To All a Good Night

I love the HMM Miracles of Christmas movies that tug on your heartstrings. This did that, but not as much as some. If doing that was the only good thing about this movie it would be good but not great.

What made this movie was all the little things, especially the little gags and jokes. By the way, I'm a dad and I love dad jokes. Mine are so bad I started calling them granddad jokes. There are a few dad jokes at the end which aren't as bad as they could be. But so many other things. The dog thief was great. Restoring the stolen items was often great. The funny things were not earth shattering funny, but they were good and all through the movie. So often the funny stuff will be only at the beginning, or the beginning and end.

There is a romance too. Unlike a lot of the movies that pull the heartstrings over one theme, the romance wasn't shortchanged in this one. But the sentimental story was still there.

Kimberley Sustad! What can I say? I think I thought the same thing with her Christmas movie last year. She has good comedic timing. She had great chemistry with Mark Ghanimé. Other actors were good too although Karen Kruper's Vivian was just a little bit too harsh in the beginning.

There were little mysteries stretched throughout the movie and some surprises. Not big ones, but just enough. I did know what Vivian was going to say before she said it, but then I think the way she worked up to it was my clue.

I'm not sure the last scene didn't steal from the super impressive shot just before it. Wow! Gorgeous! Wish I'd watched it in HD.

This Hallmark holiday film was a little different than the usual formula. It had an unconventional male lead, who was mysterious, supportive, funny and giving. It had an adorable dog who was the thief of Harmony Bay, which worked into an ongoing gag. It had a female lead who was grieving the loss of her father, but open to healing and help.

It still had the loving, small town community and it had a gorgeous backdrop that looked exactly like my backyard growing up (it came as no surprise that it was film on Victoria Island...which you literally can look across the Salish Sea and see from my Fidalgo Island backyard).

Great supporting cast and a demonic bongo Santa. The dialog was wonderfully written...jokes, romantic stories, military support, and the concept of sharing something beautiful with the community that you love.

Ceci and Sam are a match made in heaven. Their meeting over a motorcycle accident and her first aid and conversation...and his proposal were great.

This is one for the romantics. The story was funny and romantic. I highly recommend it to romantics like me. Kimberley Sustad (Ceci) and newcomer Mark Ghanimé (Sam) had wonderful chemistry. I liked the multiple stories within this storyline and I really appreciated that they didn't make Vivian a villain.

This was a lovely movie with many touching scenes and a sweet story of two people, both grieving, but finding each other. I appreciated the portrayal of grief done is a way that we can all relate to, especially at Christmas when we feel it more deeply. I love Kimberly and would watch any movie she is in. I particularly enjoyed her movies with Paul Campbell. I have not seen Mark in much but he was very good in this role. The beautiful scenery in and around Oak Bay (part of Victoria) adds to the story. I I chuckled at "Sally's" as I have been to that cafe. I don't remember the Christmas burgers but it does have great food and beautiful views. The ending had me in tears, as we see these two people find their way back to love and each other. Very well done. Definitely worth a watch.

This has to be one of the best Hallmark movies they have presented in a long time.

The story line is original and fun with moments that touch the heart in the ways that Hallmark did long ago.

Sadly, over the years it seems like Hallmark has tried to put out too many movies during the holidays and they've become to formulaic and boring. Despite this year being another year of too many movies, this one actually has a beautiful story. The connections within the community and how one individual could touch so many lives even after he is gone is beautifully done.

This story also has some great actors. The actors and actresses did a fantastic job. The characters are easy to connect with as well as the fun fur friend keeping them on their toes. I also loved the inclusion of the deaf husband and minor bit of ASL, wish there had been a touch more of that, but it's still progress.

Well done!

Ceci Carmichael (Kimberley Sustad) is a photographer for her small town newspaper. She recently lost her father and cancels a local Christmas tradition called Good Night. She comes to the aid of motorcyclist Sam Calloway (Mark Ghanimé) who crashes in the woods. Right before passing out, he asks her to marry him.

I really like the elephant necklace premise. I like a lot of that back and forth and its eventual resolution. I don't really like that he keeps his land development idea a secret. He could simply tell her that he's not buying her land and she would not believe him. That's a lot cuter and reasonable. I would like for her to read the letter. It would jumble the ending around a little, but I think it improve it. This is a movie filled with only nice people and that's a nice fit for Christmas.