Unlocking Christmas

Steve Lund was really charming in this one. This is the second movie I have seen with him as the male lead this Christmas. He was excellent in that one also. He infused his lines with personality and humor. Just wanted to register my appreciation of his performance. Signed, his mother. Just kidding. I have received no material compensation from Steve Lund or his affiliates for this review.

...with some of the other reviewers: this was nothing special. The plot barely kept the movie moving forward until it staggered to a Hallmark end. Steve Lund and Taylor Cole, two old hands at these things, were the only thing that made this worth watching, although the actress who played Liz, the female sidekick, was a bright spot. It's ok, I certainly wouldn't recommend against watching it, but it's not great.

Steve Lund is a very handsome man when he doesn't have the weird haircut he has in this film. I also felt that he was a bit too overexcited all of the time.

I liked the fact that the forces element was subtle, quite often it can be forced down your neck in an overly sentimental and saccharine way, but here it's just in the background.

The story idea itself is cute, wouldn't it be nice to have a Guardian Angel steering you towards love or at least giving you some fun challenges on the build up to Christmas.

Full of fun stuff and with a generally jolly feel, it doesn't hurt anybody at all and is easy to watch.

6ish.

Taylor Cole and Steve Lund do a great job with what they are given, but the writers have really let them down on this one, The leads have good chemistry together but the story is weak, there aren't any interesting subplots, which makes the makes the pace seem slow, and the script doesn't really allow for any romantic connection to grow. You can see the possibility for romance in many scenes, and you're thinking any second now, but due to the writing, it just never happens. Lund's character remains aloof for nearly the entire movie. Luckily Cole and Lund are entertaining and fun to watch, so it's worth watching just to see these two work.

I enjoyed this Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Original Christmas movie. The story was not as strong as, for example, A Little Christmas Charm (such a wonderful film, by the way), nonetheless, it was a warm and charming Christmas mystery. The adventure begins when a mysterious key and a holiday riddle arrive at the doorsteps of Kate (played by Taylor Cole) and Kevin (played by Steve Lund), the two protagonists in this story. As the two solve the riddles and clues, we watch their relationship grow thru some warm and playful conversation and banter. Moreover, the story is engaging and has a kind and heartfelt feel to it (gets you in the Christmas spirit). The acting is superb and is what makes all the above work on screen, of course. Taylor Cole, a Hallmark regular, had a very strong performance. Steve Lund too was great (he was easy to connect with). The chemistry between the two was brilliant, I felt. The banter and kind/warm conversation were quite convincing, believable, which is always a plus in a romance film. As another reviewer here has pointed out, the writers could have done a better job developing the romantic connection. It just felt like there was a step missing between the warm and playful/flirtatious conversation and them falling in love. As I alluded to above, the movie did have a nice Christmas feel to it. The scenery, props, and sets were quite festive in Cedar Park. Overall, it is an entertaining movie, which is driven by some strong acting and delightful chemistry between the leads. It is a nice edition to Hallmark's 2020 Christmas movie lineup.