A Christmas Mission

This is a good movie, that would have been great with a few adjustments and a better written ending. Mary Antonini did a beautiful job in her day view and I hope is the start of a great career. Michael Xavier is always charming, believable, and committed to his roles. They had great onscreen chemistry.

Not every Christmas story is the same, because everyone has a different heritage, with different traditions, and people in the U. S. (or Canada) come from different countries. While this movie has a familiar story line, the story itself is authentic, heartfelt, and beautiful!

For those complaining about the plot, Hallmark has made a living off of repeating story lines, usually putting actors in rolls with similar themes way too often at this point, and you've been supporting them for years!

Why can't Lifetime do a familiar story line with a twist? They're called universal themes for a reason, many can relate as it happens to almost everyone in "different ways".

We can all relate to the love of family, to holding on to true love, to how losing a loved one changes our lives, to cherishing traditions, and to practicing values such as service to others, the importance of the arts in human development and life, etc.

We also get to see the impact of military service in families, which only certain people understand, so is nice to get insight into this heartbreaking reality that families who serve go through.

These universal themes, human experiences and values, and happy endings are the reason people look forward to see these movies every year. This movie was cute and enjoyable!

I invite open minded people, who see everyone as "human beings" first and foremost, to give themselves the opportunity to watch this and other lifetime movies (especially those with minority leads and cast), and rate them in a fair, objective, and unbiased way, as it should be.

I'm very pleased with this beautiful movie, and others done since (especially in the 2021-22 holiday season), which have shown classy, and culturally diverse stories that celebrate family and love in all its forms.

Bravo to Lifetime for making a commitment to be a network that employs diverse casts and champions inclusion! Please continue to do so always, and continue making beautiful movies! Lord knows our nation needs to see our stories, our children need to see themselves represented in people who look like them, and our actors need the platform and the opportunities.

I celebrate and support them all! Bravo!

P. S.

This gem was listed under 2 names in 2021: First Lifetime showed it as: "A Christmas Mission".

Then Peacock streamed it as: "You Make It Feel Like Christmas".

Enjoy!

I may try later to finish this but so far it's just awful. I only watched for the male lead since I've enjoyed some others he was in. But when the female lead was all Bye with her dad on the first Christmas without her mom, oh bells no. No piece of art is more important. Not one single piece ever. Then the Master Sergeant and Generals felted forced and overused. I watch a lot of holiday movies every year, this one just doesn't seem worth the time. Skip it. There's better ones out there.

When it comes down to it, the story is another rehash of many of the same old things, but maybe with a little more diversity. Emma has a deadline for some great recognition and she has creator's block. Her childhood best friend shows up and they do a lot of Christmas things together. The climax is predictable.

Mary Antonini and Michael Xavier have good chemistry. There is a lot of screen time for their relationship.

The design guru, or the lady who seems like an influencer, is overdone, but influencers usually are. I'm not sure why - are they all really like that?

I thought Emma overreacted too much, but that can be normal too in these movies.

The story didn't have any great highs or lows or surprises. The only tension other than the relationships is the deadline. There is a tender moment near the end, but it's not enough.

I decided to watch this because I like Michael Xavier, but I found the story line & the actors annoying!

The character played by Stephanie Sy, was a real annoyance, and most of the others weren't redeeming!

Michael Xavier & the actress who played his cousin Sarah, were likeable; the rest, not so much!

Gave up after a half hour! I suspect the writing was also part of the problem! Not much of story to follow!

I couldn't take that voice of Miss Margolies for much longer! Sad indeed!

Even on a windy Saturday afternoon, I gave up on this one!

Fractured family situation wasn't worth two hours of my time!

This movie falls foul of the common problem with LGBT shows that there isn't enough variety / balance of genders. The plot about the main couple and parents is ok, but the secondary characters, especially the design guru, aren't likeable and even embarrassing. This movie would have worked better with less characters and flashbacks showing the leads' history including some military scenes, contrasting with the artist's career.