The Christmas Ring

Yes all Hallmark movies are predictable, but I like these two leads and the story was a little different than the usual. I liked David Alpay and Nazarene Contractor- I don't get the complaints. I thought they had nice chemistry, were both sensitive, thoughtful adults. Living in Los Angeles during Covid, with no snow, no Christmas pageants or tree lighting ceremony- is it all seems a little bit surreal, but I enjoyed this one.

The story itself was intriguing to me. A woman searching for the history of an old ring she came across and it leads her to a small town. I liked seeing a different lead actress, but I will say I'm not quite sure she was the right fit for this role. Her acting was a bit stiff. I enjoyed finding out about the story behind the ring, but the movie itself was a tad boring at times for me. Not a bad film, but not great either.

The story didn't start out to be writer sent to do hit piece, but it turned into that. Cliché after cliché was added to the story so that by half way, any viewer could write the detail outline for the rest of the movie. And to make it all worse, the climax was even more cliché than the rest of the movie and had no emotional impact for me whatsoever. The actors in the very final scene even looked like they were almost listlessly going along just to finish it out. The story had no big highs or lows, or surprises. The dialogue was flat.

About half way through, characters kept asking, "what happened to the ring?" And I kept answering them with the as yet unrevealed, but totally obvious answer.

Nazneen Contractor and David Alpay started out with the obligatory animosity. Michael had a chip on his shoulder so big I'm surprised he could stand up. Then all of a sudden, the chip magically disappeared and the two actors started to build a little bit of chemistry. Unfortunately, I don't think that survived the conflict (which was just as predictable as the ring's fate). I already mentioned that the last scene lacked any passion.

All these movies that have the reporter-premise make the reporters out to be so idealistic, which usually means also naïve. Kendra ranks up there for naïve. And you don't scheme with your coworker by video chat (without ear buds) where everyone in the entire office can hear what you are talking about.

If you haven't watched several hundred Christmas movies, or even more than a dozen or so, the story might be worth watching.

I really wanted to like this movie but the lofty, corny dialogue in scene after scene just made that impossible. I enjoyed Nazneen Contractor in her role, she was sweet, honest, dedicated, likeable and driven to find answers about the ring and herself. She seemed to have good chemistry with all the other cast, just not David Alpay. I found her to be believable, but not him, he seemed aloof. So the romance part didn't work for me, of course the eye-rolling, gag worthy dialogue didn't help matters. It's an interesting story, not necessarily one to avoid

This is my 11th Hallmark Christmas movie of the 2020 season. Thus far, this one is at the bottom of my list. Overall, it was a big disappointment. The acting was mediocre at best. David Alpay's performance was OK. I have seen him a couple of times in Hallmark films; his performance was similar in those roles. Nazneen Contractor, on the other hand, was unimpressive. Though her performance improved in the latter half of the film, overall, it was not so good. She did not draw me in with her performance at all. There was no chemistry between the two leads as well, which is a problem in a romance movie. The supporting cast, which Hallmark usually does a good job at casting, was quite mixed. For example, a Hallmark regular, Casey Manderson who played the brother (Scott), was terrible, while Kendra's boss (Colleen Wheeler as Linda) and friend (Kazumi Evans as Sarah) at the magazine both had good performances. The story and script were not bad, but due to the acting, I never was drawn into the movie (I was not engaged); I found myself on multiple occasions grabbing for my iPad, which is never a good sign. The scenery, props and sets were very polished, festive. I did find the atmosphere - i.e., Christmas spirit and a festive environment - to be rather lacking in this Hallmark film; this is something Hallmark usually does a good job at creating. Overall, this edition to Hallmark's 2020 Christmas season was a complete letdown.