Tout ce que je veux pour Noël... C'est toi!

I can't think of a movie with Kristoffer Polaha that was a dud until now. I loved Holly and Ivy which was the first time I saw Marisol Nichols so I wanted her to do well.

The story is extremely simple and basically a vehicle for a lot of humorous gags. I didn't find enough of them funny so I think this will be a movie that appeals to people who like that style of humor and leave other people like me wanting more. The story is totally predictable. Once you know the setup, it's easy to lay out what the outline for the rest of the movie is going to be. One slight exception is a side romance that totally lacked development and then bingo at the end, it's there. There are a lot of the usual Christmas activities that are so often crammed into these movies.

As for romance there's no chemistry. It was like two actors doing their parts alone or to a blank wall. The plot points were there for restoring the romance, but they made no sense because of the missing connection. It didn't help that Robby had a 180 degree personality change which wasn't really developed. It just happened. And Marisol Nichols, as Becca, lacked any emotional response to those efforts.

There are a couple of scenes which involve alcohol in ways that I think detracts from this being a family movie, but then I also think the subject and humor were probably above the level of children.

Amy Groening, who played Kayla, a divorced pet portrait artist, was the best thing about this movie. She's such a bright, bubbly, attractive actress. I wish they'd put her in a lead role. I didn't really buy her friends to lover storyline (they didn't really seem like a match) but I suppose when you live in a town with only 513 people (per the Welcome to Gracious sign) there aren't a lot of options. That same limited population would seem to be challenging for her business model but hey, it's Hallmark.

I wanted to start with something positive because I really like Kristoffer Polaha and Marisol Nichols. I can't remember seeing a bad Polaha starring movie (Dickens of a Christmas was great) and Nichols was effective in the Holly and Ivy tearjerker (although I hated Christmas CEO). But this movie was a bit of a downer for me and not really that enjoyable to watch. And there were a number of things that were just off about it.

For example, the therapist played by Hallmark vet Pascale Hutton, really didn't give this couple any good advice. She cleverly noticed that they weren't "connecting" (great insight) but the best she could do to help them out was to tell them to go out of town on a vacation? They need a new therapist.

There were also quite a few extreme close ups that seemed awkward.

Separate bedrooms? Ugh. Why bother leaving town? It's bad enough that unmarried Hallmark couples never have sex but this married couple really needed to share a bed.

Why didn't they call a company like Safelight? They had nearby branches and could have had that windshield fixed in one day. They fixed mine in a couple of hours.

There's evidence that suggests the dangerous outside ornament was being purposefully dropped on cars. If so, that's messed up.

Why yell and whistle at your dog on a parade float? Do you want him to jump off?

Polaha's character really seemed like a guy willing to try and make the marriage work, but Nichol's character seemed Hell bent for divorce (blame the writer and director, not Nichols). It was all tied up neatly but, like I said earlier, these guys really need a new therapist.

There was one beautiful scene though- the one where they're in town in a large gazebo like structure that was all lit up with no one in there but them. That was lovely.

'We Wish You a Married Christmas' (2022)

Opening thoughts: My frequent Christmas film viewings (or at least those from Hallmark and Lifetime) have been something of a mixed bag over the past four or five years, with plenty of good films, many average ones and many bad ones. The premise was one of those could have gone either way ones, but still watched 'We Wish You a Married Christmas' anyway because of liking Kristoffer Polaha.

While he doesn't come over shabbily at all, 'We Wish You a Married Christmas' didn't work for me. The 2022 Countdown to Christmas batcb actually did start off promisingly, but with this film comes the first misfire of the batch. It is not terrible or one of the worst Countdown to Christmas films from 2022, but pretty lacklustre.

Good things: Of course there are a few good things. Marisol Nicholls and especially Polaha give very game and committed performances.

Also found the dog absolutely adorable and the decor and scenery are colourful and nostalgic.

Bad things: Sadly there are a number of drawbacks. Would not have minded the excessive predictability, as a result of exexuting the premise too conventionally, if the film was still at least interesting and had some charm. The story however was very thin with a very dull and over-stretched middle act. Too much of the conflict felt forced. The script is too often stilted and has toi much emphasis on the hostility and everybody being annoyed with each other and it came over as mean spirited and took away any possible charm. Meaning that the film felt pedestrian, too heavy and with very little emotion.

Didn't care for any of the characters. None of the supporting cast stand out and inject very little passion or enthusiasm, a big part of why the humour fell flat. The characters are too much like typical Hallmark cliches with nothing new and there is nothing really likeable or rootable. The two leads did lack chemistry and the constant getting annoyed and hostily meant that the love never convinced. The music is forgettable at best and there is an over reliance on unfocused close ups that cheapens the film's look.

Closing thoughts: Overall, didn't do much for me.

4/10.

We Wish You A Married Christmas (2022) -

I really liked the idea of the two leads as a struggling couple to start with, just for a change. It wasn't a case of finding old love or new love, but finding a way to make their existing love succeed. It meant that things would only get better for them and it showed that sometimes a relationship can be worth fighting for and that all it would take was just a moment away to see things clearly.

Having said that - I know that I'm a man and obviously likely to say this; but she was definitely the larger problem in the marriage, because he was obviously quite happy to keep trying, whereas she put up obstacles. It does get frustrating in these films how they always make the women out to be the drama queens, because we all know that it's the men who don't tend to talk about their feelings of express why they're upset and can cause just as much drama as any woman and sometimes more.

While I did like Kristoffer Polaha, he was handsome even if he did walk a bit like Lurch annd I could appreciate Marisol Nichols in her role, the two leading players couldn't make up for the poor execution of the story and the concept. So a lot of the incidental elements like the really special townsfolk and the incredibly fake snow added to whet became quite silly in places and also some bits that were really quite hard to believe.

Kris and Marisol seemed to be the only sane people in a whirlwind of stupid, which was a shame, because, as stated above, the change of formula was refreshing and appealing until the daft really started to grate. A little bit more thought and polish could have worked wonders on this story.

5.25/10.

I love both Kristoffer Polaha and Marisol Nichols, which is why it pains me to say that this was not my favorite Hallmark Holiday film. The juxtaposition of a couple on the verge of divorce and the overly cheery backdrop of a Christmas inn in a small town who goes over the top in their Christmas decorations, lead to some awkward if not painful moments.

The decorations where great, the holiday festivities were great...the alpacas (or llamas) where great. I just had difficulty dealing with the real down topic of this divorcing couple. I am not divorced myself, but I can't imagine if I was, that I would want to watch a struggling couple during the holidays.

I was really looking forward to this film as it did have two great leads...and I think the advertisements falsely played up the humor in the film. It's possible that the film was more of a let down because of that.

Good holiday fix and if you don't mind the sad storyline, this could be for you.