Christmas in My Heart

The leads were fine, but dudemans solo at her house was cringe. Movie was okay, but some things were overkill. I'd still recommend it overall. Hallmark knows how to get it done 8/10 times.

I enjoyed the music and the Dad/daughter dynamic. I didn't feel any chemistry between the main characters. It felt like she felt she'd get cooties from touching him. Both nice characters who can gain from their friendship but more than friendship felt forced.

To add; I see many reviews speaking on the racial items here. I personally love seeing so many ethnicities represented. I agree that many in this set of movies, are like this one, and seem to lack the character chemistry and writing. The diversity is blamed, likely because that's the major obvious change. Are they focusing so much on it that they are losing their identity? We don't really know if this is why they are lacking. Personally, I prefer Hallmark not try to tackle any present day issues in the movies. They never have before aside from grief and love. They were the place to escape into for awhile, the place where everyone got along, communities love each other and people matter. They are our ideal. They pointed the way without pointing the way. I hope they bring back the chemistry and writing soon.

I really enjoyed this Hallmark Christmas movie. Both the script and acting were strong, and of course, it had a warm Christmas feel to it. As another reviewer has suggested, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries tends to have deeper, more meaningful storylines than its sister network, the Hallmark Channel. This movie is no exception and is an excellent start to this year's Miracles of Christmas series. Our two protagonists of this story are Beth (played by Heather Hemmens), a violinist who recently returns home after the death of her mother, and Sean (played by Luke Macfarlane), a reclusive country music star who is a widower and a single father. The two connect when Sean, unknowingly, hires Beth as his daughter Katie's (played by Maria Nash) violin tutor in preparation for the upcoming holiday concert. And so their romantic journey begins. The movie touches upon a number of challenging, real-life issues such as the loss of a loved one, interracial identity (e.g., being proud of who you are), and the raising of a child as a single parent. The script was well written (keeping in mind that this is a Hallmark movie). The dialogue was down to earth; that is, it felt real. There were some nice scenes, for example, between Sean and Katie. I especially enjoyed the banter between Sean and Beth regarding country versus classical music. That is, I enjoyed how they scrutinize each other's genre of music, which led them to appreciate and respect the differences between the two, adding, I felt, to the development of mutual admiration and their romantic connection. The acting overall was brilliant. Both Hemmens and Macfarlane had outstanding performances. The chemistry between the two was excellent. As noted above, you could feel this from the start via their banter at the music shop. Towards the end, when they were saying goodbye, I found myself wanting them to kiss, cheering for them to kiss, that is. I could feel the chemistry on screen. The supporting cast too was superb. Nash's performance as Katie was absolutely adorable. She is a future star. The movie too had a nice warm Christmas feel to it. For example, the holiday concert at the end was lovely. If you are in the mood for a more meaningful Hallmark Christmas movie, then Christmas in My Heart may be just what you are looking for. It is a warm and heartfelt Christmas movie with some wonderful performances. I highly recommend it.

The Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel offers a different kind of movie that the other channel, including, maybe especially Christmas movies.

There are a lot of levels in this movie. Like Two Turtle Doves, there is a lot in here about loss.

This movies adds to the little girl's loss the element of being different. Yes it chooses to use the race issue for that complexity. Unfortunately, right now in this country, a certain approach to racial issues is highly controversial. Two sides of that issue are deeply divided, and extremely emotional. As a result, when a movie like this comes along, some people will choose to totally reject it, without giving it a chance, without listening to the messages contained in it. Isn't doing that just proving the bigotry some people are accused of? Don't judge this movie as a (sneaky) tool of the opposition. Judge this movie on how well it's presented, and on whether it contains any truth, regardless of how that truth may challenge beliefs. This country should be about open discussion of values and beliefs, not censorship. Rejecting a movie without truly listening to the message is as bad as censorship.

I want to see more movies that freely and honestly discuss problems that real people face. This movie does that. First it discusses loss and on top of that it adds being different. No matter what our origins, don't we all deal with those things in one way or another?

I happen to think this movie did it all pretty well and I think it does it while evoking some positive feelings.

The conflict leading into the climax started to tick me off because I thought it was going to be the same cliché done in so many other Christmas movies. I was pleased to see that there was just enough of a twist to turn it into a very nice ending.

I love Luke MacFarlane in many roles but not this one. First, Hallmark should have chosen an actor who could be more convincing with a Southern accent. I'm happy Hallmark is trying to incorporate more diversity, but it still needs to be believable and this was not. There was so much going on in this movie that I found myself distracted by trying to figure out all the relationships. Finally, Luke is not believable as a country star, whereas Heather is brilliant. They seem unequal in that respect.