A Very Vermont Christmas

The following could be true of all Hallmark movies. If you are a critical person or in a bad mood, all of the holes and faults noted elsewhere are true. You can not have a completely new plot after hundreds of xmas movies produced in the Hallmark formula. If you are in a good mood, you might enjoy the sweetness and predictability of this movie, rooting ahead of the plot twists. I am completely burnt out on these films, and can be intensely critical, but I still enjoyed it. The actors were relatable, not Emmy winners, but entirely appropriate for their roles. So, feeling good is still the mission for some of us who are not grinches.

It's not the usual Christmas fair or charity benefit or the usual Christmas memes Hallmark seems to rely on. Even though the family pub business is riding in the balance, it's not the centerap plot line. The "villain" even had their forgiveness in the end. I'm not sure I'd have been so generous if an old family friend and former boyfriend stole from me and sabotaged me knowing it would put me out of business. There was one BIG goof that will be noticed. The 2 leads wanted to get the first chair up the mountain but Lifty Lucy wouldn't let them ride until the stroke of 9AM, despite no one else being around to even know, let alone on line. Yet when they're riding up the mountain and the camera focuses on their conversation, every chair behind them is filled. And when the camera focuses on their backs as they continue moving up the hill, there are also people in the chairs ahead of them. How did they get there? Did they fly and land in the chairs like birds? Overall, it won't ever be counted as the best Christmas movie Hallmark has ever made. But it's far from the worst. The 2 leads would be welcome in more Hallmark films, especially since GAF poached some of their bench.

6.3 stars.

This is one of a thousand Hallmark films that sits neatly on the shelf never to return to again. I enjoyed the acting somewhat, the actors did their part. Even the music and the cinematography were decent. But all in all this is a very slow and dead end of a film.

Dead parent: check. Interrupted kiss: check. Stolen ingredients to a recipe: check. Secondary character hinting at lead character about a handsome stranger: check. Inept secondary character: check. Another inept secondary character: check. Mild gaslighting: check. Wealthy businessman squeezing out the poor good people: check. A food/drink contest: check. Lead character has to keep secret from other lead in order to keep their job: check. Secret gets out, lead blames other lead for lying, even though they had to withhold the truth to save hurt feelings: check.

It's about a small family, trying to compete in the microbrew market. They have a pub near a ski resort in Vermont. The lead female's Father passed away a year prior, so now she must keep the brewery business alive with her mother. This story is worn out.

There is a "bad" guy who is creepy. He's her ex boyfriend. To imagine the lead female character ever dated a guy like that already reflects negatively on her.

There is another character who's somewhat of a buffoon who tends bar for them in their brewery, he made a few mistakes that were actually quite irritating.

I was turned off by this film after about 30 minutes. The acting becomes melodramatic for a Hallmark, no more light and fun after midway, which casts a shadow on the story. It had potential but lost momentum, and the dialogue and script were quite lifeless after 30 minutes.

This is one of the odder entries in the 2024 Hallmark holiday film lineup. It is all about microbrews and instead of mocking the snobbery, they have fully embraced it. I don't drink beer at all, so all of this craft brew nonsense was lost on me. In fact I think I might really dislike this film with its clear jealous villain, if it were not for its main leads.

This is about the rivalry of a big beer company and a small ma and pop craft brewery. The Ma and pop, now run by the ma and daughter is struggling until they enter a competition and come up with a holiday aka seasonal craft brew that the jealous ex-boyfriend steels and sells to the big beer company (in a totally ugly and unseasonable move).

This might be a good holiday film for someone, but it wasn't my cup of tea...which keeps me from recommending it.

Hallmark lost an opportunity to represent the deaf or hearing impaired community by not only not addressed the lead actresses hearing loss but by covering her hearing aids in every single scene. Shame on you Hallmark. This move makes you no better than those who left because they disagreed with certain storylines you were showing. I will no longer be watching Hallmark movies.

That being said the same old storylines are getting really boring. It's seriously time to light a fire under your writers and get some new content where not everything works out perfectly or the female lead doesn't give up everything for the "man of her dreams".