Christmas Bake-Off

7.0 stars.

Initial feeling of 'A Dash of Christmas' aka: 'Christmas Bake-Off', it's a generic holiday romance with a few interesting and lovely parts,, which makes it standard, because all of these films have some interesting parts. In this case it rises slightly above formulaic. What makes this movie stand out is...not much, unfortunately. It received fairly high praise from some people, but my gut tells me it's just so-so. I rate based mainly on entertainment, and this was average in that area. There were a few moments of really heartfelt romance, and he's a total dreamboat (which accounts for some higher ratings), but Osnes has a below average track record from what I recall of her films. I can see her in some pictures, just from memory, and none of them stand out. There's that one about Tahoe, and the one where she's a country singer, let's see...I looked up her other films and probably the best one is 'One Royal Holiday', which I gave 7.1 stars, for the same reason as this, both of these are about equal for me. It all points to one person: Osnes. I guess she's not my favorite. I bet if she was, all my ratings would be bumped up a full star.

Unfortunately, 'A Dash of Christmas' is nothing to write home about. I really wanted to like it for the few great scenes. But it only has a few great scenes and a few good moments, but mainly just a whole bunch of ok.

Laura Osnes and Christopher Russell are incredibly well-cast on 'A Dash of Christmas' aka 'Christmas Bake-Off'. They can both act, their chemistry is off the charts right from the beginning, and Osnes is very, very easy on the eye.

The 'returning to your small hometown for Christmas' trope has been used many times before, but is only a sliver of the plot here. The baked goods are mouth-watering and the set design was stunning. The secondary cast were all solid actors, with none of the over-acting by those in peripheral roles that sometimes mars these films to be seen.

(This film comes a close second behind 'One RoyalHoliday' as my favourite Laura Osnes film, and given how spectacularly good I thought she was in that one with Aaron Tveit, that is high praise from me!)

Definitely one of GAC Family's best movies. Here's hoping we see Russell and Osnes together in more productions. Like, Christmas 2024 or earlier!

Both of the main characters are excellent actors. I enjoyed seeing them on the Hallmark Channel when they were acting in those movies. Now that they are on the Great American channel, these Christmas movies are feel good and I really enjoy watching them. I look forward to the Christmas movies in July, that is my favorite. But, they tend to be all the same. Girl comes home with an assignment or recently fired from their job. Runs into a man or sees ex-boyfriend. Storylines need to change up some. Get creative. I do love the traditional relationships so I will continue to watch. I do recommend everyone tuning in to this movie.

This was such an enjoyable and charming movie! I loved it from beginning to end. The two main characters Aaron (yum!) and Megan's chemistry is off the charts which is probably why it was so easy to fall into!! This wasn't your typical predictable movie, it had its own little twists without the awkward fight that usually happens in these types of films. The plot, the storyline and the pace all fit together beautifully and in no way dragged on for even a moment. Every second was thought out and every line delivered fabulously. The actors were acting comfortably and believably without trying too hard- again as you often see in other movies of this type. That was not the case here. I loved every single thing about this feel good-smile-from-ear-to-ear-eat-your-heart-out-holiday love fest. This absolutely baked up mouth-watering charm and delivered a fresh a warm sweet treat to indulge in. Don't critique it, just enjoy and be deliciously entertained!!

As some other reviewers noted, the storyline moved along well. While the bakery theme is not too far off the usual themes, the perfunctory "conflict" moment was not too contrived. I find Christopher Russell to almost always deliver a likable, charming character and manages to avoid coming off looking like the bumbling idiot in front of the girl which is such a staple of this Hallmark type genre. The romantic chemistry was there, although Laura Osmes actually delivered that better than Russell. Why didn't he kiss her upon leaving after the family dinner? When she says 'I love you' at the end, why didn't he actually say that too? I sometimes wonder if these HM screenplay writers have any firsthand knowledge of how a normal male reacts under feelings of sexual attraction? One thing we don't do is just stand there, not saying or doing anything.