Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas

I watch "The Voice" and I find Blake Shelton to be the funniest part of that show. When I heard that he and his mother were responsible for this Hallmark holiday film, I made a point of checking it out. I was not disappointed.

If you are a fan of Hallmark films, this one will seem fairly conventional in the early going. A young woman (Holland Roden) confronts difficult feelings every Christmas, due to past events. This holiday is different, because she becomes involved in a search to solve a romantic mystery. She is assisted by an old friend (Tyler Hynes) who had dropped out of her life years ago.

Together they go on a quest that causes old feelings to re-emerge. But there is more to this story, which is actually a tale of two relationships. Stick around for the final act, because it delivers a narrative surprise and packs an emotional wallop.

The entire cast is good, but Holland Roden has the meatiest role and is the emotional linchpin of the story. She displays a range of emotions and convincingly anchors the complicated but enjoyable storyline.

This role is much more dramatic than the Three brothers movie.

Holland Roden is excellent as the woman who receives a heartfelt message in her voicemail that is actually meant for someone else, so she decides to track down the recipient.

Roden looks so familiar, but I don't recognize anything in her bio. Maybe a commercial?

She has great chemistry with Hynes, and they both show some fine dramatic acting chops. There is also time for some funny moments as well, which is what he is mote known for.

I would be remiss not to mention the performance by Steve Bacic. He is usually the smarmy guy you don't want to see the leading lady end up with.

Here he shows he can handle a dramatic role with skill.

They play the same song at the end as Time for ME to come home. I still hate that song, but this is an excellent movie, and I recommend it highly.

Tyler Hynes delivered a funny and quirky character last week in Three Wise Men and then delivered us a heartfelt, deeper character with more emotion tonight in Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas. This is my favorite movie from the Time to Come Home series. Tyler and Holland Roden had a fantastic chemistry. This was my first time seeing Holland and I was impressed with her talent and depth. Tyler and Holland brought out the best in each other onscreen. I also loved seeing Steve Bacic in the movie. His storyline weaved very nicely with Tyler/Holland storyline. The movie ending was beautifully done for all of the characters-and the lovely music throughout the movie was a nice touch. TFHTCHFC was a good cry type of movie that delivered a heartwarming and happy ending!

This past year, Hallmark movies have been very disappointing. The writers just have not been able to get out of their own way, continually falling back on tired stories and too often used tropes. There were two different stories that were intertwined, both revolving around lost love. Tyler Hynes, a longtime Hallmark leading actor was paired with Holland Roden, an excellent addition to the Hallmark family. Elizabeth (Roden) receives a voicemail that was intended for Madelyn (Meghan Gardiner), which was from Madelyn's former boyfriend, Carter (Steve Bacic). Elizabeth teams up with longtime friend Josh (Hynes) to try to find Madelyn. The acting was excellent and the way the writers tied together the two stories kept my interest throughout.

I love this Blake Shelton franchise and rewatch most of the entries multiple times. This entry may be the best, but then I love some good sap.

Two mysterious backstories keep the viewer guessing. Elizabeth is on a quest to find the man who leaves a wrong number voicemail. This movie does two unusual things. First we get to see that man and some of his backstory as well as the woman he really left the message for in various scenes throughout the movie. Second, in Elizabeth's story, the traditional overheard conversation which usually creates the ending conflict occurs at the start as part of the backstory.

The acting is good. The dialogue is good. The pace is good. There is a nice twist. And there is Kleenex, I mean on my end. I have to give credit to Holland Roden, as Elizabeth, who has chemistry with Tyler Hynes because Roden is virtually ignored on the acting credits page of IMDb as of this writing.

There is a somewhat anticlimactic performance of It's Christmas by Tenille Townes after the story arcs are all but concluded. And earlier the origins of that song appear to have some revision from what we learned in the original movie.