Contrary to some reviews, I enjoyed 'A Christmas Together with You'. Sure, it's not one of Hallmark's best this season. But this warm and sweet story, with its leisurely pace, is lovely to watch on screen nonetheless. Our two protagonists are Megan (played by Laura Vandervoort), a café owner whose fiancé broke off their engagement some months back, and Frank (played by Harry Lennix), Megan's favorite customer and good friend who carries around a photo of Claire (played by Liza Huget), his first love from 50 years ago. Frank, a recent widower, discovered the photo while rummaging through his garage for Christmas lights. At the café, Megan sees Frank's photo, and he tells her the story about his first love. Megan soon discovers the whereabouts of Claire online. She then convinces Frank to go on a road trip to find Claire. And so our story begins as these two go searching for love. And who knows what they might find along the way? As I alluded to above, the story has a warm and gentle vibe to it, which pulled me in. The writers also do a good job of developing the main storyline around Frank and Claire, creating a nice touch of suspense and mystery, which I enjoyed. Indeed, I might have even shed a tear or two towards the end of the film. Naturally, given that we are talking about an 84-minute movie, the storyline around Megan and Steve (played by Niall Matter) never really materialized on-screen. As a result, it felt rushed; the ending never really landed. The acting in this one was excellent. Vandervoort and Lennix's performances were brilliant. Their dialogue and scenes together, in particular, felt authentic, felt real. That is, I found it easy to connect with their performances, they pulled me in, as it were. The chemistry between the two couples was strong, though, as noted above, Vandervoort and Matter could have used some more screen time together. Finally, the Christmas vibe in this one was much more low-key than other Hallmark movies. Though the scenery, props, and sets were festive, and there was a Winter Wonderland festival (with a Christmas version of hot potato), there were very few classic Christmas filler scenes in this one (which for some, I suspect, is a plus). All in all, 'A Christmas Together with You' is a warm and heartfelt movie with some wonderful performances. Many fans of Hallmark will no doubt enjoy it.
