A Welcome Home Christmas

It does sound like she's saying Dad but CC shows that she's actually saying Doug.

I must admit, I enjoyed this Christmas movie. It is my 5th Lifetime Christmas movie thus far this season, hands down, the best I have seen. It helps that the story is a touching and welcoming one, which deals with issues around reintegration of military vets after service, i.e. their transition back to civilian life. The script and dialogue were well-written as well. It helps too that the two leads had great chemistry - their kissing scenes at the end (a typical ending in this genre of film) were convincing. I was a fan of One Tree Hill, so I enjoyed seeing Jana Kramer on the screen again. Brandon Quinn too had a strong presence/performance on scene. The supporting cast was a bit mixed. For example, I found Charlene Tilton's performance as Lynn (the mother) a bit...how do I put this...awkward at times, though I warmed up to her by the end. Overall, this is a nice addition to Lifetime's original Christmas movie lineup. Well done. Fans of Hallmark and Lifetime will not be disappointed.

As Christmas movies go, this is one of the best so far. The leads are both very likeable and had good chemistry together and the rest of the cast did a great job as well. There are some touching parts and some predictable parts but overall it's a good movie. I'll watch this one more than once.

In the past few years there have been a number of touching Christmas movies about veterans or service people and their families. If you haven't seen too many of them, this movie will touch some hearts, and even if you have, it might. I've seen my share, and I saw the predictable climax and ending coming and it still elicited a few tears. When I say predictable, I mean very. Also, there wasn't a lot of tension or potential conflict, which is OK, if you prefer that.

There are also some funny moments and dialogue.

I have loved Jana Kramer since I first saw her in a Christmas movie a couple years ago. She is the most natural of the actors in this. Others are much less natural, especially Santa. He said most of his lines way too deliberately. Between cliché Christmas tropes and unnatural acting, there were many times when things seemed off.

One great moment, however brief, was Jana's Christmas duet with Brandon Quinn supporting her great voice. There was some chemistry between the two, but it didn't stand out. I've seen a couple new movies this season where the chemistry sizzled by comparison but not here.

I watch a lot of Hallmark movies as well as many other types, including romances, and this one leaves a lot to be desired. I'm stunned at the relatively high rating others gave this movie. The storyline is bland, the unfolding of events is overly predictable and the acting is just plain bad with the exception of Jana Kramer who plays Chloe...she is acceptable, though far from supherb. Marquee is too easily "changed," is stiff in his character and has little in the way of chemistry with Chloe. The ending has the potential to be touching, but with the bad acting and predictable nature of events, it was far from moving. I do like light romances, but I also like realistic characters even in a fictional story. These characters are, for the most part, unrealistic. Everyone has a plastic smile, and the sentimental parts are forced. Kramer kept my rating from a 4 or 5, but couldn't go higher than 5.7. One last comment...Hallmark seems to be concerned about "spoilers" but look at the cover on these movies and they basically give away the ending!