The Jingle Bell Jubilee

"The Jinglebell Jubilee" (2023) GFAM

Erin Agostino and Marshall Williams star in this Christmas movie. Both have done several romance movies so you may have seen them before. I really like Agostino. I think she is very good, and it doesn't hurt that she is lovely. Williams is a good as well. I admit it took seeing a couple of his movies for him to grow on me, but he is actually a pretty good actor.

The story here is a new one, and the twists and turns make for a pleasant watching experience. There are basically four friends--the stars, plus Kristian Jordan and Samantha Kendrick, all playing ring around the romance, and we are not sure how things will fall out until late in the film...but that's what makes it interesting.

I really had no problems with this movie. I thought it was entertaining and enjoyable. Give it a look, you'll probably like it, too.

7.7 stars.

Cumbersome and sweet are oxymorons and this film is one big oxymoron. The leads seem to lack chemistry, but I think it's because they try so hard to be awkward, maybe they portray it too well. First of all, something about Agostino is endearing and simple. I mean that in a flattering way. She has a way about her, thus the reason why she lands a lead role in the film. There are people out there that feel she has the chops and I am one. Mr. Marshall was fine, nothing noteworthy about his performance, but he played his part well. His character is a confused widower who yearns for a woman, but feels guilty about it. The object of his affections is Agostino's character. Her most notable traits are that a lack of self-confidence, and this is probably unattractive for most viewers. I find it to be endearing and sweet and I can sense it's deliberate. She is a woman who is only self-assured when it comes to giving to the needy and doing kind things for those less fortunate. Otherwise she lacks any self-worth and I see how the audience might be turned off by these traits. To me it seems authentic, and I enjoyed the display. Another outlier for me. This movie has very low ratings, but is a rare surprise of downhearted entertainment (another oxymoron).

This is another Christmas movie like so many others this time of year on half dozen or more channels. There is definitely a feel of writers trying to check all the boxes.

I can say two things right away but even though they are obvious, they don't really make the movie exceptional in any way. First, like so many on this network, there is almost no tension, unless you count awkward tension. The writers try to manufacture some by the mayor's constant concern about the success of the Jubilee, but this is overdone and Nate isn't going to drop the ball. Second, yes as other reviewers have pointed out, Hope is so self-deprecating, it detracts from what is obviously a sweet and attractive young lady. Not just modest, but over the top.

Several things in the movie are clumsy. I was floored by the commercial break while Hope and Nate were in the mayor's office. Hope was just gearing up her pitch and they cut away. Then agan another break when Andy was winding up to ask Hope something. Another thing was how much Hope was trying to push Allison on Nate while Nate was being obviously polite but uninterested. At the tree lot, Andy's conversation toward that end was also awkward.

The acting in general is fair to poor. So much of it seemed like community theatre people reading their lines. That might not be surprising given how lame much of the dialogue was. Some of it made me cringe. I think Kristian Jordan's Andy is supposed to be funny, but I didn't laugh.

Then there is Regiftmas. This concept just didn't grab me. I think the term regifting has become too negative and even the rebranding of it in the story just didn't work.

Every rom/com or Christmas romance needs a conflict before the climax. The conflict, if you would even call it that - maybe call it an obstacle - was the least conflictive one I can remember, and I've watch several hundred of these TV movies.

Note to self - you do not want to watch this again.

It's probably because I've got a soft spot in my heart for sweet, little girls like Erin Agostino, but I was able to get to the end without yawning or eye-rolling.

The story here involves a a city manager who returns to his hometown and encounters an old school mate when he registers his son for school. She's now a schoolteacher who has invented a way for students to regift presents to people in need.

As there is a shortage of donations to the city's charity gift-giving program, the two devise a plan to take her program city-wide.

The story moves along at a reasonable pace. There is a plotline that each of them dates other people before realizing the obvious.

This is not a front line movie, but if you're looking for something to watch, there's worse choices.

This time of year, it's hard to turn on a TV without seeing one of these mass-produced holiday romances.

I used to say, "Seen one, seen 'em all," but with these things breeding like rabbits, they are sorting into definite categories.

This, alas, is not one of the better ones. Like so many of these, it's so by-the-numbers that you can practically recite the dialogue as it happens. It's like a story on The Love Boat bloated into a two-hour timeslot. All it needs is Gopher and Doc mugging in the background.

It's great that these movies are committed to no violence, gratuitous sex, bad language, or stuff like that. But they also left out good storytelling, dramatics, action, motivation... Oh, well.