An Unexpected Christmas

This is a Hallmark holiday second chance romance. Jamie has neglected to tell his family that he and his girlfriend Emily have broken up...so when work has her at his hometown train station when his family is picking him up...they just assume that she is there with him for Christmas. Then Emily's job goes south when her spokesperson Jackie Joyner Kersey bails because of a storm...and she strikes a deal with her ex to play along as long as he can get her the governor for her ad campaign.

The grandfather, who was mr. Christmas, has recently passed away which was the real reason Jamie didn't want to tell his family...and the reason he broke up with Emily, her career was going up and his was going down and he didn't want to hold her back.

"Every stone tells the forging of two stories"-Jamie.

"Too many houses and never really a home."-Emily.

"We love you just the way you are."-Grandma.

Jamie's homosexual sister, Becca, has a sad story in that her partner left her after they adopted a son...so she lives with her parents. But Becca and Jamie are so supportive of one another it was really sweet. Their she-shed time is what makes this movie worth seeing.

The Christmas play disaster was hilarious and something I haven't seen.

"I'm really tired of feeling like a yo-yo."-Emily.

I will watch anything with Tyler Hynes in it but wasn't sure about how he would pull this one off -- in the previews, it's clearly shown that he's the one who is messing up and messing up even further by lying to his family. But Tyler is so much fun that he's even enjoyable when he's pouting, which he does a bit. There's a costume event gone awry, Bethany Joy Lenz spilling the beans to a horrified waiter, and a sister and other family who bring the Christmas cheer. Paul Campbell's writing reminds me of the best of the old ensemble romantic comedies -- I like him as an actor a lot but as a writer he's one of the best Hallmark is showcasing right now. One point off for making Paul McGillion old enough to be Tyler Hynes' dad -- especially since it wasn't so long ago that he was a romantic lead. Also, it's driving me crazy trying to figure out who plays the mom, and I can't find it in the cast list.

Love the writing in this one. Witty and smart comedy in the fake couple genre. When you know where the story is going (which is a big reason we watch Hallmark) it's nice to have some unexpected laughs and set ups along the way.

I really enjoyed this one. When compared to other Hallmark/Lifetime movies - it's one of the better ones. The performances are all strong and the leads are fabulous! Great pace and fun storyline too. Highly recommend.

The chemistry between Bethany Joy Lenz and Tyler Hynes is great. The characters are clearly in love. Lenz is great as an energetic Emily who has a big hole in her heart the size of Jamie. Jamie loves Emily, but is internally confused and that results in some poor decisions even going into the backstory.

The movie is fun and mostly upbeat. Family love saturates the story. And the story is unique in some ways, although at its roots, it is basically old-flames-work-together-to-make-a-Christmas-festival.

Jamie is a speech writer for the governor of Illinois. If the governor really ran her staff the way this one runs, it's no wonder all our governments are messed up. I've said many times that you can't expect much reality from these movies, but this one pushes that sentiment way too far. In fairness, I think the movie is meant to be silly for comedic effect and sometimes it is funny.