Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle

6.6 stars.

This is the simple story of a woman who is trying to save an historical building. We've seen a variation of this trope at least 50 times in Hallmark movies.... Save the manor, shop, building, landmark, etc...

In the opening scene we see not one, but four female leads. There is no mystery that this is the first of several movies in a series. I figured, since there are four leading ladies, there must be four films in this "unwrapping" franchise. I see only three listed, but that simply means it's a couple weeks too early to list the air date of the fourth. I noticed that the most notable female of the four is not starring in the three listed, so I assume she'll get the fourth installment (the currently unlisted one). If one is released each week, the fourth one will be in early December. The first week in December is usually an important week for Hallmark releases.

This particular story begins very sluggishly, but it starts to grow on you gradually until the conclusion, which was somewhat endearing. But in the end, this film is right in the middle of the pack. If I had to pick a quintessential average Hallmark movie, this one is one of a thousand that blends in to the woodwork. I don't plan on returning to watch it, but it was nice for a one time viewing. It was not a total waste of time, if you are wondering.

The idea of the story was okay, but I didn't care for the leads. They were both bland, especially the guy. I got through it, and I liked the ending, but I wasn't rooting for the couple to get together. I often re-watch Christmas movies each year. I won't be watching this again.

I liked the idea of four friends in business together okay, I think the idea of a gift wrapping business seemed too much for the writers or they were rushed.

Having watched all four movies, I only really liked one, and it was hugely spoiled by the first three. This is a flaw of this having multiple stories interacting over the same time frame. Groomsmen worked for me. This series did not.

I enjoy these movies. I really do. But I am picky about my leads. They need to have chemistry, the men need to have personality, and being able to act is a huge must. These Unwrapping movies are just awful. Where did they find these guys??

This one in particular, the male lead talks like English isn't his first language. He is not believable as a father or the owner of some huge company. Natalie Hall is fine but she needed someone way better than this guy. The writing is not good, however, and a lot of the supporting cast can't act either. Just pretty awful all around. This one is so bad I do not plan to suffer through the other three.

Did Hallmark put out an open casting call throughout Canada which read: "Actors, have you been rejected for a role in a Hallmark Christmas movie? We want you! The less talented you are, the bigger the role." I kept thinking that surely this movie was going to improve, but each scene introduced another terrible actor. The phony camaraderie of the 4 shop owners was cringeworthy. Plus, how can a little wrapping store support 4 women, enabling them to dress in upscale clothing and live in expensive places? Then the hero "hunk" looks scruffy enough to have recently jumped out of a freight train car. No, I will definitely not be watching the other three movies.

I know not to expect too much from Hallmark Christmas movies, yet I was still underwhelmed. The actors were awful, the storyline was ridiculous, and the chemistry between the romantic leads was non-existent. It's a good thing that there are three more of these crapfests in the Unwrapping Christmas movie series to watch. And yes, I'm still going to watch them because I'm a glutton for punishment and there's always a teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy chance that one of the four might be tolerable. I love a good Hallmark Christmas movie but sadly this was not one of them...

Why, oh why do I do this to myself???