Mila Jones

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.

Junebug

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Inner Childish

I thought this one had some promise. Autumn Reeser has consistently starred in some of the better Hallmarks. Her presence alone insures a certain level of credibility. Not a huge fan of Aaron O’Connell but he was well cast and perfect in Made for Each Other. The plot had a fantasy element that I usually welcome. Juniper (Reeser) is visited by her 8-year-old self that only she can see. “Junebug” has come out of her childhood “wish box” to help her almost 40-year-old (birthday imminent) self out of a rut professionally and personally. But ultimately it was a big disappointment, I’m very sorry to say.

Juniper dreamed of being a writer as a child. One compromise after another led her off that path but she is a big success as a well-respected editor for a boutique publisher of YA and children’s books. Now this seems like a pretty cool career to me, but what do I know? Juniper is vaguely dissatisfied and bored by her job. And also her stable predictable boyfriend. When Junebug appears she calls Juniper out on her boring wardrobe, her boring duties at work, and her boring boyfriend whose idea of a hot date is a home-cooked pasta dinner every Wednesday night. Again sounds nice to me, but when Juniper asks that he bring any other pasta other than their traditional penne, and he shows up with penne anyway, she breaks up her 3-year relationship with him. At work, her boss, Paula, has tasked the team with finding fresh new illustrators for their children’s line. Juniper, guided by Junebug,  finds one in a mysterious and hot muralist, Alex Ripley (O’Connell). Research reveals that he is an icon of the art world who shot straight to the top after his first show. But he disappeared when his second show was savaged by critics. Now he travels from city to city doing unsigned murals. Red flag. Inspired by Junebug, Juniper has decided to get back to her writing. After her meet cute with Alex (she destroys the mural he is working on and he is very nice about it) they decide to work together on a children’s book.

From then on the movie is all about Alex and Juniper talking about doing the book and dealing with Juniper’s writer’s block. They go on a road trip, eat raspberry swirl ice cream (a lot), walk on the beach, shop for clothes, flirt, and kiss chastely. (Very chastely considering they are two attractive single 40-year-olds who might be in love.) Not exactly compelling viewing. No, not a lot of excitement, but there was quite a bit of comedic potential in a 40-year-old sophisticate being followed around by her interfering 8-year-old self that only she can see. But nada. Other than a few quizzical looks and an occasional “Are you all right?” when Juniper is apparently having conversations with herself, it’s just wasted. It’s all just Juniper and Junebug talking boringly mostly by themselves.

The big crisis is when Alex and Juniper’s book is rejected by her boss as being too much of a risk for the company. But why? It made zero sense, unless her boss was just being nice and the book was really awful. She points out that Alex’s muralistic illustrations were “on too large a scale” for a kid’s book, which makes sense and seems like a fair criticism. I guess, because we never actually get to see his work.  But Alex is highly insulted and flounces off petulantly. “This is not why I make my work-To have someone tell me what market it’s right for!” Boo-de-hoo-hoo. Grow. Up. Juniper quits her job without notice the next day. “Is this because I passed on your project? No it really isn’t, Paula” Right. Juniper wins Alex back by hoisting a boombox in the air a la one of my favorite movies, Say Anything. Lots of tributes to that movie in this one. For the happy ending, Alex and Juniper, together for her birthday, open a box of their newly published (by another publisher or self-published-we never know) book. The cover is really bad. Maybe Paula was right.

I won’t be watching this one again, but I might give Say Anything another go. Now that’s a good movie with a lot of heart.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

P.S. I was just reminded by a user review on IMDb that there is a 25 year old movie that is very similar to this one, only done right, with real drama and bite. Its called If You Believe, and I highly recommend it. I thought there was something familiar about this.

Christmas at the Golden Dragon

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The More the Merrier

This is a delightful interconnected multi-story movie with an ensemble cast along the lines of Love, Actually, and the Garry Marshall helmed holiday-based productions. The casting and the acting were impeccable. The stories center around a popular Chinese Restaurant whose owners are retiring and will permanently be closing its doors on Christmas Eve. Each story is an engaging little gem and they all come together in a well-organized and balanced way. All of them are wrapped up like a neat little Christmas gift, but leave us wanting more.

First, we meet a lonely widow, played by the classy Barbara Niven, whose CEO daughter, Sara Canning, is frustrated with her for her inability to move on from her husband’s death. They do not remember their late husband and father in the same way at all. At the restaurant, she runs into an employee of her corporation she is friendly with, a divorced father (Antonio Cupo, Wow!) of two girls. He is struggling with how to parent his girls as a single father. Next, we meet the weak son of the owners. He flunked out of college, is quite lost, and with the restaurant closing, his future is up in the air. He is secretly a talented chef but is discounted and dominated by his traditional father. Will he find a backbone with the help of an old friend and classmate? Working as the restaurant delivery boy is a hard-working, kind, and caring young Hispanic who has been accepted at several prestigious universities but can’t afford to go without a scholarship. He is afraid of his father’s reaction if he tells him about his college aspirations. Finally, we have the daughter of the family who has never experienced a traditional American Christmas because she has always worked at her family’s restaurant on Christmas Day. This one provides most of the humor. She is finally free to leave and visit her non-Chinese boyfriend’s family for a “real” Christmas, which, to her confusion and disappointment, turns out to be nothing but a fantasy. It’s actually pretty funny thanks to the lovely boyfriend and his patient family.

I liked that almost all of the characters start out with some unlikeable qualities. Their relationships with each other with the restaurant serving as the foundation serve up much-needed personal growth, shaking up, and change for the better. As they all come together to keep The Golden Dragon open through one more Christmas Day, we see sadness and frustration left behind and reason for hope and optimism in the future. And just maybe a few promising romances on the horizon.

Rating: 8 out of 9.

North to Home

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Finding Your True North

This is another high-quality offering by Hallmark and was shown on Hallmark Murders and Mysteries. They seem to be using this branch of their network to show productions that go a little deeper and are a little more complex than a romantic comedy. They are more about family relationships, drama, overcoming problems, and learning life lessons. There is a bit of a romance included but it’s hardly the main attraction.

The movie starts off with three sisters and their relationship. The two oldest live in the same city, not in Alaska, and are at odds because the oldest, Hannah, is so wrapped up in her career that she has no time to spare for the younger and her two daughters. She is married happily, and also happily, they do not have any children. The younger, Beth, is a happily married stay-at-home Mom, who is getting tired of that role and feels unfulfilled. She is being tempted to go back to her successful career. The younger sister, Posy, lives in Alaska with the parents. She yearns for travel and adventure but feels obligated to take over their parents’ café upon their imminent retirement. They are all about to meet up in Alaska to celebrate their mother’s 60th birthday which is also the 25th anniversary of a mysterious bad happening.

As the movie goes on, surprising aspects of the girls’ relationship and their family are revealed. All is not as we were first led to believe. The career-oriented Hannah learns she is pregnant (not terminally ill-Yay!). What will be the fallout with Adam her husband? Beth’s husband finds out she is secretly testing the waters of going back to her successful career and feels betrayed. Posey is falling in love with a mountain climber and travel writer which falls in with her dreams of travel as opposed to running her parents’ café.

The lesson of the story is “”sometimes you find your calling but sometimes you’re calling finds you” and each of the sisters in turn learns this is true for them. In the process, a tragedy is explored, a mother is released from a 25-year-long guilt trip, and a young man finds closure. And revelations lead to understanding and new paths forward.

The actors were well cast, and their parts well-acted, especially Kimberley Sustad as the middle sister and overprotective mother, Beth. At one point she is accused of “Catastrophizing everything!” I also loved Matthew James Dowden who played Adam, Hannah’s husband. He usually plays sketchy characters, but he was wonderful as an unqualified good guy in this. The one fly in the ointment was the casting of Luke, Posey’s love interest. His looks, demeanor, and speech cried vacant surfer dude, not educated sophisticated world traveler and author. It was laughable. Where was Ali Liebert, the director? Everything else was so good.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

January 13, 2022

Five More Minutes

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A woman’s Christmas wish is answered in unexpected ways when her late grandfather’s journal turns up and reveals an untold romance.

No Beer, Trucks, Guns, or Jesus

I approached this one with a lot of misgiving. I mean, a story based on a country song? By Scotty McCreery? But to my surprise, it was pretty good. Nikki Deloach, who is good as always, is a dedicated Art teacher who is losing her job and is having doubts about her relationship with her boyfriend. She wishes she could have just five more minutes with her beloved late Grandpa who always gave her great advice.

When she goes home to celebrate Christmas(?) Thanksgiving (?) I don’t remember, she finds a journal written by Grandpa when he was a young man detailing his first lost love.  She gets together with an old ex-boyfriend, and they decide to try to find her. Or was that another movie, Christmas Together with You?  They’re already starting to run together a bit. At the same time, a young man shows up for a job at her store because he said her grandpa was going to hire him. He turns out to be a wonder and is the best employee ever. It’s pretty clear from the get-go that something spooky is going on. There are lots of clues, which I’ll keep to myself.

Sherry Miller plays Bonnie, Clara’s mom, who lost her husband about a year ago. She looks great. I always think of the actress with fondness because she was in one of my favorite TV romcom movies, This Matter of Marriage, back in the late ‘90s when she was a young whippersnapper. Highly recommend. She has her own romance along with her daughter finding love with her ex, Logan, and dumping her current beau. I liked that Bonnie did not approve of the ex, who behaved badly dumping Clara when they were teens, and kept giving him the stink-eye. She came around though.

There were a couple of things I did not like. Despite both Clara and Logan being established as Hallmark paragons of niceness, they both behaved badly. Logan kept putting the moves on Clara even after she said she had a boyfriend. And Clara totally dumped Logan and canceled an invitation for the family-less guy to spend Thanksgiving (?) Christmas (?) with her family just because he was called back to active duty. This was really low behavior and hardly patriotic or compassionate. Also contrary to the Hallmark ethos.  The third thing I didn’t like was the under-use of Leanne Lapp who played Clara’s sister and a favorite of mine.

Rating: 8 out of 10.

December 22, 2021

Love is a Piece of Cake

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A Bakery is Saved

This is pretty much a by-the-book save the ______ story. This one is about a bakery owner whose building has been sold out from under her. Her main focus has been to honor her grandmother, from whom she inherited the bakery, legacy not to actually grow the business and make a profit. Thus she is averse to change and shies away from any innovation or moves forward because it would take the business further from how she remembers it from her childhood with her Grandmother. And of course, she can’t envision the business without the setting. I really have a problem with running a business like it’s some idealized lifestyle rather than a functional contributor to the economy. It’s all too common in Hallmark-land. Grow or Die, as they say.

Anyway, inspired by a new rich client, whose wedding she is going to provide the cake for, she finally gets a fire lit under her and decides to finally do everything she can to make enough money to buy the building from her landlord herself. Also, she falls in love with her client’s brother and his little girl, who, yes, is truly adorable. She actually is successful in making enough money to make an offer on the building. But not before the inevitable flour fight with her new man and the wipe the flour off the nose kiss.

The big existential crisis occurs when her bid is turned down and she finds out that the real estate company that is buying the building is the employer of the new boyfriend. Of course, he is innocent, but she won’t give him a chance. She mopes, sulks, and backslides to her unambitious self and gives up despite the efforts of her kooky assistant and her energetic business manager. Desperate, they finally call in the big guns (her mother) who tells her her grandmother would not approve of her trying to preserve the bakery like it was some kind of monument to her. She tells her that when Granny took over the bakery from her mother, she moved the business into a new building and changed and innovated to save the business. The lightbulb finally switches on for our heroine.

It’s a revelation! The finish is a strong one which moved the needle from lackluster to fairly watchable. She demonstrates that she has really changed by letting go of her controlling “only I can do it right” attitude. She lets her assistant decorate the cake (which turned out really hideous in my opinion) for the wedding, buys a new and even better building, makes her two loyal employees partners, makes up with her boyfriend and is his date to the wedding. The director did some editing to take advantage of the talent and appeal of five-year-old cutie-pie, played by Mila Jones, by making her a flower girl at the last minute. Check that wedding scene out carefully.

Rating: 7 out of 10.