The 5-Year Christmas Party

Loved it. An endearing story and one we haven't seen from hallmark before. Love the two leads, acting and chemistry was on point. Also I appreciate Hallmark reaching a bit of a younger audience with this movie and the lead actors being on the younger side. The story was cute, relatable and not trope-y or like a classic hallmark. As a former theater kid, they nailed the vibe. The time lapse element of the story was creative and even though you knew Alice and Max would get together it still keeps you intrigued to see how it will all unfold. This will definitely be one that I watch again and again!

This one was highly anticipated and I really wanted to love it since Last year's Katie Findlay's Christmas movie was one of the best. But this one was boring. Some decent writing and acting but the chemistry was just not there at all. I could not believe that these two were so in love to make this drag over the span of five years.

They just gave me friends vibes all along.

My rating is mostly due to Katie's great acting like always and Hallmark's attempt at a fresh original plot.

To anyone reading this, go enjoy Sealed with a List from last year. Some serious chemistry going on in that one.

I really enjoyed this movie. I liked the young leads and Hallmark using some new young faces. I liked the realistic portrayal of young people pursuing acting or theater as a career and how often they need other jobs to make ends meet. I liked that she was taller than him. I liked that the movie wasn't condensed into a one-week romance. I enjoyed it so much that I was surprised by the low IMDb rating on this one. I read many of the other reviews and I can understand some of the criticism, but overall I thought it was a darling movie. I don't understand anyone claiming Katie Findlay was bad because she was fantastic and such a breath of fresh air for Hallmark.

This movie has a different approach than most Hallmark Christmas movie fare, and that alone makes it work a look, as it touches on the shaky relationship between two people who basicly only see either other once a year around Christmastime for a series of years.

The script writers went for sharp, smart dialogue and uncomfortable scenes, and they got that right.

Unfortunately, they created two characters with believable sexual tension, but, to me, unlikeable. The female lead in particular seems far too willing to ignore friends, as she ghosts two of them over the course of the movie, and eventually he ghosts her too, after going to California to make a movie. These are not people I'd make part of my life.

I'm not sorry we watched it, but it won't bear a second time through.

The acting of the main character (Alice) was really bad, unreliable, lifeless and ruined the film. Max's acting was significantly better and managed to cover up Alice's acting a bit but didn't lift the film. Sometimes the quality of an actor has a big impact on the quality of the film and in this case, unfortunately, the effect was not good. Besides, it was also quite sloppy and it felt like the attempt to be clever made the film more boring. I love watching Christmas movies and I don't have high demands, but this movie was particularly disappointing. I barely managed to finish it. It was a complete waste of time. Not recommended.