A Cozy Christmas Inn

If you're gonna do a sequel to a romance (Christmas Under Wraps), then don't throw away the previous romance like a broken toaster! Apparently, Lauren quickly forgot her own story arc, and took a fellowship at a hospital in the big city. And the guy sold his plane -- a crucial means of transportation between the remote town and the outside world -- to become the innkeeper in a town that's rarely visited.

If Hallmark really wanted to return to Garland, they should have gone the Evergreen route by introducing new characters to have a romance. Instead, David O'Donnell just trades in one Full House sister for another.

This could be just another movie based on one of the more common tropes in Christmas movies. Junior executive, Erika, is dangled a promotion if she can close a deal that involves a former boyfriend. Andy. Meanwhile, the Andy's business isn't doing so well. But that's only all there is to it If you didn't watch the earlier movie, Christmas Under Wraps. This is a sequel of sorts. Candace Cameron Bure's Dr. Lauren Brunell, who was well on her way to having an HEA with Andy at the end of that one now appears to be out of the picture with Andy. The explanation which comes later seems to contradict the CUW story.

Andy and his father are both played by the original actors. And there is still a "family business" that does shipping which a viewer of CUW will understand, wink, wink. If you haven't seen CUW, it would be fun the watch that first.

Erika is subjected to some of the same gags and mysteries as in the earlier movie, but it is still kind of fun to watch her cope. Throw in the rekindling relationship between Andy and Erika. The main tension in this movie is the sale of the inn which is Andy's dream. Erika is obsessed with the parallel to Gift of the Magi. The story gets bound up in it and I think a little too much.

Jodie Sweetin and David O'Donnell have good chemistry. Sweetin does a nice job with this role. The dialogue is decent and so is the acting.

Typical Hallmark movie and holiday premise. What was most refreshing was recognizing a local Huntsville, UT business standing in for the Inn. What was even better was seeing real snow (as far as the eye can see and not just in the immediate view of camera), real snow accumulation (and not phony blankets of some white material laid down on sidewalks, shrubs and stairsm etc,), real snowfall (not the Hollywood 'snow' flakes descending from above; I mean really, what does southern Cali know about real snow?) and must admit Sweetin is growing better at the adult roles she plays. 4 star movie that got and extra star for filming during winter and not in summer pretending to be winter.

A Hallmark not exactly different by many others, nice for Garland atmosphere, for inn and for Hattie s eccentric recipes, for the astronomic observatory and for supporting actors. David O Donell proposes , unfortunatelly, just a goofy. Andrew, his inability for manage the inn being in pure conflict against the attachment for a business bad managed and the connection with father is spooky.

But, sure, the reference to Santa works well and the presence of Vivica. A. Fox is a good idea.

The story itself is so familiar from previews Hallmark Christmas films than it can not surprise or impress. And Jodie Sweetin ties to give some credibibility to her character against not the most impressive dialogue.

So, That s Garland for you. And it is enough.

As a stand alone movie, this was really good. Jodie Sweetin was great in this, the supporting characters were fun, and it was well written too.

As a sequel to Hallmark's top rated movie of all time (Christmas Under Wraps), this was insulting to network viewers. The movie was filmed in a different location. They should have just brought in a new love interest or not had it be a sequel at all. Instead, Hallmark new leadership chose to destroy the integrity of the first movie by negating the happy ending and destroying the love story that we all watched in that film. I don't think I can ever watch Christmas Under Wraps again. What is it with this new leadership not knowing how to tell uplifting love stories? This has been an ongoing pattern for well over a year now. They don't understand their audience.