Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing

I was looking forward to this new instalment of the Christmas in Evergreen movie series. My favourite was the second instalment starring Jill Wagner and Mark Deklin (some great acting). I thought last year's instalment was very good too and remember enjoying Rukiya Bernard (playing Hannah) and Antonio Cayonne's (playing Elliot) sub-plot, which partly explains why I was looking forward to seeing this new edition to the series. I am afraid to say, I was a bit disappointed with this one. I think the writers spread themselves too thin this time around, not focusing enough attention on the two main storylines revolving around Hannah Turner (i.e., her romance with Elliot and her new job at the museum). For example, the storyline about the bells could have been cut to free up space; I don't think it added anything to the movie. As a result, I simply was not pulled in by the movie (pulled in by these two storylines), I did not connect with it, as I did with the previous ones. For example, the fight that the writers try to develop between the couple seemed rather weak and unconvincing, as a result. The one storyline that I really enjoyed was Michelle's marriage delay; the acting by Holly Robinson Peete (playing Michelle) and Marci House (playing Sonya, she was great, by the way) was very strong; I wish they had more lines/scenes too for Colin Lawrence (playing Thomas). The acting overall was good. That said, is it me or was the first 20 minutes or so of acting a bit over the top regarding how happy everyone was? It seemed forced, surreal at one point, even for the Evergreen movie series. A good example of this thru-out the film was the performance of Chris Cope as Ezra. The smiling and lines were simply too much, over the top. The scenery, props, and sets were, of course, well-polished and very festive. The music and music editing were good too. All in all, it is a pretty good Christmas movie, but not nearly as good as the first three instalments of the Evergreen series, unfortunately. Another reviewer on here describes this one as the subplots plotting to steal the production. I laughed at this, as I had not thought about it in those terms, but it does sound about right.

The second best of the series, which is a surprise.

'Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing' improves on the two other sequels, that's quite the achievement in truth. What helps this film is that it keeps the cast, largely, the same. Instead of creating yet another love story with new faces, it continues one from the preceding production by moving Rukiya Bernard into the lead role.

Bernard is solid as Hannah, her being front and center helps the film have some charm to it - which has been missing throughout the series. I kinda liked Antonio Cayonne's character, Elliot, last time out so didn't mind seeing him in a bigger role, also. Their story, though, is meh. Jerry Wasserman (Jeb) makes for an alright addition, his character is averagely written but I could see what they were trying to do with him.

That's these watched, for now... I assume they are gonna make another one next year?

Well, while this 2020 Hallmark Christmas movie titled "Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing" certainly was watchable, writers Zac Hug and Shari Sharpe just didn't quite manage to recreate the magic of the 2017 "Christmas in Evergreen" movie.

The storyline and the script for "Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing" was fair enough, however, it just never managed to rise about the mediocrity of the million other Christmas movies that Hallmark spew out year after year. So ultimately, "Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing" just turned out to be another generic run-of-the-mill Christmas movie.

But hey, if you don't mind the usual Christmas cheese and sappy romance, then "Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing" should be right up your alley. So "Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing" is definitely a movie for the average Christmas movie fan.

They had a good cast ensemble for the movie, and it was nice to see returning cast reprise their roles from the previous movies in the "Evergreen" series.

My rating of director Linda-Lisa Hayter's 2020 movie "Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing" lands on a mediocre and generic five out of ten stars.

Well, it's about time we got to see Hannah's story, but I still think that if you haven't seen the first three films that there is a lot you might be miffed about, as they reflect back on it a lot.

And miracle of miracles, Zoe is back in this one, unfortunately, Brat that she is, but at least she's not in it much. Ryan is still noticeable for his absence however.

I like the story of Hannah, who is a lovely character, striving to find her purpose in Evergreen, but I still think it would be more interesting if the lead decided that they would leave the town or if they decided that they didn't need someone else to make them happy, just for a change.

It's not the best of the series so far, but I did feel for Hannah and her situation. I will be curious to see if 2021 brings another episode of an Evergreen Christmas, as although the stories are only so-so, you do find yourself getting involved in the little town and it's residents.

This is not your usual Christmas romance. For one thing, there are no new romantic couples. The main couple is one we already knew about from last year. There's also a wedding being planned for a couple from an earlier installment.

Rather than the romance, the main focus, if there really is one central focus, is the Scrooge, the Cooper twins angry brother, who carries a chip because Evergreen's only factory closed on his watch. But there are a lot of other stories. The wedding is about equal to the Cooper story. Then there are a few smaller stories as well.

The appeal to this movie is reliving the characters from the previous three Evergreen movies, at least most of them. For me, that wasn't as enjoyable as following one happy relationship as it develops. It's strictly personal taste.