Holiday Hotline

If you had read me the script before I watched this movie, I'd have made a hefty bet it would be a disaster. There's probably quite a few who think it was. But I thought they made it work.

You can't tell the players without a scorecard as people are using interchangeable names and accents and somehow two people become two couples.

Emily Tennant is a tiny, little ball of gorgeousness who plays a British chef treated shamefully by her boyfriend/boss, so she comes to Chicago for Christmas. She somehow winds up working at a turkey cooking helpline.

Niall Matter is an architect in Chicago who wants to make a Christmas turkey for his daughter. It all gets very convoluted from there.

Erik Athavale was really funny in Santa Summit, and is very good here too.

Myla Volk as the daughter is a child actor new to me. She's going to be gorgeous in ten years, and does a nice job as well.

I can only say this is the kind of movie some love and some hate.

I gave it an 8.

This movie is clever in a number of ways. Some of the banter is delivered in a clever way and the visually transposing Peggy next to Jack while on the phone is a clever way to erase the distance.

The premise is a cleverly disguised You've Got Mail. Abby/Peggy and Jack spend time together live and communicate via the impersonal telephone hotline which masks Abby's true identity. On the phone, they share their personal lives while they get to know each other on a more impersonal level during their time together physically. Eventually Jack and Peggy face revealing their true identities and later meeting in person. Like other movies with this premise that doesn't go as planned.

Other "disguise" elements to make the story different from the original include Peggy changing her accent from British to American while on the phone which further hides her hotline identity from Jack. I already mentioned the visual side by side presentation while on the hotline. And there is Jack's daughter. Meanwhile Jack disguises his identity on the hotline by using his given name, John. (I happen to be a John who goes by Jack.)

There is a great scene in the second half of the movie that revolves around the idea of Peggy and John being visually together though still on the hotline call. And later the line "You're asking if the guy who asked you to his house is ... ghosting you?"

All of this is decoration. One of the big draws for me in this movie is Emily Tennant. I have enjoyed her several times in Hallmark movies. I love her personality (really). She and Nial Matter have good chemistry despite her British accent which was one turnoff to me of the whole movie.

This started out interesting. I didn't mind Emily's accent at all, I thought it was fine, and my mother was English. There are lots of Americans who are apparently experts on British accents, even accusing Brits of fake accents.

I didn't care for the physical side by side choreographed phone conversations. They were distracting to me as I watched them move back and forth in perfect synchronization.

I told my husband that it was going to be the same old same old "You lied to me, I cannot trust you" trope. He said no, it wouldn't be like that.

I was correct. It's the most annoying trope in Hallmark's arsenal.

A nice story with a blow up anger, walk away scene.

As I recall, that didn't happen in the classic movies from which these scripts copy. It's just Hallmark's standard endings. Ugh!

It's absolutely ridiculous that a guy would be offended because the 2 women he was falling in love with were the same person. He would be glad.

And to blame someone when there was no attempt to deceive. If it's coincidence, it's not deception..

Just to add an opposite view to the other hurrahs here. I would have possibly given this a 7 if it stayed pleasant and romantic. All the drama is just not necessary. The acting and characters were fine.

Okay, there were a few standard Hallmarkish plot elements but overall this was a lot of fun. Very creative staging with the hot line girl (Emily Tennant) interacting with Niall Matter and other callers. In some ways it felt like watching a stage play. Creative dialogue from all characters. Yes, toward the end, some of the normal Hallmark components found their way in, and the ending wasn't really brought to a firm conclusion (although a fair ending was implied) but overall it worked well. One great character, in addition to the two leads, was Erik Athavale who played. Emily Tennats boss, his interactions and delivery added more fun. Well done and this added some fun to the season.

There was so much humor in this tale of holiday romance...along with some pretty terrible turkey disasters. The film spans Thanksgiving and Christmas, which was nice because I am not sure I remember a thanksgiving film on hallmark. It stars Niall Matter as a widower and single dad named Jack. He is trying to make the holidays special again for his daughter...and not being a cook, he reaches out to the professionals via the turkey hotline.

This is how he starts talking to the helpful "Peggy". In real life he has an awkward first meeting with British Abby, who is on the run from a bad breakup back home in England. These two eventually smooth things over, to the delight of Jack's daughter Jessica.

The best part is all the turkey humor and the cooking catastrophes. I recommend this to anyone looking for more of a thanksgiving story especially those who like humor in their holiday romance.

" I thought this hotline was about Turkey, not chicken."