Our Italian Christmas Memories

We all know Halmark holiday movies are meant to be fun lighthearted rom coms with a bit of temporary heartache/drama. Then they throw one at us that hits hard. Holly & Ivy was certainly one example.

As another reviewer mentioned, Beau Bridges absolutely nails it here. Early on, there's a scene in the kitchen with labels everywhere. Looked identical to my grandmother's home. She died from Alzheimers in 1988, and dad died in 2020. He died from cancer but suffered dementia, often severe. I am now showing early signs myself and this is terrifying.

So for Hallmark to make a movie which places light romance in the background and shines a light on real life difficulties and pain with a Christmas setting, they are to be applauded. Hallmark has the template in this movie for a Hall of Fame film, akin to A Dog Named Christmas.

Yes, the pickle ornament is German (I know personally) but families make traditions from things with varied backgrounds. Not something that should keep one from enjoying the movie. The characters RJ and Anna are relatable, imperfect adults whose stories weave into the greater storyline we'll.

Christmas time evolves for all of us, more so as you get older, lose parents, raise children to adults, and hold on to what is important best we can. It goes from magic to melancholy. This movie isn't heartbreaking. It's like a preview for people in their 20's - 30's as to what the future may hold.

The closing of the movie is wonderful, but do yourself a favor - watch the movie. It's a worthy two hours. Kudos to Beau Bridges for his portrayal of a man dealing with dementia. It's worthy of an award nomination.

Thank you for reading. I don't write many reviews but this was a personal one.

I went middle of the road with my rating because, honestly, I didn't finish watching to the end. I was drawn to the title "Our Italian Christmas Memories" because I come from a family that is Italian on my father's side.

First of all, the casting was disappointing to me. Most of the cast is not Italian and doesn't even look Italian. Most are Canadian. The late matriarch of the family floats in and out of an Italian accent.

Second, they pepper the few obligatory Italian words and phrases throughout the scenes: nonno, nonna, Buon Natale, sugo (which they pronounce incorrectly as "suko" the entire time).

Third, which I realize is essential to their plot, they contend that none of the children or grandchildren in the family wanted to learn how to cook. This is unheard of in Italian homes. Kids are brought into the kitchen very early and they are very excited to be taught how to cook and bake by their mothers, grandmothers, fathers, whoever might be teaching.

Fourth, the feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve was barely mentioned. Of course, that was at least up to the point where I quit watching.

What really made my head explode was the CHRISTMAS PICKLE! That is a GERMAN tradition!! Not Italian!! Hallmark has even mentioned that being a German tradition before in their movie "Christmas Getaway."

I'm guessing whoever wrote, cast, directed, produced and acted in this movie has never spent any time around an Italian family at any time let alone Christmas. Very disappointing.

There is some good in this one, although the Alzheimer's angle is cheap and cliched. Bridges and Power are very good, actually almost excellent, although she makes some questionable hair and costume choices. There are the tiresome Hallmark broken family tropes. Hallmark never seems to hire a hair styling crew.

The diversity police must be happy, though. Every couple is mixed race, including the pregnant lesbians.

Perhaps Hallmark is reacting to the new competition from GFAC, with more recognizable actors and slightly more complicated production design, but there is not enough here to make it stand out.

Contrary to other reviewers I really enjoyed watching this movie that accurately portrayed a family dealing with a tough issue - early Alzheimer's disease. Beau Bridges acted the role so well. Family relations are messy with holidays intensifying all of those relationships. The actors playing the grandchildren were very believable. The story was well written; searching for the grandmother's sugo recipe was a great theme. Food is central in many families and preserving the recipes that have cultural meaning and history is of critical importance as people age and memories fail. More movies like this one please!

First of all, please consider that what you see in American movies is American-Italian and hardly ever Italian. Immigrants brought their traditions with them, often from small towns, they became famous there and now everyone believes they are in Italy too. For instance, I had never heard of the Feast of the Seven Fishes until I watched the American movie by the same name: nobody knows about it here, apart maybe from some small area in the south (Like mandolins, for God's sake please stop using them in every Italian movie you make :-) ). It was funny to hear them say "Sugo is regional" when the word just literally means sauce (sometimes used to describe tomato sauce, as you can imagine not a regional thing). Unfortunately the movie is right about one thing, kids not wanting to learn how to cook, people stopped learning a couple of generations ago or more. The movie itself is not bad compared to others in its genre, at least it's not just the copy/paste big town person going to a small town and falling in love, there's more here. Just one more thing that makes me smile: nono/nona means ninth in Italian, you need to add an "n" in the middle to make it grandparents. Would I recommend this movie? If you, like me, are addicted to feel-good Christmas movies I would definitely say yes.