Unexpectedly Overwrought
**Spoilers**
Jamie and Emily have broken up their long-term relationship. Jamie has headed home for Christmas in small-town Fulton, Illinois. Coincidentally, Emily is also heading there for work. They arrive at the terminal at the same time and Jamie’s family, who love Emily and haven’t been told of the break-up, are thrilled that Jamie has brought Emily home to spend Christmas. Emily needs a place to stay and Neither wants to ruin the family’s Christmas so they continue the deception that they are still together.
There were some good things and not-so-good things with this one.
The Good:
Bethany Joy Lenz and Tyler Hynes’s performances and their chemistry together. Bethany was very funny in the comedy parts and very touching in the emotional parts. Tyler Hynes’s performance made an essentially weak and troubling character tolerable.
The script had some unusual aspects and was witty.
The banter between Jamie and Emily was good.
Tyler’s new hairstyle.
The cameo walk-through blink and you might miss it of Bethany’s frequent co-star, Andrew Walker.
I like the scope big families provide in Hallmarks and this one had one.
The Bad:
That big family? They were so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o energetic, loud, and overbearing that it became exhausting.
Jamie’s character. He dumped Emily because she was more successful than him and he didn’t want to hold her back. OK. However, his self-esteem problem was rooted in his need to be perfect in everything and vice versa. Even though we are told that his Grandfather also was a perfectionist, he grew up in a happy, stable, and supportive family. This debilitating complex did not seem to be founded on much. It also causes him to be afraid of being honest with his family about his break-up and why. BTW he never does get the backbone to be forthright about it. He is caught out. And he’s a liar. And not for any reason one could justify. He lied for cowardly reasons or to save himself: To his family, his boss, and to Emily.
Jamie’s struggles with writing the governor’s speech. He was unable to write a word. His paralysis (again, it had to be perfect)was like a big depressing specter over the whole movie. He spent the whole movie goofing off to avoid getting back to the typewriter and fulfill his commitment so many people were counting on.
The plot was all over the place. The Christmas play his sister directed was needless and was a distraction. Bethany’s project came to nothing. The lightening-bolt like lesson of the newlyweds’ rocks in the fountain was not used in the governor’s speech, or Emily’s theme for her project (what it was is unclear) the speech itself was short and lame. All that angst over THAT?
Some of the happenings were too silly. The Christmas play and the scene in the restaurant with the waiter. I don’t mind silly sometimes, but silliness is not comedy.
A lot of negatives were outweighed by the acting and appeal of the two leads, and strong production values. I did not approve of Jamie’s actions or inactions, but it did lend some depth and complexity to his character. I’m just not sure I want all those problems in a Hallmark hero.
November 28, 2021
