Magische Weihnachtszeit

This was a different Hallmark Christmas movie, and I found that so refreshing. It has a pretty typical plot - a widowed mom struggling with Christmas, a pushy grandmother trying to get her to move on, and a little girl wishing for a puppy. But instead of just an unrealistic transformation of the actress to an oh everything's suddenly ok, you see a mom with real angst and emotion who is challenged by her mother to work through her grief and who wasn't afraid of the conflict that ensued. I loved the lead actress, Bridget Regan, who usually plays supporting actresses in Hallmark movies. She portrayed a much more realistic struggle with believing magic, with not wanting to move on, and she shows true emotion. I'm not sure why the reviews for this movie aren't higher. It was tense at times between the characters as they worked through conflict- and no people aren't always likable every stage of grief, but you still loved her as a character and felt empathy towards her which is so important. Perhaps everyone just wants the feel good super bubbly always cloyingly sweet can do no wrong lead characters. Bridget was such a welcome change for me. I hope they use her more! Both the daughter and the grandmother were also excellent actors. The leading man fell a little short for me.

This had a lot of things I liked. Maybe I'll like it better with a second watching. The mom was annoying: angry and grieving throughout the entire movie. Negative about everything. Determined to be miserable. Refused advice or help from everyone.

The story itself was actually cute. Adorable puppies, good acting by the girl, and a magic stocking. The male lead could have been more upbeat, but it was okay. For the most part, it was enjoyable.

Supposed to be cold and all snow yet all the license plates were from Florida.

Our family loves Christmas movies and we liked this one. It passed the doze test (no one fell asleep). It was a simple story with a little fantasy mixed in. Yes it was well done and we would watch it again.

The story was simple and warm with 5 main characters. The Christmas movies I haven't liked have too many characters with convoluted story lines. The grandma character really added energy and a personal touch using pet names like sugar and bug for her daughter and grand daughter. Great job on how the coin guessing contest was won and fit in with the magic stocking. Movie shows the little girl doing the right thing. Great all around.

The theme of this movie seemed to be that the characters just needed to believe (in magic?) The events were certainly not explainable in normal terms.

To me the movie was just a little underwhelming. The story was OK, but not great. The heartwarming moments were nice but just OK. Even the ending was not really that big a deal.

I did not like Lindsey. I don't think you can blame Bridget Regan. Maybe they just played on the heartbroken widow theme too long and too hard. I think that most guys in Scott's shoes would have said that she was just too much trouble, although it is much to Scott's credit that he felt compassion for her situation. Iris Quinn was good as a slightly overbearing, but in reality a good grandmother. Imogen Tear was pretty good as Hannah. They really had some cute puppies.