The Secret Gift of Christmas

Needless to say that I had, of course, never heard about this 2023 Christmas movie from director Christie Will Wolf before now in 2024 as part of sitting through an ungodly amount of sappy Christmas movies all through December. And this being a Hallmark movie, and having a particularly girly and pink cover/poster, I must admit that expectations weren't grand.

But since it was a movie that I was unfamiliar with, of course I opted to give writers Christie Will Wolf, Barbara Kymlicka and Lisa Alford the benefit of the doubt. After all, every now and again, one of these sappy Christmas movies actually prove to be genuinely entertaining.

The writers put together a fair script and storyline, which actually proved entertaining. And the movie was just the right amount of sappy without going overboard.

I was familiar only with leading actress Meghan Ory and leading actor Christopher Russell. In fact, I had actually just sat through another Christmas movie with Christopher Russell in the leading role prior to watching "The Secret Gift of Christmas". The acting performances in this movie were fair. I have to say that Meghan Ory really stood out in this movie with her performance, and she carried the movie quite well.

"The Secret Gift of Christmas" is a movie that definitely will sit well with fans of the sappy Christmas movie genre.

My rating of director Christie Will Wolf's 2023 movie "The Secret Gift of Christmas" lands on a six out of ten stars.

This is a cute Christmas movie about a Christmas personal shopper who is hired by her new client's nephew. She surprises the new client, Patrick, by excitedly talking about shopping, what to buy, etc. Patrick is totally annoyed. She buys Patrick a sweater that is too small for him, so she suggests that he go shopping with her, so she can get the right size.

This is a good movie, but the other movies that I've seen them in (Megan Ory was in the hilarious "Dashing Through the Snow," and Christopher Russell was in "Love and Glamping" and "Chasing Waterfalls." Christopher Russell is at his best when he plays outdoorsy types). Cute movie; but I don't think I want to watch it again.

This movie owes five of its seven stars to our lead, Meghan Ory, who looks remarkably like Jessica Pare (Mad Men). Yet, that's not her only positive quality. Ory just shines in every scene. She's a personal shopper, because apparently that's a thing. She never talks budget with her clients that we see, but that doesn't seem to be a concern for anyone. She meets a handsome construction guy and through gift giving, falls in love. Don't ask me how it works, but it does. This is a charming movie. I saw a few negative reviews, and I just don't get it. I'm as judgy as the next person, but this was a cute movie that was helped a lot by its leads.

7.9 stars.

The first part of this film was like a train wreck for me. I couldn't stop watching as I was intrigued by what appeared to be a failure, but it was still kinda fun. I love the actors, that wasn't the problem, but the way she acted, so gaudy and odd, almost like she was the weird second cousin of Mary Poppins or something. Couldn't quite put a finger on the mannerisms and oddness. Anyways, she does become endearing after a while, then I still couldn't stop watching because it was so darn entertaining and I had to continue this movie. But I had to go eat supper, so I paused it for a while and then came back to finish, and mostly it was great. The twist at the end, or near the end, was a bit deflating, didn't like how things went. Maybe it was just a simple misunderstanding, but was too juvenile to fit into the high quality portrait of a narrative that had already been painted. Nevertheless, I wink at the apparently minute discrepancy in an otherwise wonderful love story between a flamboyant personal shopper and a handsome father.

This is virtually the same movie as A Gift Wrapped Christmas, and not just by the general story, practically scene by scene, it hits all the same beats. But A Gift Wrapped Christmas had genuine humor and a far more engaging lead in Meredith Hagner. This is essentially an interior remake, and you'd be far better served to set your dvr for the de facto original.

This is virtually the same movie as A Gift Wrapped Christmas, and not just by the general story, practically scene by scene, it hits all the same beats. But A Gift Wrapped Christmas had genuine humor and a far more engaging lead in Meredith Hagner. This is essentially an interior remake, and you'd be far better served to set your dvr for the de facto original.