A Little Christmas Charm

This is an interesting Christmas mystery story. We follow Ashley Greene and Brendan Penny on their journey to track down the owner of a detailed charm bracelet. Greene and Penny have have great chemistry together and they're fun to watch as their relationship grows stronger along the way. There are some interesting subplots and a strong supporting cast making it well worth watching

It seems like the last couple of years that the new formula Christmas story is the quest to return something, possibly a keepsake, one of the leads found by accident. This story follows that formula pretty closely. The attempt to frame a conflict near the end was very weak on both sides of the relationship. I think Greg's excuse wasn't laid out well enough emotionally, and Holly overreacted to the situation. I'd like to expand on that but then it really is a spoiler.

All theses movies start with friction between the leads and in this case it was fairly mild, but Holly resisted Greg's persistent charm firmly, until she didn't. After that Brendan Penny and Ashley Greene developed a quiet chemistry. Other actors filled their roles well.

All of these quest stories give the viewer a mystery, but unlike some crime mysteries, the viewer doesn't know enough to jump ahead to the solution. However, the viewer can watch while the characters sleuth out new leads. In this case, many of the leads were related in a technical way to fine jewelry in the form of charms for bracelets. The mystery has a nice sentimental resolution. The romance story follows the expected formula. There are no great highs or lows. There's almost no tension in the form of any threat hanging over the main characters. Any surprises are in the form of the technical clues I mentioned as Holly discovers she jumped to conclusions that weren't exactly correct. A viewer with an interest to learn about this subject will find a bit of education.

A couple of side notes. 1 - Once again this web site doesn't recognize who the real leads are in the movie, as of this writing several days after the premiere. 2- Another reviewer claims that one of Greene's facial features "ruins" the move. I think that's a bit cruel and I thought Greene was quite attractive, hopefully someone we'll see again on Hallmark. We all see people differently.

I wanted to shave the actors face lol. I'm used to seeing him clean cut and he was too sloppy for my taste in this. That detracted from the story a little bit because it was distracting. He did a good job though, but it's not his best. I am not an Ashley Greene fan, but I liked her in this. She won me over some in this movie. I liked it more than I thought I would.

This story reminds me of USS Christmas (also new in 2020) in that a couple are working together during the holidays to solve a mystery of sorts. Although I love the premise of these two movies I hope Hallmark doesn't produce too many like this or, while currently new and refreshing, the storyline repetition could become expected and possibly boring.

The acting was good and the scenery was beautiful. I only wish the leads had better chemistry.

In this Hallmark holiday romance, Holly (Ashley Greene) finds a charm bracelet in a coat at the used clothing store. She immediately understands that the owner might have sentimental ties to such a personal item, so she vows to find her. Greg (Brendan Penny) is a reporter who is not very Yule-positive, but he offers to help Holly in her quest, because he is interested in her. Holly declines, but he is an insistent guy who actually has skills in investigation.

When they eventually team up, the chemistry is believable. And the investigative trail is interesting enough to hold the story together.