One December Night

6/10 - music-themed Christmas flick does a nice job of balancing some originality while maintaining the familiar Hallmark spark that people tune in for.

Bruce Campbell and Peter Gallagher can do no wrong. The interaction between the two of them was great. They were actually just like brothers - conflict, bickering - just great!

The secondary story about the young singer - not interesting. Yes - Eloise Mumford's character was a music/singer manager - but the focus on this singer wasn't really necessary (even as little story time devoted to her). The music manager issue could have been handled without the screen time given to her story.

Solid performance by Eloise Mumford and Brett Dalton ... and what a treat to see DiDi Conn (Frenchie from Grease)! No one can mistake that voice...

I've been a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies since they did few enough titles a year that they didn't all look the same. "One December Night," thankfully, doesn't follow the recent formula.

I was curious to see how Peter Gallagher had matured; my image of him is from another favorite Christmas movie where he plays the immature brother, "While You Were Sleeping." Age has been kind to Gallagher, and his acting proved he's more than just a pretty face.

While the plot still contains a few too many, "Will they or won't they?" (when we all know they will), it's nice to see a story that revolves around older actors in this bromance. The young folks in this case are the side story.

While it's no "Christmas Card" or "Snow Bride," still, nice job Hallmark.

The story has echoes of some other movies on Hallmark, but there are many fresh twists also.

It's interesting to get a look at one possible scenario of what bad boy rock stars look like in their Senior years especially as they remember good and bad times from their career. Quinn's memories of her life growing up with an alcoholic father and the loss of her mother add layers to the story. Jason's backstory isn't quite as sad, but shows the two families' histories from even another point of view. And of course the budding romance.

The acting is good as is the story. The dialogue also. There are song performances sprinkled in as well. I was surprised at how good Peter Gallagher sounded singing the title song. Jasmine Forsberg got to show off her outstanding voice a couple of times also.

It was refreshing to see some older actors get some front row roles in one of these holiday hallmark films. This was a reunion of a famous musical duo for a pre-Christmas live tv concert. Things aren't exactly as they seem it is also a story about Alzheimer's, being clean and sober, and reuniting families.

As mentioned it was thrilling to see Didi Conn who played Frenchie in the original 1978 film, Grease.

This was a little different than most of the holiday romances on Hallmark in that it focused less on the romance and more on reuniting these two former musical brothers.