The Angel Tree

The premise of this Christmas themed film is when a writer named Rebecca McBride (Jill Wagner) returns to her childhood hometown some twenty (20) years later after she writes about a childhood memory of a magical Christmas tree that grants wishes and they come true. Rebecca's boss agrees to let her return to her childhood home town to investigate and capture the follow up story as to who is the person responsible for the Angel tree and granting all these mysterious wishes.

Rebecca and her daughter Cassie (Cassidy Nugent) are welcomed to stay with Rebecca's favorite Aunt Mimi (Annabel Kershaw) while they are in town and it also gives Rebecca an opportunity to catch up with her childhood friend Matthew Anderson (Lucas Bryant). Matthew still owns the family diner in town which the family almost lost twenty (20) years ago until Rebecca convinced her young friend Matthew to write down his own Christmas wish and place it on the Angel tree to see if it comes true. Miraculously Matthew's wish placed on the Angel tree does come true as evidenced by Matthew now as an adult inheriting the diner from his deceased parents.

As Rebecca continues to try and discover who is responsible for taking the many wishes placed on the Angel tree and making them come true, she is constantly reminded by many of the townspeople who have benefitted from the Angel tree, but no one can tell her, or at least they choose not to tell Rebecca WHO is the person responsible for granting all the wishes placed on the towns Angel tree.

Mrs. Shullivan enjoyed the film so much she watched it twice. As for myself, it's a nice story with a good message which is for people to always consider helping out others who are in greater need than ourselves, in a "Pay It Forward" Christmas way. There is a feeling of hope, mystery, faith and of course romance all wrapped up in a big red bow on the Angel Tree. I give it a 6 out of 10 IMDB rating.

7/10 - touching story of community is one of Hallmark's better 2020 offerings

This is the typical Hallmark Christmas movie script about a small town community where everybody is doing something good for someone or for others -- which doesn't really happen -- but it's why we watch. Jill Wagner is great in this movie and it's one of the best titles to watch of 2020.

Another classic Hallmark movie: a sweet and warm Christmas story with a solid script; strong performances by the leads; and plenty of Christmas spirit and festive cheer. One of my favorites thus far this season. The chemistry between Jill Wagner (as Rebecca) and Lucas Bryant (as Matthew) was excellent. There was some very good, convincing interaction between the two of them thru-out. For example, about 30 minutes into the film, there was the scene where they were walking down the street together; the banter and dialogue (and chemistry) here was great. Wagner, a Hallmark regular, performs great in these types of roles. The supporting cast was very good too. Cassidy Nugent (as Cassie), for example, had a cute performance. The story itself is a heartfelt one and provided a sense of Christmas spirit (it did for me, at least). It is a predictable story of course but engaging, nevertheless. Though to be fair, I did not know who Angel was until the end. Regarding the wish tree, I do think that writers could have done a bit more with the wishes (some more, e.g., nobler wishes). Overall, it is an entertaining Christmas movie, providing some holiday warmth, spirit, and festive cheer. Fans of Hallmark will not be disappointed.

I absolutely love both Jill Wagner and Lucas Bryant and they didn't disappoint.

Jill Wagner plays Rebecca, a writer who writes an article about The Angel Tree from her old home town where a mysterious and anonymous benefactor grants the wishes left on the Angel Tree every year at Christmas. Rebecca's editor bribed her in to trying to find out who the benefactor is and write an article about them...promising that she can write more of the articles that she wants to write about real people if she does. Challenge accepted! Rebecca packs up her daughter (she is a widower) and goes back to her old home town for the first time ever and stays with her aunt. On the first day she runs in to her old best friend, Matthew, who is running his parents diner and doing a coffee roasting business on the side. The two fall back in to an instant affection...they have great chemistry, and are immediately set up on opposing sides as Matthew wants to help keep Angel anonymous. His nephew however joins Rebecca and her daughter on the hunt to solve the Angel mystery.

One interesting wrinkle, Rebecca's article attracts outsiders and the number of wishes appearing on the Angel Tree more than doubles. Rebecca realizes it is more than one person can handle.

"People, in general, just want to believe in something good at Christmas. You know and if you want to call that magic, then yeah they want to believe in magic. And now because of me it is just going to be a big disappointment...unless..."-Rebecca.

Rebecca doesn't want anyone to be disappointed like she was all those years ago when Matthew's wish to save the diner came true, but her wish to stay in town did not, so along with Matthew and quite a few other town members...they start working on granting the wishes.

This was a delightful film that is exactly what Christmas should be about...helping others. I smiled, I laughed, I cried and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thank you, Hallmark!

Jill and Lucas are the best, I hope there are more opportunities to see these two.

"I know she wants to know your name...but maybe things won't be the same."-Matthew

The impromptu and unique song was the icing and cherry on top of this delicious holiday treat.