Colin Lawrence

Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa

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Take a Chill Pill, Jill

**Spoilers**

Jill Wagner is usually very natural and believable in whatever type of role she takes on. She is always a beacon of maturity and balance. Not so much in this one. She was a bit over-caffeinated and somewhat exhausting. Could it be the influence of being in holly jolly Evergreen?

Lisa, a big city real estate stager decides to briefly go home to Evergreen, the Christmas capital of the world, or at least of Hallmarkland. She is disappointed to see Daisy’s Country Store out of business and up for sale and learns that the VIP citizens of the town are scared that a big conglomerate will buy it and put up a McDonald’s or something in the middle of their picturesque little Christmas village. Haven’t they ever heard of Zoning laws? And how to use them? Lisa decides to stage the store to make it a more attractive investment for someone who will keep it the way it was. And presumably, everyone else who won’t as well? She hires handsome Kevin, a famous contractor, who is visiting his morose Dad in Evergreen to help. They transform the dilapidated store, but the prospective buyers fall through. Eventually, she gets her and Oliver, her business partner and BFF’s number one client, Polly, to visit and hopefully buy the store. Polly OOhs and AAhs but doesn’t bite and wants Oliver and Lisa to work for her exclusively. They are thrilled at the opportunity. Kevin hears about it and decides to leave town. Also, Kevin, who doesn’t realize Oliver is gay, thinks Lisa and Oliver are “together.” Of course, Oliver’s sexual orientation is not stated because it is way back in 2018 before Gay people existed in Hallmarkland. But when Lisa falls in a snowbank laughing hysterically (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! NONONONONONONONO!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!) at the prospect of her and Oliver hooking up, we get the idea.

Anyway, Lisa and Kevin reconcile and Lisa buys the store herself. Christmas miracles abound but not without the help of the magic snow globe (see movie #1) a mysterious key to something or other, and a 25-year-old letter to Santa that went astray and didn’t make it to the North Pole.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

December 10, 2021

Dancing Through the Snow

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Dating and Dancing

A single father who is also a sexy fireman gets caught on video doing a ballet dance with his young daughter. It is adorable. (It really is!) It goes viral and he is anointed America’s Favorite Single Dad. He is inundated with women trying to date him and the media trying to interview him. But he is a low-key down to earth kind of guy and doesn’t let his sudden 15 minutes of fame go to his head. Meanwhile, he meets Olivia, his daughter’s ballet teacher, and the attraction is mutual. The romance is mature, slow burn, and realistic. They are well aware that any relationship must be serious with no rush into a temporary fling. Although there are some humorous moments and some dramatic suspense, the overall tone to this one was serious and steady.

During one of their dates, she confides that her ballet studio is in trouble and she is being nagged by her parents to move down to Florida to live with them. I immediately thought, “Uh Oh here comes the “I need a big loan or I’m going to leave” scam.” But then I remembered this was not a Lifetime movie, but a Lifetime Christmas movie, which is a whole other vibe entirely. The other roadblock to their happily ever after is his young daughter. She starts acting up out of jealousy. The young actress is a highlight of this movie. She is adorable and sweet when required, wise beyond her years when required (“Dad don’t patronize me!”), and a petulant little brat when required.

Thanks to some wise advice from his happy-go-lucky brother and a “woman-to-woman” talk between grandmother and granddaughter, the family roadblocks are removed. A neat resolution is also found to her financial trouble and it is one that comes full circle to the original viral video. The hint of romance at the end between Noah, the brother, and Olivia’s best friend is very cute.

Rating: 7 out of 10.

December 7, 2021

Christmas in Evergreen: Bells are Ringing

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One Actress Makes this Watchable

This was enjoyable due entirely to Rukiya Bernard. I’m pretty sure that this is the first Hallmark that she has been the principal character, although even in this one, there was an abundance of supporting players. There were also a lot of stories. But like I said. Rukiya Bernard. I have been a fan of hers ever since I first saw her in One Winter Weekend. I love her energy: she has charisma to spare.

The multiple plots were not that interesting. Holly Robinson Peete’s fiancé gets snowed in and can’t make it back to Evergreen in time for his wedding or worse, Christmas. The actor might have been busy and couldn’t make it to the set, but we did see him on Zoom. Peete’s sister arrives for the wedding that is not to be along with her father. Sister is mad at Dad and cold to his nice new girlfriend. Rukiya’s story is that Elliot, her boyfriend, is opening a branch of their store in Boston and they will be separated. He didn’t check with her first. The other story is that she is now the head of the Evergreen Museum but the eccentric Cooper Twins’ brother never signed off on using the building which puts the kibosh on the museum. He was horrible and mean. Rukiya did absolutely everything to get his cooperation but to no avail. How anyone could resist her charm let alone be so mean to her, I just did not understand. His inevitable epiphany was very weakly supported. He saw a video of his twin sisters saying the same thing Rukiya (and they) had been telling him in person throughout the movie. His change of mind made no sense.

So the whole thing was weak, but I enjoyed you know who.

Rating: 6 out of 10.

November 5, 2021