I was excited to see two stars of Chesapeake Shores team up in a Hallmark Christmas flick: Jessica Sipos and Stephen Huszar. The story is a bit thin: she's on a quest to find a magical Christmas bunch of mistletoe that belonged to her family, and she recruits him to help her. Still, since it's Christmas, we all make exceptions for silly plots and just enjoy the positive energy. Unless, there is none. . .
Jessica might be the most depressive Hallmark heroine I've seen. Her energy sucks everyone, including the viewers, down with her, although Stephen gives a valiant effort to buoy himself up. Her incredibly annoying sidekick also tries, but her efforts come off as spastic and mentally off.
They're supposed to be in a huge hurry to find the mistletoe and make it to her parents' house for dinner, and yet they saunter around town remarkably slowly and take breaks in their quest. They drink tea, bake cookies together, shop for presents, and take time out for a fashion show. How much of a hurry are they in? Seriously, folks. Jessica actually models different outfits for Stephen, prances around and dances. Personally, I felt the segment was a little inappropriate for the usual Hallmark fare. She flirted shamelessly and even wiggled her behind while making "cute" faces.
If the mistletoe is that important, why wouldn't they get to the mall as soon as it opens and be the first in line to speak with Santa? Instead, they stroll around at a leisurely pace, stand in line when the Santa stand has obviously been open for a while, then complain about what a long day it's been. It makes no sense. Not only is the plot full of holes and the screenplay irritating and repetitive, but the leading lady is just impossible to root for. She makes you wonder what Hallmark was thinking when it offered her a contract. She's incredibly insincere, with the one exception being when she thinks she's adorable.
I'm also surprised at the part of the script that talks about Stephen's character. He's given two traits: he used to be overweight, and he's a lawyer. It's supposed to be a huge shock that he'd traded fifty pounds of fat for muscle, and as soon as Jessica finds out, she starts looking at him with a twinkle in her eye. Doesn't that make her character shallow? And before she finds out he's earned his law degree, she makes fun of him for owning a thrift shop; afterwards, she accuses him of doing the exact same thing to her. In essence, two traits that show positive things about his character are only used to make her look bad. What an unsatisfying role for Stephen.
