Five More Minutes

With a sweet, warm, and magical feel to it, the opening scene in 'Five More Minutes' sets the tone for this lovely Hallmark Movies and Mysteries' Christmas movie. The story pulls at the heartstrings, providing a bit of mystery and a touch of magic, making for a wonderful viewing experience. Hands down, one of the best this season thus far. The story revolves around Clara (played by Nikki Deloach), an art teacher who will soon lose her job and is also having doubts about her current romantic relationship. So, she heads home this Christmas to help her mother with her late grandfather's candy cane confectionery. While home, she makes a wish for five more minutes with her grandpa (played by Eric Keenleyside), who had always given her the advice and support she needed. Shortly thereafter, she discovers her grandpa's journal, which provides an account of his first lost love. She decides to find this mysterious lost love, eventually teaming up with Logan (played by David Haydn-Jones), her first love, who, like her grandpa, seems to always know what she needs. It is a warm and heartfelt story that immediately pulls you in. It is rich in feeling and emotion. Indeed, I found myself shedding a few tears in this one. The writers do a great job developing all this thru some engaging dialogue and, of course, there is a magical twist to the story. The acting in this one is brilliant. Deloach, a Hallmark regular, had a very convincing performance, quite impressive. Her performance engaged me; I could feel the emotion, her emotion on-screen. Haydn-Jones too was quite good. He had this warm and supportive vibe to his performance, which I found appealing. The chemistry between the two was lovely to watch as well. It felt easy and natural. All in all, 'Five More Minutes' is a beautiful Christmas movie, a nice new edition to Hallmark's Miracles of Christmas movie line-up. I highly recommend it.

Hallmark movies come and go. I love them, but generally would give a 6-8 rating. This one gets a 9. It's a sweet story (aren't they all?), but the actors are all good, the plot a step above and the ending brought me to tears. Reminds me of the old Hallmark Hall of Fame movies of long ago. It's good enough to DVR and save. I think even the Hallmark Christmas movie haters will enjoy this one!

This film has to be one of Hallmarks best.

The story, the casting, everything is perfect !!

Nikki DeLoach & David Haydn-Jones were exceptional. They brought the story, spirit and emotions right to the forefront. I don't think I have ever watched a film that has hit home like this one did and on an such an emotional level, it was Truly Beautiful xx Although it's a Christmas film, it doesn't follow the normal generic formula that you tend to see in a lot of Christmas films.

Which was refreshing and made for a fantastic new Hallmark Christmas movie.

This is one that has absolutely made it to my list of top Christmas films.

Nikki DeLoach is a Hallmark Queen, she is so fabulous in everything #Queen David Haydn-Jones, omg... loved him, loved him, loved him, someone sign him up for more films tv/etc cause he's a bloody gem !!

Thank you to whoever did the casting, as you really nailed it with this one xx.

I have never cried so much at a film in my life but this one hit me at every level , and to my grandad I really do wish we had five more minutes !! Xx.

To me it is the best Christmas movie I have seen. Flaws and all didn't matter. The message was the star. It was warm and wonderful and made me cry. Losing a loved one and being given 5 More Minutes is something a lot of us wish for. Thank you to Hallmark. Linda.

In my opinion, Nikki DeLoach is Hallmark's best actor. Her movies aren't the fluffy ones that are stereotypical romance movies.

This movie has echoes of other movies. A beloved deceased relative leaves evidence behind of a first love before marrying the spouse that all the family knew. There's a beloved family store. This one isn't going bankrupt, but it's gotten disorganized. Widowed mom meets someone. The leading lady has a boyfriend and there was an aborted proposal at the beginning. Then back at her hometown she runs into an old flame that didn't end well when they were young.

But there's more to this movie. The title refers to Clara's expressed wish for 5 more minutes with her late Grandfather. That theme isn't a casual one. But saying more is definite spoilers.

There is a major twist with subtle clues foreshadowing it. I was very lucky to spot the clues and interpret them from the first.

Very nice ending. Sappy, but I love sappy.