Holly and the Hot Chocolate

The folks panning this movie's story and dialog have completely missed the point. The film skewers the Hallmark style while at the same time celebrating it. The story is so obviously contrived as to stuff as many Hallmark tropes into one movie while subverting them in all the best ways. There are so many bad puns delivered with both straight face and tongue firmly planted in cheek. My wife and I laughed out loud at the tow truck owner's deliberately clueless business name as well the mayor saying "This is my favorite part of the movie!" The people involved in making this understood exactly what they were doing and seemed to have fun doing it.

This story was dreamed up by Mr. QVC himself, David Venable, and he has a role in it, as well. I don't watch Hallmark movies because they all basically have the same plot. This short story (it's only a little over an hour) is very similar to them. It's a cute story, and I think it could have been better if it was longer. There was really not enough time to move the plot sufficiently. I will say that the one thing that was a true negative to me was the mayor character. The acting was bad, the character obnoxious, and the writing for it was poor. I was so surprised at how terrible that character was. The main actors were fine, and like I said, the story was cute. We love David in our house and think he's really a lovely person which is why we watched. I'm editing to add, I strongly disagree that it was the intent to poke fun at Hallmark movies. If you've listened to all DV has said about this movie and what it's meant to him, I find it hard to believe this was a knock on Hallmark. JMHO.

First off...this movie is hilarious. So many quotable moments. My wife and I both said it was the funniest romcom we'd ever seen.

The cast was perfect and somehow they each had great comedic timing. The acting was great. The script was great.

I'm seriously bummed this little flick hasn't gotten more love.

The plotline itself is also pretty good. But it truly is the cast and script which sold it. I can't remember when I've laughed more. And via a seemingly random one hour long indie low budget romcom.

This is my 45th written review on IMDB and I've never felt stronger about recommending a film.

Way better than Hallmark holiday movies, which all start to seem exactly the same. Humorous nod to the Hallmark type holiday films. Totally doesn't take itself too seriously. Pine Falls is a cute little town that isn't too picture perfect. The town really gets into Christmas: the 'Christmas Dog', 'Christmas Ketchup', and 'Christmas Mustard'! I love Holly's review of the Christmas dog. Holly's boyfriend is a huge jerk which is probably realistic because Holly is so darn nice. The mayor is a hoot! They kind of turned 'Hallmark' on its head. Totally meant to be tongue in cheek without being overdone. Just a fun holiday romance that seems way more realistic and funny! I loved it! Hope they can do more of these.

I've always loved QVC. I don't know what it is, but I find it comforting to listen to in the background, and David Venable is my all-time favorite QVC "character," so of course I was going to watch this movie. And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. This was a very funny movie, in a way that makes it almost a parody of a Hallmark movie, and it really worked! The acting from the two main characters was good, as were the daughter and the mother. I also thought the mayor was very funny (yes he was over-the-top, but it was on purpose). David has a few lines and only appears inside the hot chocolate stand, but it was nice to see him. He was credited as having created the story & I think he did well. This movie was very cute and fun, and I would watch this one again next year!