Deck the Walls

I have watched and reviewed literally hundreds of Hallmark-like Christmas movies. Did I somehow miss it, or this year are the premises getting even more impossibly ridiculous? A charity house flip where the mayor takes away all the remaining money??? So how did they get anything more done? Rose keeps coming back with new stuff. Is it all donated? If this isn't enough fun, Rose and Brysen have a negative history that isn't totally revealed all at once. And the lead contractor, Sal, has a negative history with reporter assigned for PR. And the mayor told Sal it was a print reporter, but he is filming for TV including a live finale. Like I said, impossibly ridiculous and somewhat derivative.

Is this a rom/com because almost all of the first third or more of the movie has very little positive time with Rose and Brysen together. Overall, I think the relationship development between these two was rushed. There is a second romance between Sal and Jake.

The story seems a little slow probably because so much of it is reliving backstory. I think all the backstory is an attempt to pull heartstrings as everything develops, but I just couldn't get into it because the writers kept throwing obstacles at the project. There are several musical interludes. Filler? Despite the project being such a rush there is still time for parlor games, karaoke, and ice skating.

The acting is OK, the dialogue has some good moments but also ones that are bland.

BTW my pet peeve is text messages that are too small to read. There is one just before the climax. I paused and got right next to the TV and still couldn't read it. I still don't know if it contributed to the important moment.

Can start off by saying was hard telling who sponsored this movie.. At least could of made it subtle felt like one long commercial,for HomeGoods & Nutella. Lol.

The storyline was a clichéd topic,also for all the build-up we never get a satisfying payoff.. Why didn't we get a home tour? Did the daughter like her new room,etc.

Instead it was filled with a lackluster,no chemistry story & subpar acting by everyone.

I loved Ashley in previous Hallmark productions but here she seemed tired,gaunt & almost like she was bored to be part of this movie.

Not worth seeing,again.. Hallmark needs to remember,quality over quantity.

It was such a terribly written movie, no plot whatsoever, all over the place, not sure how the script passed the producers, but it is childish and chaotic.

The two main leads were OK, and the actress that played the aunt is wonderful, also the TV reporter, but I just could not focus well on the story because the actor that plays the brother was so atrocious, he was lost and beyond bad in literally every scene, how did he even pass the audition, he is not even high school drama level good, he is just terrible. In most of the scenes he did not even know where to look or how to move within the scene, absolute amateur. Truly hope we will not be seeing him again in any of the Hallmark movies, this is obviously not a career for him.

I did like the costumes in the film and the set decor was nice as well.

I almost dnf'd this in the first 10 minutes, but I persisted and I can't say I am happy about that...with the exception of getting to see Carolyn Hennesy as Aunt Gigi. This film starts as a hot mess. The dialogue is awkward, the meeting between characters is awkward, there are lots of sad themes liking bullying, divorce, poverty, death, coping techniques, loss of family home to fire, etc. For me this added a lot of negatives to what should be a light Hallmark holiday film, add in that this had advertising imbedded in it for both HomeGoods and Nutella and it rapidly moved into a film I not only can't recommend, but don't want to watch. (Not that I have anything against either HomeGoods or Nutella, but we are already watching too many commercials on cable which we pay for.)

The best part of this film was Aunt Gigi, played by the lovely Carolyn Hennesy. I have loved her as the tough but lovable mob lawyer on GH, where she has set an example of a strong, loyal, independent woman for years. The other aspect that was enjoyable was the exterior of the fixer-upper home. I am sorry to say those two items don't push this over into the recommendation category for me.

Hallmark scriptwriters are getting worse and worse when it comes to developing realistic conflict between the love interests. This was no exception. For some reason, Hallmark thinks we need to have the hero and heroine be at odds to start the story and then follow along as they smooth over their differences and fall in lovel The paper-thin plot failed to hold my interest. It needed more emphasis on story and less of a focus on Danny Pellegrino. It was great to see General Hospital's Carolyn Hennesy in a fun role, but she wasn't enough to save this snoozefest. The lack of chemistry between Wes Brown and. Ashley Greene also didn't help. And only the Hallmark Channel could come up with a premise that the community needs to rally together to build a new home for the high school principal because he's outgrown his old one. Habitat for the Middle Class.