Christmas in Notting Hill

American teacher Georgia Bright (Sarah Ramos) goes to Notting Hill to visit her sister for Christmas. Injured professional footballer Graham Savoy (William Moseley) comes home to Notting Hill with his career in doubt. They bump into each other in an outdoor market. He is surprised that she doesn't know who he is.

It is Hallmark in London. The romance is standard Hallmark. It has two pretty leads doing most of the standard fare with limited drama. The big drama with the sisters seem to come out of nowhere. The main difference from other Hallmark movies is the London location. I wouldn't mind more local flavors. The interiors are probably shot on a sound stage. It is still a TV movie after all.

I gave it five stars for effort! All the actors seemed very enthusiastic about their roles, but they really had nothing to work with and none of them rose above it, either.

The premise was promising, but the execution was abysmal. I was sitting home alone, bored, the night before Thanksgiving, and decided a cheesy Hallmark Xmas movie was what I needed. This didn't disappoint. I laughed at myself for the entire time because I kept watching it. Kind of like watching a train wreck.

The writing was amateurish, the dialog was totally cringe, the conflicts were silly and shallow, and about the only thing really interesting was the reference near the end to the excellent TV series "Ted Lasso".

But I had fun making fun of it. Just wish I'd had someone here to laugh with.

They clearly had no idea how to represent an ACL tear or the recovery from one either. He should have been in a brace with crutches because the only way to repair an ACL is with surgery, not a TENS machine. He would have been non-weight bearing for 6 weeks after surgery. As they had shown him getting injured right at the beginning of our story line he would have only been out of the hospital a few days and most definitely would not be walking around London. The only thing they got right about the recovery is the recovery time. Otherwise it was a cute predictable Hallmark movie that makes you believe in Christmas.

The main character spends the whole movie getting childishly upset over things that aren't worth getting upset over. She gets mad at the guy because he doesn't say he's a famous football player, so what? She gets mad because, well, a lot. And he supposed to suddenly care about her because she's funny it's smart etc.. I don't see her being funny and smart I just see her being a pill. And he likes her because she treated him like a person, but she stopped treating him like a person really early on. Just ridiculous. Kudos for a nod to the original Notting Hill, because the dad is seen reading a copy of "Horse and Hound."

Featuring plenty of the Christmas traditions I know and love as an Australian, and filmed on location in London - which is a big deal, as many Hallmark Christmas movies are set in cities that they're not actually filmed in - Christmas in Notting Hill is a decent festive romance centered around Graham Savoy (William Moseley, of 'The Royals' and 'The Chronicles of Narnia' fame) who is an injured Premier League soccer/football star who must consider his future in the game. He meets Georgia (Sarah Ramos), a special education teacher from America, in London to celebrate Christmas with her sister.

Some Hallmark tropes feature here, but with a decidedly British touch.

Mosely and Ramos are pretty good together, but there were a few scenes that didn't make sense. Like Graham being able to walk and run despite him supposedly having an ACL tear.

Reasonable entertainment, but not nearly as enjoyable as, say, 'A Biltmore Christmas'.