I struggled a bit with this one. I found it difficult to connect with both the story and acting at times. Put simply, it did not pull me in, engage me, like some of the other Lifetime Christmas movies this 2020 season. At the center of this story is Sadie (played by Malone Thomas), who heads home for Christmas to visit her family after her boyfriend blows her off for the holidays. To her surprise, her parents have sold the family Chocolate business to Alex (our other protagonist in this story, played by Jason Burkey). Sadie agrees to teach him everything she knows about chocolate and being a chocolatier, something growing up Sadie always dreamed about becoming. While showing him the ropes, Sadie soon rediscovers her talent and passion for making chocolate while, at the same time, begins to fall in love with Alex. Unfortunately, the story falls flat. The writer could have done a better job of developing the characters in the story; they were quite dull individuals, I'm afraid. Alex, who knows nothing about making chocolate, buys a chocolate business. Really? The backstory we are given for explaining this is rather weak (not very convincing, that is). Indeed, we don't learn very much about Alex in this story, so it is hard to connect with his character, even though he has an adorable daughter. The writer too could have done a better job of developing Sadie's passions for chocolate, for taking over the business. We don't really see this 'rediscovery' develop on screen. Granted, this is partly due to the acting, but also due to a lack of character development in the script. The obsession with the gingerbread houses for the party, which consumed much of the second half of the film, seemed strange and did not help in this regard. That said, I did enjoy the lesson on chocolate truffles, a pity there was not more of this in the movie. The acting, overall, could have been better. Malone Thomas's performance was mixed. There were several scenes where she fell flat; i.e., she wasn't very expressive at times. And I never really felt her passion for chocolate on screen, as I alluded to above. She did have some very good scenes with Francie and Alex. Jason Burkey's performance was decent. For the first 30 minutes or so, I found it difficult to connect with his character. For example, he seemed uninterested in learning about chocolate from Sadie in these earlier scenes, which seemed odd given he was buying the business. I did enjoy the scenes and dialogue with his daughter; his face lit right up in these scenes. I thought the chemistry between the two was mixed; they had some good and not so good moments/scenes/dialogue together. The supporting cast was solid. I thought Patty Lambert (playing Carol, Sadie's mother) had a strong, convincing performance. And Remi Hilson (playing Francie, the daughter) was adorable; she did great, I thought. Finally, the scenery, props, and sets were quite charming and festive. I thought the music was bold at times but good. All in all, the movie is all right. It is not one of Lifetime's best this year nor is it one of their worse. If you are a fan of Lifetime Christmas movies, then it might be worth a watch.
