Holly and the Hot Chocolate

I was pleasantly surprised by this short rom-com. The acting was solid B class, and the writing was pretty good as well -- a lot of good banter. Let's face it, Hallmark has a lot of losers in its stable. Usually the writing is sub-par, with the same theme over and over again -- I've actually seen the same movies remade more than once, though they pretend they are different -- and 40 minutes worth of story torturously stretched to an hour and a half. The acting can be a little school play-ish, with either the actors over pronouncing the last syllable of every word, or doing that sing-song going higher at the end thing. The only thing is Hallmark makes so many of these films, there are still a lot of good ones to choose from .

QVC made ONE film, and it's pretty entertaining.

I've always loved QVC. I don't know what it is, but I find it comforting to listen to in the background, and David Venable is my all-time favorite QVC "character," so of course I was going to watch this movie. And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. This was a very funny movie, in a way that makes it almost a parody of a Hallmark movie, and it really worked! The acting from the two main characters was good, as were the daughter and the mother. I also thought the mayor was very funny (yes he was over-the-top, but it was on purpose). David has a few lines and only appears inside the hot chocolate stand, but it was nice to see him. He was credited as having created the story & I think he did well. This movie was very cute and fun, and I would watch this one again next year!

Way better than Hallmark holiday movies, which all start to seem exactly the same. Humorous nod to the Hallmark type holiday films. Totally doesn't take itself too seriously. Pine Falls is a cute little town that isn't too picture perfect. The town really gets into Christmas: the 'Christmas Dog', 'Christmas Ketchup', and 'Christmas Mustard'! I love Holly's review of the Christmas dog. Holly's boyfriend is a huge jerk which is probably realistic because Holly is so darn nice. The mayor is a hoot! They kind of turned 'Hallmark' on its head. Totally meant to be tongue in cheek without being overdone. Just a fun holiday romance that seems way more realistic and funny! I loved it! Hope they can do more of these.

I really liked this little movie. It's short; only 1 hour 6 minutes, but it was still enjoyable. I do think if they had added another 20-30 minutes they could have built up the romantic relationship better and just showcased the town and even the Inn more.

Yes, it's a bit low budget, but it just goes to show that a good team can produce something entertaining, even without a big Hollyweird budget. It's also very clean and wholesome (which I find refreshing and wish was not uncommon.) The characters are likable and there's some funny dialogue as well. The leads are both good and the mayor is hilarious. I really liked the mayor and his gigantic scissors, lol. Most of the secondary characters were fine, except the mother. She was annoying. The mechanic and his bucket of 'bad news canes,' was funny. He had good comedic timing.

I wish it had been longer. Maybe there will be more movies set in Pine Falls with these characters, or others like them. I hope to see more movies like this one.

First off...this movie is hilarious. So many quotable moments. My wife and I both said it was the funniest romcom we'd ever seen.

The cast was perfect and somehow they each had great comedic timing. The acting was great. The script was great.

I'm seriously bummed this little flick hasn't gotten more love.

The plotline itself is also pretty good. But it truly is the cast and script which sold it. I can't remember when I've laughed more. And via a seemingly random one hour long indie low budget romcom.

This is my 45th written review on IMDB and I've never felt stronger about recommending a film.