Scouting for Christmas

Tamera Mowrey-Housley and Carlo Marks are such a sweet couple on screen. From the first scene that Mowrey-Housely enters the Mr. Bakes A Lot shop and she and Marks lock eyes, there's just such a tenderness between them and the story unfolds like the fun, sweet holiday movie that this is. It's Hallmark, so I was already expecting sometimes silly plots and often outlandish coincidences; but that's what I come to Hallmark movies for. Yeah, there was all of that plus a meany mom scout leader and a hunky ex who suddenly shows up. But Mowrey-Housley and Marks were the main event, no question about it.

Also, I have to say that Audrey Wise Alvarez has such wonderful timing and delivery; she's such a natural. Made the sometimes silly script feel more like the fun romp it was intended to be.

And I appreciate the diversity in this movie, with diversity sometimes missing from rom-coms. Not only are Marks and Mowrey-Housely a mixed race couple, she's also Alvarez's stepmom, and she's a working mom with a busy and successful real estate business. Often these female leads are wedding planners or bloggers or podcasters. It was nice to get a job that a single mom might have. And Mowrey-Housely is believable as a professional.

The only issues I might have with this are the ex, who is very attractive and the actor was good in scenes with the little girl, but he was kind of flat with everyone else. I also thought that Marci House was pretty wasted as the sister.

I loved this film and so appreciated the inclusion of a modern family. Bravo to Hallmark for including diversity and substance! The acting was awesome. Tamera beautifully and seamlessly depicted a busy Mom navigating through life while having an open and loving relationship with her adopted daughter. That, in and of itself, is something to be celebrated. Couple that with the charm of her love interest and the sweetness of her daughter and some good ole Christmas magic made for a great feel good Christmas movie and a perfect start to my holiday. This one is worth watching! I will definitely be watching it again.

Six Stars: Solid. Could be better.

Full disclosure-I was going to skip this one, but I'm glad I didn't. Scouting for Christmas was a charming non-traditional family story. It didn't break new ground but was perfectly enjoyable.

Ten-year-old Brooklyn (Audrey Wise Alvarez) is a Sunny Scout and loves baked goods and the guy who bakes them, Sir Bakes-A-Bunch, William (Carlo Marks). Brooklyn's single mom Angela (Tamera Mowry-Housley), is a busy real estate agent who doesn't like asking for help. She shows up late to things, which is apparently her worst quality as a human. Other than that, she's pretty great.

Brooklyn and Angela enlist Sir Bakes-A-Bunch to audition to be the caterer/goodie table guy for the Sunny Scout holiday ball. The relationship building centers around that story line.

We also meet Dakota (James Paladino) who is Brooklyn's dad, but I'm convinced he is 75% Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper. Look him up, you'll see it too.

The meanie is Den Mom Elizabeth (Jaycie Dotin). She is easy to root against in all things. She's judgy and snooty to a "working" mom who can't possibly be a good mom, work and show up to things on time.

This is set in Washington state. They keep showing images of snowy Seattle. That's not really a thing. We have other cities here, too. Maybe visit Leavenworth if you need a snowy Washington town. Also, nobody here has ever said "tri-state area," if anything they would say, "the Northwest" which covers Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Also, we drink coffee (home of Starbucks), not tea.

Funniest line: When Brooklyn is asked what she wants for Christmas, she replies that she wants her dad to come home and her mom to be fun. Brooklyn's friend replies, "Whoa. That's deep. I want an electric scooter."

Cast Kudos: Brooklyn (Audrey Wise Alvarez). She's a very good child actor who is really the driving force of the whole movie.

Alternative Titles: Those who bake a lot, love a lot; Sunny Scout Ball; A baker for Christmas; Christmas Matchmaker Meritt Badge.

I was looking forward to this as I like both Carlos and Tamera, but was sorely disappointed. Tamera and Carlos could not have been more awkward. This really felt like Tamera Mowry was just going through the motions.. She was not invested in any part of this movie. Not one scene. All her scenes felt awkward and forced, even with her "daughter". The scenes with the daughter and the ex-husband were the only scenes that felt genuine. The end scene at the ball with Carlos and Tamera was as awkward as their first scene and the kiss felt forced. It was so painfully obvious they were not into it or each other - at all. Why are these leads cast if they don't like each other? This was painful to watch and I won't be watching it again. I kept waiting for the awkwardness to fade as the characters got to know each other, but it got worse with each scene. The dialogue was stilted and the leads remained awkward throughout. Hopefully, the rest of the Christmas movies this season are better than this mess, or I won't be watching. I used to love watching Hallmark Christmas, but with stuff like this, the past couple years I've been changing the channel a lot more often then stopping to watch.

7.2 stars.

Somebody tell the main female character to wake up. She does some things to distance herself from all the people around her. The character is obviously self sabotaging as a consequence of overwork and being too busy a single and recently divorced mother of one.

Her daughter is trying to match her with a pastry/bakery shop owner in town. He is a well-known Hallmark staple, you've seen him many times.

Something is off with the interactions. There is chemistry, that's not the issue. It's something about her personality that is offputting. Perhaps that's part of the story, and she portrayed it quite well, a bit too well in fact. It was hard to watch her sarcastic moments, she was very unbecoming.

But in the end, this movie is not bad, it's entertaining enough for at least a one-time viewing. The romance is endearing, I like the characters and it improves over time.

I recommend you give it a try. You might really like it or you might think it's average like me. But I can't imagine this is a dumpster fire by any means.