À la recherche de la magie de Noël

This is a Hallmark Christmas Movie. It's this time of the year that I come to Hallmark to get out of the "Real World" and stick my head in the Christmas Sand.

The formula is basically the same with each film but THAT IS WHY WE WATCH THESE !!! They make us feel good at Christmas.

There are about 6 or 7 Actors that I'll watch the Christmas Movie without knowing what it is about. In particular, Paul Campbell is one. I used to look for the new Christmas Movies to watch by the current year first. Now I look by Actor's Name AND the current year hoping they've made a new one!

After last year's "THREE WISE MEN AND A BABY", he stuck out. That film is a Hallmark all-time Fave and you don't need to be a Hallmark Fan to love that one.

So when I read negative reviews, I can't help but think "why are you here?". You are getting exactly why you turn on these holiday films to begin with.

No doubt that some ARE better than others and I am a huge Hallmark Movie Fan. I watch with my cuz and we came up with our own Rating System as follows: Fair (7) Cute & Good (8), Very ROMANTIC (9), BIG Feel Good movie that makes us CRY & a Fave (10).

There have been a couple of them that I have stopped watching for 30 minutes bc they have not captured and kept my attention. We warn each other not to bother. They NEVER star one of the big Hallmark Stars.

THIS MOVIE WAS CUTE & GOOD...hardly a flop by any means.

For me the premise seems common with several others and the story doesn't really stand out. There are no great highs or lows or surprises.

What does stand slightly apart is Paul Campbell. He is not your soft cuddly leading man. "Prickly". Yes that describes Harrington and Campbell fits the part. So the relationship with Lyndie Greenwood's April is not quite typical. It is in some ways, but a little more complicated. The biggest difference is that the antagonism lasts throughout much of the movie. For a while it gets suppressed and things look good. The conflict that all romance stories need comes not so much from secrets or misunderstandings as from the character himself.

I found the movie a little slow at times. Or maybe I should say deliberate. There is a place for that, but in this case, it didn't work for me personally. When the movie's story doesn't have any big hooks for me, I look to the relationship. In fact, in this genre, the relationship is always important. Because of the things I describe above, I didn't get invested in the relationship. Did I really want this for April?

BTW pet peeve: no texts, but at least two significant handwritten notes are too small and too quick to read for anyone without great eyes or without pausing. Why is this fault so common?

The movie was rather slow moving. But it was your typical Hallmark Christmas romance film so that's to be expected.

Most of the acting was average-Except the woman who played April. She was very good. It never felt like she was "acting."

Once again, there is a Hallmark movie in a small town with some Christmas festival going on. I don't know why they came up. Can't come up with better plot lines.

And it sure was slow moving. I wished I could fast forward.

It had your typical sappy ending. All is well with the world in a Hallmark movie. The drama from the conflict is insignificant in these movies. But it doesn't matter. This is like drinking a cup of hot cocoa in a small town in December. Soothing, comfortable, and basically unimportant.

After Campbell's hilarious Three Wise Men an a Baby I had high expectations on a fun quick-witted flick. The movie was unfortunately low on the comedy, higher on tropes.

The premise was slightly different than normally in Hallmark Christmas films, with the prickly novelist and the competent (and not bungling) PR person. This should've translated in more sparkly banter than there was.

Lyndie Greenwood's female lead was radiant, but Paul Campbell's character felt a bit bland in comparison: sympathetic, but not with the same energy levels. I couldn't really picture those two as a couple.

It was a pity that the novel they talked about sounded much more exciting than this movie.

Full disclosure, I was hoping for a comedy since this film stars Paul Campbell (Three Wisemen and a Baby). The dude also wrote Unexpected Christmas, a classic. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Paul plays Harrington, an author who wrote a series of Christmas novels focused on his hometown of (you'll never guess) Mistletoe. He posts a scrooge-like message online and is on the verge of being cancelled until his publisher's PR rep shows up to save him; wow him; spend time with him; hand him pens; decorate in ways he hates; slow the story down; meet people who already know him; accompany him to sparsely attended events. OK, all of these things. This film is incredibly uneven. Harrington seemed to learn his lesson in minute 36 or so, when my movie-watching buddy turned to me and asked if the movie was already over. Sorry, there was 1.5 hours of bland mushiness, and mild life-lessons remaining.