Heart of the Holidays

I like it. For simplicity of story, for the main actors, for the nice dialogue, for fair use of social side and for the relation between characters. But first, for the wise way to be only a story, with familiar end, without demonstrating something, being not pathetic and proposing a story of redefinition of two young people , with a common past, front to new beginning.

Another virtue - the food bank. Yes, not original for a Hallmark film but wise used in this case , because it is just a honest perspective about people, their needs and problems. So, predictable slices and a new breath. And, good start for Corey Sevier at his first try as director.

Sam's new investment job unexpectedly falls apart in New York and she ends up back home for Christmas for the first time in eight years. Sam's boyfriend Will and his partner buyout Sam's new company and she decides she needs some space.

Noah, Sam's high school sweetheart and local cafe owner, and Sam have an awkward reunion...there is clearly more to their story, with tension you could cut with a knife.

"The years fly by but time has a way of standing still."-Bob.

The actress who plays Val really steals the show.

"I'm not sure I really fit in here anymore."-Sam.

This was a decent Christmas movie. The story was nice, the acting was good, and the scenery, props, and sets were festive. It just did not have that 'extra something' compared to some of the other very good Christmas movies this year by Hallmark. For example, I recently saw The Angel Tree; it had great chemistry between the leads. The Christmas House was fun and made me laugh. A Timeless Christmas and Cranberry Christmas had different stories to tell...and so on. In this one, it was not until nearly an hour into the film (the scene where Sam decides to organize the Christmas party at the foodbank) that I started to be pulled in by the movie. The acting was pretty good. I last saw Vanessa Lengies in the Christmas movie, A Date by Christmas Eve, where she had a fun and cute performance. Here she had a decent performance. Corey Sevier had a solid performance as well. He had sort of a gentle and confident feel to his portrayal of Noah, which worked, I think. The chemistry between the two was fine, believable. Not the strongest, but certainly not the weakest I have seen; there have been a few thus far where chemistry was rather lacking. The supporting cast had a strong performance; Hallmark usually does a very good job with casting such roles. As I mentioned above, the sets were very polished and festive. I was impressed with that very large gingerbread house that they carried to the truck; the scene where we saw the first spark between the leads. Overall, it was an average, middle of the road Christmas movie that fans of Hallmark will likely enjoy.

The premise is like dozens of others - woman loses her job and goes home to small town where she encounters an old flame. One difference is that she quit because her brand new dream job got turned into the same old grind she's been knocking herself out in for years. And her current boyfriend did it to her, not intentionally, but still. The situation with the old flame is pretty bitter until of course, well you know what happens through the rest of the movie. Throw in the charity drive she pulls out of nowhere, with no time to do it. We get the same theme that runs through almost all of the Hallmark regular Christmas movies, and many on other networks - big city crush bad, small town community good.

Vanessa Lengies is energetic as Sam once she stops acting like a victim. She eventually settles down in a likeable role once she has a mission. She and Corey Sevier develop some chemistry once Sevier's Noah stops pouting about the past. Not that Noah doesn't have reason to be upset, and he's pretty much a saint besides. Following them in the movie is nice, but it's not great.

There's another woman interested in Sam who keeps flirting with him, but that character is just filler. Most of the acting is decent, although Bill Lake as Bob goes a little overboard in his role as clueless.

The movie is textbook predictable. It even has some of the standard plot devices to throw a temporary monkey wrench into the inevitable.

I've said this about a lot of Christmas movies - there are no great highs or lows or surprises. Something does happen just before the climax that might have been a little surprise if it wasn't such a typical plot device. It was presented a little differently than the usual.

Observation: Writers often present a character whose personality never could have gotten that character to where the backstory places her (or him) at the beginning off the story. Sam is presented in the first few minutes as someone to count on to get things done in a prominent NYC agency. She is a bit of a people pleaser, but the first scenes establish her as eminently successful in a high stress, high performance, cutthroat environment. Then she gets home and she adopts a timid personality. She's afraid to see anyone and afraid to go anywhere. She absolutely avoids any confrontation. This woman wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in the environment the movie started her in, which is too bad. She eventually regains her competence, but I'm talking about personality. Sam's personality wouldn't last in that cutthroat NYC world because she's too sensitive and has too much self doubt.

Plea to directors: please make text messages readable to everyone who watches.

I like to start a review with something positive, at least one thing to recommend the movie. The leads were good, though Corey Sevier is usually better, playing a more lively character.

That's about all I got.

It's a very tired plot, even for a Christmas romance. I can't name one fresh or stand-out element.

Oddly, our city go-getter suddenly goes meek when she returns to her small hometown, where her ex is in a sulk.

Things pick up some eventually, but only in the most formulaic way.

It was so dull I kept pausing it for other things and wasn't sure at first that I'd seen the end (I did-that memorable).

Not awful. Not good either.