My son's family just came home from two plus years in Belgium which still has a lot of Dutch tradition, so some of the things in this movie were familiar like candy in the shoes. The Dutch traditions gave this movie a slightly different flavor from so many of the Christmas romance movies around. The premise of the story was similar to those of many of these movies, but at the same time it felt a little different. Certainly, the relationship of the lead male, John, with his father and how that progressed through the story is a very well used trope. The themes of be-yourself, take-risks, and do-what-makes-you-happy are in many Christmas movies. While save-the-store is well used, this had a slightly different take on it. The meddling arrival of the hated ex is another well used trope.
John and Noelle clicked from the beginning. I find I like this kind of movie when the leads have plenty of screen time for relationship building and that was the case here and I did enjoy it.
The conflict involved a couple of other well used tropes, but I didn't see it coming, so I give points for that.
