Ed's Review Dot Com

Hallmark Channel,

Mary Ashton, Kyle Buchanan, Candace Cameron Bure, Christianna Dupas, Meghan Heffern, Oliver Hudson, Adam Hurtig, Michael Kaplan, Doug Murray, Brooke Nevin, Claire Rankin, Tom Skerritt, Gwynyth Walsh

Nurse Hanna (Candace Cameros Bure) works in a little hospital in a small town. She is spending her first Christmas without her husband in 1946 when he was lost in France in World War II. She is feeling really down, spending Christmas all alone. She finds a stray dog and heads out on a stormy night to return him to his owner, when she gets stuck and takes refuge in a small shed. When she awakens she is in 2016 and has traveled forward in time. Lost and confused, she is picked up the local police, but rather than locking her up, Jake (Oliver Hudson), one of the cops, decides to take her home to his Mother’s home to figure it out. It’s up to him, since no one else trusts her, to help her learn the truth about what happened to her in this Hallmark Christmas Mystery film premiering in 2016

Candace is one of the staples, dare I say the Queen, of Hallmark Christmas movies. I look forward to her entry every year. The last several years they have been very good. This year I was just a tiny bit disappointed. It just didn’t quite resonate the season as much as the others. The time travel thing is very, very well done, and the mystery of who and what and how, is very well done, and don’t get me wrong, this is an excellent film. It’s just that widow Hanna in 2016 is just not as heartwarming as her characters usually are. Oliver Hudson is good as the very nice guy little town policeman, and Jiminy Cricket for Hanna. The setting is very festive, and the small town setting is perfvect for a Christmas Story. This is a winner, and a very strong contender for the best of the 2016 class of Holiday Films. Watch for this one.

Click Here for the Hallmark Channel page for this film.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

CineSon Entertainment, Look at the Moon Productions, North by Northwest Entertainment,

Andy Garcia, Vera Farmiga, Taissa Farmiga, Spencer Lofranco, Nicholas Braun, Tom Skerritt, Peter Riegert, Mirjana Jokovic, Stephen Borrello IV, Daniella Garcia-Lorido

Edith Martin’s (Vera Farmiga) daughter Audrey (Taissa Farmiga) has her heart set on going to Middleton College despite her Mom’s wishes that she go to a more prestigious college because she’s star stuck with a professor she idolizes. George Hartman’s son is reluctant to go anywhere, but is visiting Middleton on an open house day to tour the campus. Edith soon loses interest and wanders off on her own where she keeps bumping into George. George is the uptight kind of guy while Edith is definitely a wild child, but the spend the day together on their own tour and find themselves really attracted to each other.

This is a rather clever little film. It all takes place as a small college on a single day, but as we get to know the two parents and each of their children, we get to know a lot about them. Character development is key in this movie, and it’s very well done. The two parents are completely believable in their roles, and it’s hysterical how they play off of each other. Both of them did a really good job. Meanwhile, the tour guide is a pleasant diversion, and there are so many really funny lines that it keeps you smiling throughout. I had no expectations for this movie, but decided to watch it because it was just out on DVD and I had a spot in my queue for it. I was really pleased that I chose to watch this, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It’s not slapstick or low brow humor, really, although some of the stuff Edith pulls off is much, much more childish than her daughter is. It also does not have a great deal of action, but there are several really memorable scenes that show the pain both these characters are hiding. It’s a charming romantic romp with plenty of laugh out loud moments. They really throw themselves into their roles, and it’s a really well done film. I enjoyed it very much, and I would like to recommend it to anyone who likes a good intelligent movie in the wrapper of a nicely done rom-com. This is one of those hidden gems that I really enjoyed, even though I never heard anything about it before watching.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog