Cranberry Christmas

This is a mature and well acted offering that explores what it takes to have a happy marriage despite the challenges. Nikki DeLoach and Ben Ayers were fantastic and have wonderful chemistry. It was like they were really married and in love. They were a perfect match. Nikki is so sincere in her delivery, you really believe that everything that comes out of her mouth is from her heart. The whole cast was great, except grandma was a little teensy bit over the top. Sorry Grandma. The script was excellent with humor, heart, and a few tender moments. And it managed to avoid most of the Hallmark set pieces. Even the big misunderstanding near the end was handled with maturity and aplomb. The challenges to the happy ending were complex and real. No phony silliness at all. A breath of fresh air.

There's been quite a few Christmas movies I've watched this holiday season that had a bit too much unnecessary giddiness in them. But this one was an enjoyable watch. No over the top giddiness, the characters were likeable and it had a good story. The leads had great chemistry together and the supporting cast did well too. I would definitely recommend this to family and friends.

The heart of this story is about a hardworking couple who were childhood sweethearts and have kind of let life get in the way of what really matters, each other. Together they own a cranberry bog/farm and a business called Cranberry Lane that specializes in all things Christmas. The two are brought together again to run the towns Christmas festival. The truth is these two really do love each other and have both been willing to make sacrifices for the other's happiness.

It was really nice to see a hallmark film about rekindling the romance in a marriage and talking about some of those difficult topics like career vs. family.

I for one enjoyed a more mature Hallmark offering.

Potentially, there was a really good movie to be found within the broad outlines of the overall situation and the plot. In this adaptation, however, while the actors pleasantly went thorough their assigned paces to reach a meaningful conclusion, there was almost no chemistry between any combination of the actors -- just a little, here and there. No Zing! No spark. Kind of like watching paint dry.

This film, with a great cast, is more interesting than the usual romcom that we're so accustomed to on at least three Christmas channels on cable and one other service.