Ed's Review Dot Com

The Hallmark Channel,

Danica McKellar, Neal Bledsoe, Chelan Simmons, Andrew Francis, Rebecca Staab, Brenda Crichlow, Christian Convery, Lindsay Maxwell, Paula Shaw

Lizzie Richfield (Danica McKeller) is looking for a job. Her sister, Camill3 (Brenda Crichlow) finds her a gig as house manager for the Ashford House, a huge mansion filled with art and culture. It’s her job to plan and pull off the last Christmas Gala fort he house, as Robert Marley (Neal Bledsoe) the oldest grandson of Pippa Marley (Paula Shaw) is about to sell the house since his Grandmother is not able to live in such a large house, and neither of this two siblings have any desire to keep the huge mansion. This has caused a huge rift in the family, and Robert is very distanced from the rest of the family. As Lizzie works to prepare for the last Ashford Gala, she also works to bring the family together, but as the two brothers both put in a push for Lizzie, things are bound to get sticky.

There are a certain few actresses who seem to get the very best scripts for the new Christmas films. This seems to happen every year. This is Danica McKeller’s film for the season, and it’s a real winner. She brings such gravitas to her role, and really steals the show, although the house itself does try to steal the lead in the movie. I must also say that I really enjoyed Paula Shaw’s performance as the Grandmother Pippa Marley. She extremely elegant and harsh as the grand dame of the house, but plays the loving Grandmother perfectly when it’s needed. All in all this is a bit different than the usual Christmas movie and has some outstanding elements that make it very charming and quite interesting. This movie is a winner, and Danica has pulled off another Christmas hit. I look forward to her Hallmark movies year after year.

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Lighthouse Pictures,

Tricia Helfer, Marc Blucas, Lisa Durupt, Gabrielle Rose, Benjamin Wosk, Megan Charpentier, Jaeda Lily Miller, Barclay Hope, Chelan Simmons

Olivia (Tricia Helfer) is a single Mom. Her new boyfriend is in the military and is called out to deploy just before the holidays, so Olivia and her children decide to setup a plan to give a great Christmas to herself and her children by providing help for all the struggling military families that are alone for the holidays. But as they lose themselves in the work, they find many things changing for them, and the blessings keep growing as they share with others.

This film was a bit disappointing. It seemed a little rushed and did not have a strong story. The characters are cardboard cutouts, and there just is no depth to them. There are some really big issues that are not even looked into, and things fall together just a little bit too easily. I did not get invested in the story, and when it was over, I felt a bit cheated in that I spent the time, but got little in return. There are some of the new films that are really excellent, but this just wasn’t one of them. This story just didn’t work.

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The Hallmark Channel,

Becca Tobin, Kevin McGarry, Kendra Leigh Timmins

Adelaide Kay (Becca Tobin) is a country star who is rising fast, but only by abandoning what is in her heart and following the demands of her producer making her into a talking head that has every song sounding like the last. When she’s accidentally left off the bus, traffic issues and a bad storm has prevented them from picking her up. Meanwhile, a nice girl notices her plight, and brings her home to stay with their family. The Lapp family owns a Christmas Tree that they are about to lose due to bad luck and unexpected expenses. As Addie stays with them, she learns to care about this wonderful family and their plight, and that they also have a handsome son, Dillon Lapp (Kevin McGarry) who loves music as much as she does, but has given up his shot at a career to support the family business. Addie and Dylan have to each look to see what each of them really want.

This is a simple Christmas film that was cute enough, but just not firing on all cylinders. We’re supposed to believe that this gal is a huge country star, but we have no evidence of that. They have one mediocre song right in the ending of the movie that shows that they do sing, but everything in this movie seems to be just scratching the surface. The movie fits the entire 2 hour time span, but does not really delve into anything. We just seem to skim along the surface of all the contrived problems in this movie. I didn’t despise this movie at all, it is light and fluffy and won’t fill you up, but there are so many better movies this year, and this just didn’t quite strike me as one of the better ones. Still, it’s a nice family, and if they do save the farm, I’d be glad to go live there with them.

Preview plus a sneak peek:

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The Hallmark Channel,

Brooke Nevin, Steve Byers, Patrick Duffy, Kathleen Laskey, Dale Whibley, Jocelyn Hudon, Pip Dwyer, Charlie Boyle, Pam Hyatt, Vanessa Burns, Conrad Coates

Vanessa Turner (Brooke Nevin) is a doctor in the city. She grew up with her Dad, Bruce Turner (Patrick Duffy) who is a beloved family doctor in a small town, and it was always her dream to be a doctor like her father and is living her dream. For years she has tried to go back home for Christmas, but her rotation at the hospital would never allow her to get away, but this year is her turn, so she anxiously heads home. When she gets home, her Father and Mother tell her why they were so anxious to have her home. He is about to retire and close the clinic just after the holidays. So Vanessa determines she wants to spend her vacation helping her Father and working beside him for the last days of the clinic. But as she becomes reacquainted with her High School Sweetheart, Mitch (Steve Myers), she finds her place in the small town and has to decide whether to throw away all her dreams and stay home and take over her father’s practice, or to live the life in the city she always wanted.

This was a really sweet little film. Not so much about the romance, but a look at a loving family and how they manage to love and support each other to work thorugh the issues that arrive in every day life. There’s not great conflict here, but simply a really festive and beautiful location, and a number of wonderful characters really playing their parts to he hilt. I really found myself enjoying this film, and found it really enjoyable from start to finish, mostly because I really liked the characters. This is a festive film portraying a really wonderful small town Christmas, and I was really impressed with this one and recommend it for your holiday viewing.

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Crown Media Productions, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries,

Catherine Bell, VIctor Webster, Matreya Fedor

Jane McKendrick (Catherine Bell) is a widowed Mom to teen Betsy (Matreya Fedor) who is off for college in the fall. Betsy is a good girl, but when she meets soldier Jackson Hart (Victor Webster) sparks fly as she feels something very special for him. But Jane is not pleased in the least to learn that her daughter is dating a soldier who is just about to be deployed. As Betsy explains that it’s just friendship, Jane probably doesn’t realize it, but the her soldier husband who was killed in action is a little too close to what Betsy is doing, and she really doesn’t want her to have to endure the tragedy that she had to go through and is projecting it on her

Hallmark turns out some remarkable little Christmas stories, and this new one for 2017 first premiered in mid summer during the annual Hallmark “Christmas in July” event this year. This is a charming little Christmas film with lots of holiday spirit, but more than that a story of two ladies at odds with each other even though they love each other deeply. The story is very well done, and the actors pull a really performance from somewhere down inside. There are a good cast of supporting players, and a number of side stories that really pack the two hour movie with a lot of powerful content. Very touching and full of the holiday spirit, but a very well done story as well as there is a lot to think about after this one is over. This was a nice film and very worthy of the Hallmark trademark.

[Here is the web page for the Hallmark Film]

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