A Kismet Christmas

This is a combination of two fairly common premises. Sarah is a famous writer (after one book) with writer's block and a tight deadline for the next book. He grandmother has been making magic cookies for years. The magic cookies help people dream of their soul mate. (OK, this one is less common.) Sarah had a crush on Travis, but the older Travis got married to someone else and Sarah never returns to town, until now.

Sarah Ramos presents an appealing Sarah (the character). She and Carlo Marks have quiet chemistry and she also hits it off with Rubi Tupper who plays the Travis' daughter Jasmine. I agree with another reviewer in hoping that Ramos appears often on Hallmark.

The story has no great highs or lows or surprises. The climax is predictable. Dialogue is good and so is acting.

This was a disappointment throughout. Marilu Henner raises the question of the producer's judgment . Hallmark taps some former stars who become distractions due to extreme plastic surgery. Although a talented actress, like others Hallmark chooses, the close ups on the surgically altered facial structure is, at best, unpleasant but at worse, frightening. It is past time to cease and desist from this practice. Besides this, the plodding and unsustainable story line drags on. There were just too many of the cringe moments. One is enough but this seems to be on cringe steroids. A better cast, no "Frankenface" and sharper writing is needed.

This was the story of an author who goes back home to New Britain where we learn in a fit of rage she tore up a special family recipe as a teenager.

She is having trouble writing the next book in her series and her next door neighbor and childhood crush helps her by shutting her up in a cabin with no distractions to write and it works...only the start of their story is they were friends and she baked kismet cookies with her grandmother that are supposed to help you dream of your soulmate...she asked her grandmother for one and she told her no, but she took one anyway. She dreamt of the neighbor and when she ran over to tell him she interrupted his wedding to someone else. In a fit of rage she came home and in front of her grandmother tore up the complicated recipe. (I would have beat her silly!)

When she arrives back in town after all these years the neighbor has a daughter and is divorced?!?!

There are so many things that I didn't like about this film...I love Marilu Henner, who was her usual wonderful self and I enjoyed the idea or legend behind the kismet cookie. The rest I could do without. Not a recommendation from me. Carlo Marks Is also fabulous.

'A Kismet Christmas' (2022)

Opening thoughts: Have for a few years now been on a roll watching as many Hallmark Christmas films as possible. It has generally been an interesting and worthwhile project, while also very inconsistent. 2022's Christmas output is no exception, being as variable as the rest of the seasonal blocks. The story for 'A Kismet Christmas' didn't sound particularly mind blowing, but that wasn't enough to put me off.

The previous two 2022 Countdown to Christmas films 'Noel Next Door' and 'We Wish You a Married Christmas' already saw inconsistency in quality, the former was quite good but the latter underwhelmed. Luckily, 'A Kismet Christmas' (very different to what was expected, was expecting a Christmas story centered around the musical 'Kismet' for some reason) was closer in quality to the former and actually one of the better 2022 Christmas films thus far from Hallmark. Not perfect, but with a lot of good things.

Good things: Those good things will be started off with first. Sarah Ramos and Carlo Marks are engaging and nuanced leads with a subtly quiet yet charming chemistry that didn't feel rushed or aimless. Zesty Marilu Henner steals every scene she's in and Rubi Tupper is charming and sincere in a type of role that easily could have been played too precociously. The characters were interesting and easy to root for and the relationships feel real and honest on the whole.

It is also an attractive film visually, with beautiful scenery and colourful decorations. The music fits at least and is easy on the ears. The story is very charming and moving, not feeling dull.

Bad things: Having said that, it is also very formulaic, doing nothing new with familiar elements, and there is a conflict that is very artificial and lacking in sense. Some may say that thank goodness it didn't feature much, for me for it to have made sense more it did need more time to be fleshed out, it did feel also too rushed and throwaway.

While the script is not as cheesy or schmaltzy as many other Hallmark Christmas films, it is too talky and too much of the talk rambles and not all of it served much point.

Concluding thoughts: Overall though, quite nice.

7/10.

There have been some pretty ridiculous plot lines in Hallmark Christmas movies, but magic cookies might be the new benchmark.

Apparently, if you sleep with the magic cookie under your pillow, you not only won't have a bed full of cookie crumbs and maybe ants, you will dream about your true love. It's Hallmark. We let it go.

Sarah Ramos has great appeal in her role as a writer who has become convinced that the whole thing was a lie when the guy she dreamed of married someone else. I hope she does more of these movies. She's just right for them.

To be honest, I have a very hard time buying Carlo as a leading man. Hallmark is making movies for the other team now, so... Nuff said.

Supporting cast is good, and this movie actually works if you let the plot go.

I'll probably watch this again next year.