The Christmas Ring

There were so many things that appealed to me about this Christmas story.

The story starts with a plucky internet reporter, Kendra, who works for some on-line magazine whose specialty is quizzes like which reindeer do you most resemble? She has been dying to write more serious articles to take their on-line magazine in another direction. Kendra's mother passed away and her father had been holding on to her mother's wedding ring which had been passed down to four generations...but since his passing a couple years ago the ring has gone missing. It has become Kenra's practice to check in antique shops looking for her mom's ring. This is what she is doing when she finds a very similarly styled ring to her mom's, but this one has an inscription that says "Forever My Christmas Love 1948". She learns from the shop owner that you can track the maker of a ring by the jewelry mark...which she does to a small town. The mystery and story behind this inscription intrigues Kendra and she makes a pitch to her boss to write a human interest story about the ring...the boss who just wants to sell advertising thinks the quizzes and celebrity gossip get more eyeballs on the page, so she categorically says no. Kendra decides to take a few days off to do her own sleuthing convinced that she can write an article that will be good enough for her boss to change her mind. Once in the small town she discovers the jeweler has passed away, but that his son is running a bakery out of the same location. The baker is very friendly and is able to find the receipt ledger, which by description and date lead to the purchaser of the ring. Meanwhile in said small town she keeps bumping in to the same handsome but slightly grumpy and suspicious guy...who turns out to be the grandson of the purchaser of the ring and coincidentally the biggest celebrity gossip of the moment. When Michael finds out she is a reporter he becomes even more suspicious that she is really there to do an article on him...and of course when her boss finds out he is involved with the ring story through eavesdropping...red lights her article as long as he is mentioned or featured. "You are the most effectual person I have ever met"

The real story becomes solving the mystery of the ring and the back story of Michael's grandparents, William and Pearl, who ran the small town's general store which was at the heart of the town and a big deal at Christmas. Struggling to keep it operational Michael's brother and he are considering selling the store...which leads to them having one more last big Christmas at the store, including doing all of the Christmas traditions that their grandparents did.

Together Michael and Kendra piece together the story of the ring... "Even though you were looking for your mother's ring, I'm glad you found my grandmother's." "My mom would have loved Pinegrove." "You made me believe you were writing a story about true love. About how love takes sacrifice and risk." Of course there is a misunderstanding...and it ends with a suspenseful moment...will our protagonist finally get together in the end, it was sweet and thoughtful and involved two people striking out on their own to do the work they were meant to do, which may be risky but they will be able to sleep at night, and of course it involves the ring. ...taking buildings of the past and updating them for the future. I am always intrigued by stories from the past...I love trolling antique shops and finding treasures. This was so much fun to follow the inscription to the heart of the story and have it be one of true love. "You're a part of the story now." The actress who played Kendra was a little different than Hallmark's usual lead and I for one liked her, she was gorgeous, independent, self-assured and maybe a little sassy. She and the male lead played well together...but the big star was the mystery of the ring.

This is my 11th Hallmark Christmas movie of the 2020 season. Thus far, this one is at the bottom of my list. Overall, it was a big disappointment. The acting was mediocre at best. David Alpay's performance was OK. I have seen him a couple of times in Hallmark films; his performance was similar in those roles. Nazneen Contractor, on the other hand, was unimpressive. Though her performance improved in the latter half of the film, overall, it was not so good. She did not draw me in with her performance at all. There was no chemistry between the two leads as well, which is a problem in a romance movie. The supporting cast, which Hallmark usually does a good job at casting, was quite mixed. For example, a Hallmark regular, Casey Manderson who played the brother (Scott), was terrible, while Kendra's boss (Colleen Wheeler as Linda) and friend (Kazumi Evans as Sarah) at the magazine both had good performances. The story and script were not bad, but due to the acting, I never was drawn into the movie (I was not engaged); I found myself on multiple occasions grabbing for my iPad, which is never a good sign. The scenery, props and sets were very polished, festive. I did find the atmosphere - i.e., Christmas spirit and a festive environment - to be rather lacking in this Hallmark film; this is something Hallmark usually does a good job at creating. Overall, this edition to Hallmark's 2020 Christmas season was a complete letdown.

It is the star of this film. Unfortunately, maybe the only one. Because the chemistry is missing, the story is flat, the good intentions are just support for cliches. Sure, the charme of few scenes , more as result of not the impressive artistic skills of Nazneen Contractor is just precious and David Alpay saves what can be saved. But the sketch of jewell, the hypothesis around it, the old jeweler memory, yes, each is crumb of the soul of this film , nice when you see you, rotten after some time after you viewed it.

Yes all Hallmark movies are predictable, but I like these two leads and the story was a little different than the usual. I liked David Alpay and Nazarene Contractor- I don't get the complaints. I thought they had nice chemistry, were both sensitive, thoughtful adults. Living in Los Angeles during Covid, with no snow, no Christmas pageants or tree lighting ceremony- is it all seems a little bit surreal, but I enjoyed this one.

1) No chemistry between the leads 2) Woman lead is a terrible - unbelievable, poor actor 3) The side story is stupid

Normally I like David Alpay - but he's not good in this movie! Very aloof and unlikable.

I respect Hallmark for trying new actors in these movies - but Nanzeen Contractor just isn't cutting it in this role.

I fell was falling asleep halfway through it - turned it off. I guess when I have nothing better to do, I'll finish watching it. Not at the top of my list ...