Jolly Good Christmas

I enjoyed the more sophisticated plot and atmosphere of this as opposed to the small town v. City life plus festival. I loved the London setting. Although the plot was certainly not original, it almost was. I liked both characters and the actors portrayals of each. The chemistry between them really sizzled. And it was romantic rather than friendly as is all too common with Hallmark.

An American architect working in London has got himself almost engaged to the bosses daughter. He goes with a gift card for a Christmas Present, it is a big red flag. When a professional gift buyer mocks him for it, he decides to hire her to pick out the perfect gift for his girlfriend. They have shopping adventures all around London and as they get to know each other, they fall in love. He learns the value of family and Christmas blah blah blah. And she learns love is the perfect gift.

I remember Reshma Shetty from Royal Pains, and she was great in this. Will Kemp was just as charming. Good mix of romance with professional drama. I loved the small dose of Indian family life and culture as well. Definitely a Winner.

Bravo to Hallmark branching out into London more! Give me ALL the UK, European locations you can throw at me! -especially at Christmas time!

Unfortunately, it was difficult watching Will Kemp do an American accent; I would have raised my review 2 stars if it was Brit! The actress who played Anjali was adorable, but her being a chronic hustler was not very appealing. That said, the storyline lacked appeal. All Hallmark had to do was watch a couple Michael Damian movies for inspiration. Europe is magical at Christmas time, and so much more could have been done with this great location and great cast, but unfortunately, I felt let down. Storyline/teleplay was slow and not very romantic. It was a mere 5 for me, and I did want so much to love it.

-Did I mention that dismal "American" accent? Poor Will Kemp...

6.4 stars.

A Hallmark movie set in London with people from London and an American with a strange accent. I don't know what that was all about, but he sounded like he was trying to sound American?

The setting in London is great, and the rest was Hallmark. This is just like the million based in Chicago, Boston, upstate Maine, and maybe the occasional Seattle, or NY. It had a British feel to it, credit where credit is due, they must have had some staff who knew how to give it that European sort of flair.

The dialogue was ordinary, the sets were good, the acting was good, the theme was tired, the chemistry was late. Please do another one in London with a better script and energy. Please, please, please.

So, they churn out forty movies a season. There will be a handful that are surprisingly good, a few that are god-awful bad and a bunch in the middle that one will forget an hour later.

This one is, I am pleased to say, not only one of the best ones of the season but one of the best ones I have seen. Yes, if you have seen at least three Hallmark movies previously, you will know how certain plot points will play out. But, this one has very clever dialogue throughout and its British setting cannot help but to give it a touch of class. The two leads are, simply, excellent, doing feature-quality work on a tight, TV movie timeline. They both look beautiful, separately and together and have wonderful chemistry. They really seem to be having a great time with the playful, sometimes even farcical plot as the audience gets to go along on their madcap adventure.

This is a pattern proven by two previous movies I can think of set in a foreign locales, "Christmas in Rome" and "Christmas in Vienna" where footage of the European city's actual Christmas decor makes the movie part travelogue. This is certainly refreshing after seeing two dozen or so "Christmas in My Hometown" movies where, let us face it, the "tinsel in every shot, DAMMIT" policy can get a bit tiring.

Again, it is not as if the Ten Hallmark Movie Tropes are not present. However, they are camouflaged by a superior production with a very talented cast and the effect is far more "rom-com" than sentimental and gooey.

Will Kemp is usually good but this movie he suffered from BadAccentitis. I found myself parroting the phrases or words that sounded really ridiculous. Was the accent New Yorker or Southern? I have no idea. I would have been very happy to have both leads be British. He could have been British born, states raised and now returned. Whatever I'm hyper focusing.

Overall, the movie is pleasant. Other than the fake accent, I like both leads. Love the London Christmas setting, it makes up for fact that there are only like 5 characters total. I'm happy we saw a little dancing from Mr. Kemp, but I was hoping for a waltz.