallmark commenters for quite some time. The more I think about it, such an issue is made of her not having enough clothes that I think Hallmark is indulging in a little self-deprecating inside humor. Well Played.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

You, Me, and the Christmas Trees

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Needles Schmeedles

I’ve never been a member of the Danica McKellar fan club except when she was Winnie on The Wonder Years. I also like her advocacy for girls and math in real life. I’m a little troubled about why she signed an exclusive contract with GAC Family. A network that, apparently, is an alternative for those who are uncomfortable with Hallmark’s new commitment to diversity, and their more inclusive view of “family values”. Personally, I like Hallmark’s more friendly view of “Family” better these days. We’ll see. Anyway, Danica always looks troubled or worried about something or other. She has a resting frowny face. Although I recognize that she is accounted to be very attractive, her looks have never appealed to me.

Danica aside, this was a big miss for me. Although the science was kind of interesting at first, the whole process drew out way too long. Do your scientist thing, solve the problem, and move on from the rather boring problem of falling tree needles. Both of the leads’ crises were of their own making. I mean, his only use for his land was to grow evergreen trees which had no monetary value except at Christmas time? What did he do the rest of the year? It’s not like trees need a lot of care. He kept saying he did not want to diversify because the advice from his father was to do one thing well rather than many things poorly. Well, he didn’t do his “one thing” very well, did he? Farmer Ben Ayres did not have a backup plan, as Danica relentlessly pointed out, and Danica was not open and honest with her mother, preferring to be a victim, I guess. I admit Danica is pretty good at conveying victimhood. I do usually like Ben Ayers. He is very good at playing masculine, kind of grouchy men. So he was pretty well-cast as a stubborn loner-type farmer whose Christmas Trees were dying right before Christmas.

Taking a page from a trend of reuniting actors from old shows, Jason Hervey, also, like Danica, of The Wonder Years, played the bad guy. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

November 9, 2021

Cranberry Christmas

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Hallmark Christmas Movie for Grown-Ups

This is a mature and well-acted offering that explores what it takes to have a happy marriage despite the challenges. Nikki DeLoach and Ben Ayers were fantastic and have wonderful chemistry. They play a separated couple, who have to pretend to have a solid marriage because they are publicizing their small-town festival which will promote their family business for a TV show. It was like they were really married and falling back in love. They were a perfect match. Nikki is so sincere in her delivery, you really believe that everything that comes out of her mouth is from her heart. The whole cast was great, except for Grandma who was a little teensy bit over the top. Sorry Grandma. The script was excellent with humor, heart, and a few tender moments. And it managed to avoid most of the Hallmark set pieces. Even the big misunderstanding near the end was handled with maturity and aplomb. The challenges to the happy ending were complex and real. No phony silliness at all. A breath of fresh air.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

December 7, 2020

Falling for Vermont

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Autumn, Athena, Angela, Alex, and Amnesia

Thanks to the excellent acting of all concerned, especially the two leads, this was a very enjoyable little movie. The gimmick in this one was amnesia. This is not one of the usuals. A stressed-out and manipulated best-selling young adult author makes her getaway right before she is about to be interviewed on TV. Yes, she leaves everyone in the lurch at the last minute, very unprofessionally, I might add. She has an automobile accident and gets amnesia. In order to give her a week or two without her memory for a story and a romance to develop, the viewer is called upon to suspend their disbelief for a bit. She is a world-famous author who was about to be on the red carpet for the world premiere of a movie based on one of her novels. And no one except her sister and her boyfriend/manager knows she is missing. Add to that, the police do not search for a car which would have been found in hours because a tree fell across the road where her car drove into a gully. Big red flashing arrow there, officers. Of course, her cell phone and all the clues to her identity are left in her car.

Charity Wakefield
Julie Gonzalo

Oh well, these are the little things you just have to roll with when looking at a Hallmance. The degree of watchability rests largely on the appeal of the leads and secondary characters, and, based on this, it was a win. The actress, Julia Gonzalo, reminded me of another actress, and it was driving me crazy until I figured it out: A little-known in America English actress, Charity Wakefield. She played Marianne Dashwood in the Andrew Davies helmed 2008 production of Sense and Sensibility. Looked just like her.

I liked the widowed doctor as portrayed by Benjamin Ayers as well. Very likable guy. Pleasant scenery, gentle romance, nothing much to mock. The amnesia trick added some suspense and interest as well. I loved the way the set decorators stuck fake orange leaves in random places as well to convey the Fall theme. Very amusing. Well worth watching.**8 stars out of 10**

Rating: 8 out of 10.

September 27, 2017