A Magical Christmas Village

This was not one of Hallmark's better efforts. One issue is the complete lack of chemistry between Alison Sweeney and Luke Macfarlane. First time I have seen Macfarlane not connect with his leading lady. As someone who has always admired Marlo Thomas and enjoyed her performances over the year, I was disappointed that her role was so quirky and off center. I do not know what is happening over at Hallmark, but the quality of the Countdown to Christmas movies this year have been a disappointment. This film was so slowly paced and at no time did I feel the main characters were a match. I just kept hoping the story would develop, but it never did.

Whew! Would have never guessed that was Marlo Thomas. Why are women afraid of wrinkles, she looked very freakish and it looked painful. It was distracting for me to watch the movie. Her character was just absurd, rude, disrespectful. I saw a loving daughter wanting to help her mother, obviously her mom needed help. The whole "you just gotta believe" nonsense. Tell the bill collectors that and see what they say. Alison was of course, wonderful to watch. I'm so glad she didn't jump ship to the other channel like Candace and Danica did. And Luke, I just can't get his role as Scotty on Brothers and Sisters out of my head. Loved him on that show, he's good on Hallmark too. The more the movie went on, the more I disliked that mom. I would have ran away from home as a teenager. Haha.

As staples of Hallmark movie casts, Sweeney and Macfarlane deliver solid acting and are the draw for the movie. It's great to see Marlo Thomas in a supporting role that is actually more developed than Luke Macfarlane's (which is unfortunate). Yes the plastic surgery is a distraction at first, but she's looking pretty darned good for 85! I really want to rate the movie higher because of these actors, however it just feels there's something missing in all the other characters' development.

There are plenty of choices each year for new Christmas movies. A Magical Christmas Village is entertaining enough to be worthy of 90 minutes of your attention and should make the cut.

A Magical Christmas Village (2022) -

I had a feeling watching this film that the little girl, Chloe (Maesa Nicholson), must have been a witch! She created a magic which moved the story forward and while I'm sure it was all a coincidence really, it would be nice to think that magic was real and that playing around with a Christmas village could bring Luke Macfarlane in to my life. He always plays such lovely guys that he must surely be that nice in real life. In the role of Ryan, he was as charming as always and his character was slightly more simple than the others I've seen from him, which seemed to make him even more accessible.

Initially I thought that Alison Sweeney, playing Summer, might be too old for Ryan, but actually I really liked them together and I empathised with her character.

I also thought that Grandma Viv (Marlo Thomas) was going to drive me nuts at first, with her "Hippy" ways, but she was actually a good character too and played well.

The script was a little off, not the usual cleverly written and organic flow that I've been used to and it had some lines that were a bit twee or corny, but in general I felt contented by what I saw.

Maybe I was just feeling emotional and it hit some of my buttons, but I really liked this one. I didn't know why there were so many poor reviews from others.

Christmas, charity, romance and Luke, what more could you want?

7/10.

Allison Sweeney and Luke Macfarlane are better than this forced and fairly empty mess. Too easy to solve issues, too sappy and sugary and disgustingly sweet. Hallmark took an outline and filled it in with fluff and nonsense, but no heart. Why does the network feel it necessary to churn out mediocre junk in great numbers rather than make fewer but much better movies? The magic Christmas village was a wasted element that was tossed into the story to provide Christmas Magic? It didn't. I found Marlo Thomas's dated hippy philosophy and preachy tendencies distracting and annoying. (As was her plastic surgery face, especially as I am old enough to remember That Girl). I couldn't wait for the movie to end. It won't be on many Do Not Miss lists next year.