Scouting for Christmas

I have to say this movie was a breath of fresh air. Pretty much all Hallmark movies are the same and after a while it starts to get boring. I felt this was a sweet and happy movie that just felt good. All the characters meshed well together and the two leads were fantastic. Great chemistry between each other and the rest of the cast. So much negativity out in the real world, I want to escape into a place where good always wins and happily ever after. I would not understand what it is like to be a single mother, so I do feel they did a good job in trying to show the struggles that someone would go through.

I loved this film and so appreciated the inclusion of a modern family. Bravo to Hallmark for including diversity and substance! The acting was awesome. Tamera beautifully and seamlessly depicted a busy Mom navigating through life while having an open and loving relationship with her adopted daughter. That, in and of itself, is something to be celebrated. Couple that with the charm of her love interest and the sweetness of her daughter and some good ole Christmas magic made for a great feel good Christmas movie and a perfect start to my holiday. This one is worth watching! I will definitely be watching it again.

I'm an avid Hallmark movie watcher with my wife. Christmas movies are by far our favorite to watch. After a stressful, busy day, I don't want to be stressed out by the negativity and vulgar junk I see on TV now. This movie was a great way to kick off the Christmas season for us. I enjoy all of the movies Tamera Mowry Housely does, she has a genuine warm demeanor that always comes across in her movies. I think her and the girl who played her daughter had a nice natural chemistry. There were elements that reminded us a little of The Parent Trap and I thought that was really cool. To me it makes it a great movie for the entire family. It has romance.and the fun that kids will also enjoy. We need more movies that bring the family together and remind us of all the Good there's still around us.

Tamera Mowrey-Housley and Carlo Marks are such a sweet couple on screen. From the first scene that Mowrey-Housely enters the Mr. Bakes A Lot shop and she and Marks lock eyes, there's just such a tenderness between them and the story unfolds like the fun, sweet holiday movie that this is. It's Hallmark, so I was already expecting sometimes silly plots and often outlandish coincidences; but that's what I come to Hallmark movies for. Yeah, there was all of that plus a meany mom scout leader and a hunky ex who suddenly shows up. But Mowrey-Housley and Marks were the main event, no question about it.

Also, I have to say that Audrey Wise Alvarez has such wonderful timing and delivery; she's such a natural. Made the sometimes silly script feel more like the fun romp it was intended to be.

And I appreciate the diversity in this movie, with diversity sometimes missing from rom-coms. Not only are Marks and Mowrey-Housely a mixed race couple, she's also Alvarez's stepmom, and she's a working mom with a busy and successful real estate business. Often these female leads are wedding planners or bloggers or podcasters. It was nice to get a job that a single mom might have. And Mowrey-Housely is believable as a professional.

The only issues I might have with this are the ex, who is very attractive and the actor was good in scenes with the little girl, but he was kind of flat with everyone else. I also thought that Marci House was pretty wasted as the sister.

Tamera's acting was not so good in this movie. For someone playing the mother to a child she'd adopted at 2, she talked to her like she was the babysitter hired to watch a new kid for the day/night. It was awkward. The girl was, what? 10? She talked to her like she was 5. I LOVE Carlo Marks and will watch ANYTHING he's in, but he and Tamera had absolutely zero chemistry. Which has to be her doing, because everything I've seen him in, he's had some kind of spark between him and the main female lead.

I really wanted to like this movie because it represents my household. My daughter, growing up as a mixed child, never saw HER family represented on the Hallmark Channel. Majority of their couples and and/or families are very homogeneous. This movie was a let down.