Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas

This is a terrific Christmas movie and one that I would happily watch again. The 2 leads were sweet together. I love the nuances between them - casual interest, then more curiosity and a natural progression that not all of these Hallmark movies contain. The plot itself actually seems new-ish, an accomplishment in and of itself. Truly had me wondering if there'd be a romantic interest for her at first. Bravo.

The surprise within was done well and kept me guessing almost till it was revealed. Just enough cast members to make it work and they all worked well as an ensemble. The pastor was a shining light ( as he should be) with just the right touch of sincerity and kind truth and humanity.

Chris Cormack is amazingly likeable and perfect in his role and Shenae Grimes-Beech was great as well. Could we please get rid of the wigs, tho? There were times when the hair over- powered her face to the extreme - not everyone should wear bangs. Please. A stylist issue, I know, but ... very distracting for an otherwise great watch.

Overall, OK with an interesting plot line. They attempt to honor the US Military (Army) but unfortunately in the opening scenes the Army Major has glaring uniform violations which are indicative of a poor research having been done by the "costume designer" and are, at the least, disrespectful to members of the Army. Specifically, the American Flag patch worn on the major's uniform is not the correct one and the unit patch, 10th Mountain Division, is also improperly worn as it is rotated 90 degrees and not worn with the sword points up. If you are going to portray military members in uniform, at least get the uniforms correct or you just embarrass your production and the actor(s).

Realize these discrepancies may be insignificant to most but, to those who have served it is obvious and disrespectful.

Get an advisor!

This movie is part of a series based on the song, "Time To Come Home For Christmas", Blake Shelton is the song's cowriter and movie's Executive Producer. This is the story of a woman, Carly, a Music Teacher, (Shenae Grimes-Beech) facing her first Christmas without her mother so to avoid loneliness, she takes a job as a temporary Church Choir Director in a small quaint town. Matthew (Chris Carmack), has returned to his home town, after serving in the Army, and plans to take a job with the Fire Department. He is also interested in trying establish a romantic relationship with an old friend, Jenny, (Lauren Jackson). Carly, convinces Matthew to join the choir, and she has her work cut out for her with only two weeks to shape a motley crew into a real choir. There's also a mystery brewing surrounding Carly and her family history.

The fun part of the movie is Carly's upbeat personality and special connection she has with each person she encounters, and the way she brings the town's people together. (Shenae really shines in this role). However, there are mixed signals from Matthew, is he trying to win over Jenny or Carly??? Caramack brings a cordial and sympathetic role to the Matthew character, but there really isn't enough actual romance between Matthew and either woman, he comes across more like a good friend. A really awkward and odd moment in the movie is how Carly overreacts when the mystery is revealed, but then way too quickly she does an about-face and she's suddenly very calm and returns to normal as she easily accepts what transpired (Jekyll and Hyde character moment). The ending was also a bit lackluster because of the lack of romance between the leads. It started out to be an interesting movie, but just lost something along the way. It's not a bad movie, but could have been better.

The latest in a string of similarly titled Hallmark holiday romances produced by Blake Shelton, this one lacks the chemistry of those I have seem previously.

Shenae Grimes-Beech stars as Carly, a music teacher from Philadelphia who agrees to travel to the small town of Waterford Creek to help a church choir with its Christmas program. When she arrives, she finds that the choir is a vocal mess.

She also meets Matthew (Chris Carmack, who you may remember from "Nashville"), a returning soldier who hopes to join the local fire department. He has feelings for local girl Jenny (Lauren Jackson), but has not seen her for five years.

Carly convinces Matthew to join the choir. She connects with each choir member on an individual level. And she bonds with townspeople, in general.

In the end, this is a story about people without families, who may feel "lost", especially during holidays. It's a worthwhile subject, but this production lacks energy.

I really liked this despite all the bad reviews. It seems like people just like to complain on this site. You need to ditch the stupid reviews people!!

Anyway, I liked how Carly (Shenae Grimes-Beech) came in and sorted out the choir, who were very out of sync with each other in the beginning and sounded fabulous at the end. I was in choir during my HS years- Concert Choir, Glee Club and Madrigals. So I know a good sound. The lead soloist sounded great! This is probably the best version of the "Time to Come Home" tune I've heard as I'm not really a country music fan. I liked how Carly managed to deal with the different singers who had different motives for being in choir.

The romance was fine. Chris Carmack played the male lead and he has a great singing voice.

The intriguing part was the "secret" motive for inviting Carly to help with the choir. You'll have to watch it to find out the secret.