A Glenbrooke Christmas

The actors did what they could with the smarmy script. The conflict was dumb and not necessary.

I adore Antonio Cupo and Autumn Reeser together. I got really excited when I saw that the first book of one of my all-time favorite series had been made into a movie. That said, less than 10 minutes in, I saw that they had strayed wildly from the source material except for the name of the town, which was originally in Oregon, and the names of the two main characters.

I decided to keep watching, trying not to compare it to the book and to enjoy it for what it was. I'm having a hard time giving it a fair rating probably because of that.

We'd watched the movie as it came out and thought it so-so, but I'm not sure we really paid that much attention the first time. With the yearly glut of Christmas movies these days, some of them tend to run together.

We'd just watched Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade, which we think is an absolute hoot, and I noticed this film as the same lead actors for the romance, so we decided to give them a second shot.

It's not as good as 'Love at ...", but we did find it very watchable. Where "Love at ..." starts a bit slow and picks up speed and humor in the second half, we thought this one started out with lots of personality and lost steam in the second half, and the ending was just a bit too contrived.

It worth seeing, but this second time will likely be our last.

Autumn Reeser is delightful. Loved her character's personality and humorous comments. Felt like authentic conversations. I thought there was good chemistry with her and Antonio Cupo. The supporting cast was lovely as well. It didn't feel as stilted as some of the Hallmark movie casts. Also loved how the homeowner/caretaker was so sweet to Jessica. The cast and acting made this one work!

This was an adequately entertaining Hallmark, and as such I was a little disappointed because I really expect the best from Autumn Reeser. Also Antonio Cupo looked super hot and perfectly cast as the fire chief she falls for. I also like the poor little rich girl trope as well. However, Mr. Fire Chief got off to a bad start with me by yelling at nice Autumn for something that was totally his fault. He was chauvinistic and entitled as Mr. Small Town VIP. He got better, then reverted to type again near the end, where he accused Autumn of the same bad behavior he was guilty of. Latonya Williams was adorable as Ruthie, another firefighter, who tells Antonio a few home truths at the end. Over all it was good, although not problem-free, in addition to the character flaw I noted.