La benedizione del Natale

People need to get over themselves. Of all the things to be upset about people are choosing to be still upset about Lori Loughlin. Border wide open, Americans are funding 2 wars but what are people being upset about?: Lori Loughlin. 🤣🤣🤣Are you kidding me? Anyway, this movie was wonderful. Wonderful plot, wonderful script, & wonderful acting. I don't remember seeing James Tupper in anything but he is a good actor and had great chemistry with Lori. Jesse Hutch is one of my favorite "Hallmark" actors. I have not seen a bad movie of his yet. I think this one is his best yet. The reporter, Karen Holness, is so underrated and I think it is past time for her to be a lead in a movie. Well done GAC.

I enjoyed the movie. Did anyone else catch in the very beginning when her assistant wants her to take her on the trip Lucy's reply" I have a husband and kids" to which assistant replies "we can send post cards" yet in Milwaukee she is alone and can fall in love with someone else?

In any case it is a cute movie speaking to the spirit of Christmas. It is low key but effective. Easy to figure out the plot but definitely warms the heart.

I don't think it utilized the acting skills of the cast, but they worked well together. Some things like fixing the black ice patch would have been a good catch instead of it hanging around throughout the movie. I think Otto explained the reason the decorations were up year round is because Christmas was Susie's favorite holiday. I keep my Santa Clauses out all year as well as my nativity scene so I can imagine a foodbank keeping the decorations up all year as a reminder of why they are there in the first place.

I think this was a charming Christmas movie. As far as the crime that Loughlin and others committed there are thousands of other parents AND students who have used less than legal or moral devices to get an advantage in the admissions system! Was it wrong? Yes. Does it subtract from this movie? No. As far as other judgments of the movie... Out of the 100's of Christmas movies how many were cinematic masterpieces? Very few. Not the reason people watch them. If you don't like sappy feel good movies that are all 90% the same don't watch. Chances are you're not going to see "Its a Wonderful Life" caliber movies. Either enjoy them for what they are or don't watch! In fact 99% of modern movies in theaters are bombs!

I had every reason to love this movie. I am a huge proponent of Christian content for Christmas movies. I loved Touched by an Angel, was a Full House fan as a kid, even bigger Fuller House fan, and also ***loved*** When Calls the Heart. So this should have been a top movie for me this season.

Not so. It took me at least 20 sittings to get through it. I just couldn't get into it. Part of the reason is that I kept distracting myself, googling things like "Did Lori Laughlin apologize" (and not really being satisfied by what I found). Then I started nitpicking. Her acting was *really* bad. She acted like a mousey, deer-in-the-headlights wimp the whole time. I'm not buying that for a celebrity chef/TV star.

So then I wonder if her acting was always bad and I never noticed because I loved the shows? Or if I am bring overly critical now because I feel weird about her? And then I start noticing little stuff that is normal in any made for TV movie-a space abandoned for three months that is somehow already decorated for Christmas, the stupid ice that any business worried about liability would have taken care of immediately, a tiny turkey that wouldn't feed half of my family let alone an entire community, etc. And then I know I am being overly critical. But the problem is that this movie has overcome my suspension of disbelief.

Bottom line, I didn't enjoy it. I was in my head the whole time. The script was good, and done by any generic actress it would have been a favorite. But I can't help but wonder. I don't think I have ever seen Lori Laughlin do anything explicitly Christian before. So is she playing on my sensitivity to forgiveness to get back into her career? Am I being used?

When I watch these movies, I don't want to have to think about the meta. I want to relax into 90 minutes of predictable brain candy. But I can't *not* think about the meta with Lori Laughlin right now.

This is one of the better movies on the new Great American Family network and it is because of reliable stars. You may hate Lori Loughlin because of her scandal, but she carries off a certain vibe that works in this movie.

Mandy is selling the building which housed a kind of soup kitchen. Adam wants to wrap up his purchase quickly but agrees to give Mandy one last Christmas. (I never really understood his motive. I guess it was attraction to Mandy, but after 10 minutes?) Otto is a mysterious stranger.

Loughlin and Tupper have good chemistry but the relationship between Mandy and Adam never sizzles. Otto provides the mystery that gets revealed as the movie progresses, although never overtly.

A nice thing about the story is that Mandy is a hero, but far from perfect. She struggles a little to pull everything off. Perhaps it is appealing because she is a kind of hero that anyone could be. Or everyone.

This is a family friendly movie. I'm not sure how much it will appeal to children.