Um Natal para Recordar

I can't decide whether Trevor Donovan's nose is the most perfect thing I've ever seen or not? Either way, he is now my new boyfriend, but don't tell him yet! He is adorable in this film, but I couldn't connect with the lead female as her Face reminded me of someone I'm keen to forget.

The story is a bit watered down and follows the usual pattern, but it's not a bad film at all.

I loved the carved Father Christmases and I thought the Dad was played very well, although he was called Mr Garrison, which just reminded me of the creepy teacher from South Park.

It has a real seasonal vibe, with all the typical activities, so it wins points for that and I'm probably scoring it higher because of my new boyfriend Trevor, but I don't care.

Brooke d'Orsay. She is a real charmer and I don't think I've seen her in anything in which she wasn't the shining star. Everything else was mediocre. The Father and his store got my back up right away with the declaration that if it wasn't made of wood, it wasn't a real toy. Absolutely ridiculous. There are thousands of old-fashioned homey nostalgic toys that are made of plastic and don't plug in or have a battery. Old fashioned board games, water colors, crayons, etch-a sketch, rubber balls, but no. Wood or nothing. And his store maybe had 5 toys in it! Then he kept passively-aggressively pressuring her and trying to guilt her into giving up a successful toy career she loved in New York City to take over his stupid store that couldn't have cleared $20 a day in profit. On top of all that, they gave away for free Brooke's hand carved Santas that could have retailed for for $100.00 each easy. My free enterprise and capitalistic soul was crying out in pain. Obviously most of these Hallmark writers have never had to earn an honest day's wage in a retail environment.

But Brooke d'Orsay has saved more than this unworthy effort.

The golden haired couple look nice together but the story has nothing to differentiate it from dozens of other Hallmark holiday movies. The same move back to small town and give up the big city thing. The pageant story isn't interesting. Nor is the mill story.

Why bother.

We are approaching the halfway point for Hallmark's run of Christmas movies in 2019, and for me, it has been more miss than hit. This movie is a winner though, and the best of 2019 so far. First of all, I like both the lead actors, and they look like they should be a couple. Secondly, their characters are both immensely likable, and you want them together before they even meet. The writing and acting is solid. There isn't anything really spectacular; everything just works and doesn't screw up the good things that are in place. All the supporting cast is decent and have well-written parts. The daughter, Jesse, is probably the best of the supporting. The only real conflicts in the movie are the two established from the beginning- the imminent closing of the mill and Ann returning to New York. In somewhat typical Hallmark style, unfortunately, both conflicts and the romance is wrapped up in the final two scenes. Again, much like the rest of the movie, the final resolution is nothing spectacular. However, there is nothing silly going on either. Besides the already mentioned good chemistry between the actors and the likability of their characters, another positive in this movie is that the leads spend a lot of time together, so there is nothing that happens too suddenly. There is another guy in the movie, but we never see much of Ann and him together, and that plot thread is wrapped up rather neatly. The other positive that also adds something unique to this one is the idea of the carved Christmas Santas. It is a very cool idea that adds something interesting to the movie. Altogether, this is an entertaining Christmas romance.

This movie was not what I would call riveting, but it was pleasant enough to keep watching in the background. The ending with the Christmas pageant and all the elements of a perfect happy ending!