It is interesting to me that Lifetime's Christmas 2024 starts with two stories where the heroine is essentially a corporate real estate raider. If you watch more than 2 dozen new Christmas movies every year, or even a fraction of that, many of those movies set the big corporations as the enemy and corporate real estate development is evil. Admittedly many of those stories end up with the villain being converted into preserving the rustic flavor of the local town. But with Gracie, it didn't seem like this go getter could change.
In addition to the story being about the above conflict, it is also a quest story. Most of the movie is spent chasing the quit claims of five one foot square plot which were awarded to unknown parties who need to be discovered by Gracie. Five one foot square plots blocking a development seems a little crazy, but this story has a bunch of crazy elements. Along the way Gracie meets several new Christmas traditions that are probably pure fiction with little or no basis in reality. Maybe, who knows what strange traditions are really out there. That's OK because it fits the story.
Gracie, as played by Tamara Almeida is a dynamo. She starts out focused, but soon her energy is turned into enjoying life and surroundings. Despite beings the corporate seller of the new hotel concept, she is good at making strangers friends, and it is genuine. Cody Ray Thompson is not quite as much fun. He is restrained but a little quirky too. I guess they had chemistry, but Jack iis also holding back. I think Almeida was mostly the one who generated any chemistry.
The quest, or the mystery, has a hidden element and it's not hard for the viewer to realize it, at least most of it.
The story is like many other Christmas movies with the quest contributing some fresh mystery. The real draw in this movie is Almeida once you realize that Gracie isn't just a corporate suit.
