'Twas the Date Before Christmas

I am so happy to see sweet Amy Groening finally get a lead. I've been saying she deserves one for quite a while, and I've been vindicated: she really knocked it out of the park.

The story was fun too: a woman wants to preserve the Christmas traditions she has enjoyed with her very eccentric family, so she invents a boyfriend, finding someone on a dating app to pass along.

She brings him to the family Olympics, which is a series of zany Christmas themed competitions.

There's plenty of fun, and a lot of heartwarming situations as the family bonds with her new "boyfriend" only to discover he's actually a stranger.

This is the first of the Hallmarks for me this year, and they're off to a nice start.

Dating isn't working out for Jessie (Amy Groening). In order to keep the Chamberlain Christmas traditions going, Jessie tells her mother she will be bringing a date - only she doesn't have one. She decides to place a post on a dating app requesting someone to accompany her to a Christmas party.

Bryan (Robert Buckley) is the CEO of a development company. His friends persuade him to find a date on a dating app, and he happens to reply to Jessie's post. Upon meeting, they make it clear it is not a date, and that he merely escorts her to her family's Christmas party.

The Chamberlain family traditionally plays various games - or Christmas Olympics as they refer to it, which involves performing various (fun) tasks. Things get complicated for Bryan when he learns Jessie's best friend, Shelly, is a tenant he must evict before the New Year.

Yes, yes, being a Hallmark movie it is predictable from beginning to end, but this is exactly what you'd expect from Hallmark and noting more than to awaken the Christmas spirit. It is nevertheless a fairly entertaining movie, and Robert Buckley is so handsome!

I was pleased to see Amy Groening in the lead role here (Jesse). She has been in a number of Hallmark movies playing the sidekick, where she proved herself to be funny and likeable, and that is the case here as well. There is a fair amount of silliness in this movie which is typical for Hallmark, but she and Robert Buckley (Bryan) have a natural chemistry which carries things. Bryan is kind and curious, and ready to take the zany ride with Jesse's family after meeting her in a coffee shop, where they both sense potential. There is the necessary misunderstanding near the end, but the characters talk things through and all is well. And by the way, the Christmas decorations throughout the movie are wonderful. This is one of Hallmark's better Christmas movies, and I'm glad they led the "Countdown to Christmas" with it.

Countdown to Christmas starts off this year with a decent entry. The basic premise of fake date is pretty common, but this movie does it well and with a couple of things that give the premise a slightly different flavor.

At first I wanted to say Jessie was pathetic. Not only was her reason for the date a little lame, but her whole demeanor leading up to it was a little whiny. The viewer finds out later that there are deeper issues which has taken joy out of her life and that's why she really needs the fun and comfort of this crazy family Christmas.

I was expecting a lot more friction early in the date, but instead the two got off to a good start. Bryan is an interesting guy who slides right into the craziness of the Chamberlin Family Christmas Olympics. Bryan and Jessie start to find each other to be appealing. But soon Bryan discovers he has a secret that won't go over well with the family. He can't help it, but it's there. More than that, he starts to have a fondness not only for Jessie, but for the entire family.

The viewer knows in general terms what is going to happen from here, but that doesn't really matter. The antics of the contests are fun and there is definite chemistry between Groening and Buckley.

This is a movie I can watch again. Maybe if all the new Christmas premieres on more than a handful of channels aren't that good, I will even watch again this year.

I really enjoyed 'Twas The Date Before Christmas for its well thought out storyline, talented topnotch leads and excellent supporting cast.

Jessie (Amy Groening) and Bryan (Robert Buckley) meet via a dating app. She's been nursing a broken heart for a year and is looking for a date to bring to her family's wacky, over-the-top Christmas party, and he is encouraged by his close friends to get back into the dating pool. After they work out the logistics of their first date with some cute texting banter, we soon see them on their way to her mom's house for the big event, where Bryan meets her boisterous, loving family and is introduced to a 23-year-old tradition called the Chamberlain Family Christmas Olympics. They partake in all the events as a couple, while keeping the fact that this is actually their first date a secret. Is their secret eventually uncovered? Maybe. And is there a plot twist that somehow connects Bryan to someone in the family? Maybe. Am I going to ruin it for you? No.

Robert Buckley (charming and likable as ever) elevates every show/movie he's in, and wasn't it about time that Hallmark finally promoted the warm and witty Amy Groening to top billing?! Both give performances with real heart, and their chemistry is easy and palpable. I had high hopes for this particular movie, and it rose to the occasion in spades. Very much worth the watch, and I highly recommend it.