Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion

I didn't expect much of this four part Christmas series as most of the Christmas stories are bland but I figured I would give it a chance. I didn't like the first one, skipped the second one, liked the actors in the third one and got to the final of the four. Much has been noted that the idea of a gift wrapping business supporting four women is a stretch but it's Hallmark. What annoyed me with this installment is that it is a weak copy of an older Hallmark movie The Christmas Cottage, a much superior story. If you get the chance and Hallmark runs the Christmas Cottage again watch it and compare and contrast to see a much better movie.

Hallmark should really be careful with the use of AI to write its scripts. This one was terrible.

No chemistry, no humor, barely any holiday mood and (even) more predictable than usual. The actor tried his best and showed some charm; the actress was a disaster virtually expressionless and a negative attitude most of the time.

Not worth watching.

Like other reviewers, I didn't see the chemistry between the two leads. But what bothered me the most was the casting of the mother and father of an actor who is in reality 38 years old. Neither actor who played mom or dad lists their age on IMDB, but it's a stretch to imagine either the son as a 20-something, or Susan Haman and Scott Gibson as age-appropriate to portray his parents.

Scott did a great job in a kind of thankless role as the spurned boyfriend in 2016's "A Very Merry Mix-Up." To see him eight years later playing this kind of role is crazy... older brother, maybe. Not Dad. Hallmark needs to use their 40ish actors (male and female) in roles that reflect their age and experience. The real actors have spouses and kids... stop having their characters act as if they've never been in love or had real life experience. Or use real 20-something actors for these kinds of roles.

Gift-wrapping shop owner Olivia (Cindy Busby) has to make a delivery an hour away. When she arrives at the customer's residence, she is surprised to see her ex-boyfriend Ben (Jake Epstein) there. Olivia and Ben, who have not seen each other in years, argue about their break-up. Olivia starts to drive back home, only to find that a sudden snowstorm has closed the road. She is forced to return to Ben's family's cabin. The two are not happy about the situation, and Olivia is further stressed because she will not be able to help run her shop or prepare for the upcoming Christmas gala. Olivia and Ben continue to bicker. However, as the storm gets worse, they remain stuck and have to work together to make it through. Meanwhile, their old feelings for each other start to resurface.

I love the snow in this one, seems like Hallmark has found a snow filter for the camera. Actual snowing, instead of just snow (foam) on the ground makes a big difference. Added to that some great set decorations and this definitely put me in the mood.

However, I did not feel an ounce of chemistry between the two leads. Even when they kissed I felt nothing. Nevertheless it was a very formulaic film that was pleasant to watch and made me think of christmas so i that way it succeeded. I gave it a 5.

I had just sat through the 2024 movie "Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle" which proved to be a surprisingly enjoyable movie, and thus I opted to carry on and watch the 2024 movie "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion", hoping it would be as enjoyable.

However, I have to say that it wasn't. Nay, "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion" was a rather generic and bland viewing experience. Writer T. Booker James just didn't manage to pen down a particularly enjoyable script. Sure, if you gobble up all these sappy Christmas movies, you might disagree with me, but if you're looking for a movie with more than straight-out-of-the-how-to-make-a-sappy-Christmas-movie-guidebook, then "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion" just didn't cut it.

Sure, it was nice to see some of the cast from "Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle" in the movie as well, making them intertwined. The acting performances in "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion" were fair, despite the fact that the script wasn't my cup of eggnog.

This is definitely not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time, as it was boring enough the first time around.

My rating of director Max McGuire's 2024 movie "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion" lands on a four out of ten stars.