Operation Mistletoe

Another cute Hallmark Christmas story! The only problem for me with this one is the lead actress (Lilley) who sounds like a chipmunk she talks so fast like she"# rushing through her lines! The scenes where she is wearing headphones, a cacophony of loud drum beats seems to be her choice of holiday music!

Grace has the opportunity to land a huge project for her interior design firm, but it comes with strings - she must reconnect with her childhood crush, Ryan, who's back in town sorting out his mother's estate. Everyone, naturally, tries to convince them they're destined for one another.

I'm convinced this studio has three bags filled with scraps of paper: one for actors, one for plots, and one for female job titles. Among the actors would be Nick Bateman, among the job titles "interior designer," and they just draw one from each bag and call it a film. These tropes are repeated more often than Only Fools and Horses on UK Gold.

She's an interior designer, he's back in town, she has glossy lips, he looks like a catalogue model. They don't hit it off but obviously fall in love because of the magic of Christmas. The whole thing is agonising.

All Canadian entertainment should come with a hazard warning. If they truly think this is what Christmas is about, someone's definitely been at the eggnog.

I also refuse to believe anyone in this universe orders hot chocolate. It would be an extra-skinny soya chai latte with dairy-free whip, minimum.

Grace is horrid, stringing along poor Quinn - granted, he's dull as dishwater - and the Mayor should be behind bars for blackmail, forcing Grace into whatever suits her festive agenda.

Yes, there are bows on kitchen cupboards, 55,000 Christmas lights, heart-warming piano music, and more plaid and soft woolly blankets than a national emergency requires. Not a cushion out of place, cookies produced on cue. If you've ever wondered what life is like for those painted figures trapped inside a Christmas snow globe, this is it: forced to live and love the perfect, meaningful Christmas... *rolls eyes.*

All the sincerity of a set of teeth from Turkey.

3/10.

We watched the first 15 minutes hoping that the volume of the music would reduce. We couldn't even hear the dialogue because of the volume of the music. Then for a few minutes, the music went away while someone was on the phone. Then the scene went back to the small town and the music returned, as loud as before.

So unless a person is willing to read closed captions, it isn't possible to watch the movie, not being able to hear what the main characters are saying.

It looked like the kind of movie that I really enjoy so I hope eventually the music can be corrected. It was a premiere show on CW station so I surprised at this problem.

Aside from some recent efforts of GAC Family, Jen Lilley has always delivered reliable performances in Christmas movies for Hallmark.

I was going to steer clear of this one, thinking it was a GAC movie, where production values are generally a few levels below Lifetime and Hallmark...but this is a Hulu product, from Brad Krevoy, whose movies are generally pretty good, so I figured I'd give it a go.

"Operation Mistletoe" is just fine. It's not destined to be a classic of the genre, and isn't as good as many of the 2024 raft of holiday movies released, but it's a pleasant way to pass ninety or so minutes.

Lilley is good, and her opposite number Nick Bateman has his moments, too. Nice sets, too.

The other reviews below give you the storyline. As always with these HM/GAF productions, the stories come out of a box with about 6 different templates (either with a Christmas theme or not) and are repeated each production year. I have learned to expect nothing riveting.....I usually fast forward through about half the scenes because I easily recognize these as not advancing the plot whatsoever.

As the other reviews also point out, Nick Bateman's hair stylist must be a 12 year old skateboarder. The storyline that he is a mid-30s successful money manager with that weird comb-down hair is utterly laughable. It would not inspire the necessary confidence to secure any clientele. The scripting does him no favor either. If you are supposed to be playing a successful NYC money guy, you are not going to allow a small town realtor to appear to be your equal...nor are you going to be shy and hesitant around a woman you have crushed on for 15 years.

While I have seen Jen Lilley display a good acting range in rare other movies, here she is again relegated to a role of giggly sweetness. Combine that with her child-like face and it is hard to view her as an adult woman romance protagonist.