Ms. Christmas Comes to Town

I'm the biggest criric of Hallmark productions,must admit my feelings are usually negative.. Mostly due to cut,copy & paste stories.

So far this year it seems Hallmark is trying,maybe they got newer writers? Regardless,it's refreshing.

Oh sure.. Had some typical formulas,but wasn't filled with over used Hallmark clichés.

In all honesty was waiting for the health issue to dissappear(Christmas miracle)or some type of argument/misunderstanding that gets fixed quickly,but shocking it didn't actually happen.

This was cast & acted decent,plus as always.. Cinematography is nicely done.

The music wasn't out doing the conversations,it's nice hearing the actors talk.

Hope we see more new stuff.. You shouldn't be able to fall asleep,wake & feel you missed nothing.

Most years been watching Lifetime,so.. Keep up with your changes Hallmark! We can only take so many festival & other common topics,that are the same.

Although would be nice having movies in some actual,US cities being represented versus Canada.

Anyway.. Worth seeing this,at least once during the holiday.

But nothing more. The cast was semi shockingly underwhelming; i had to rewatch it after i fell asleep. It's not the best in the world (it's competing with the worse) but if you want cheese, do watch this our buy a block of cheddar. I do wish I could get my life back after this garbage.

My primary issue was the acting. It was so bad. It's like they didn't even care to try. The story was, like, average or expected. However you wish to define it. The whole thing left me feel nothing but boredom due to it's lack or realistic characterization. Its so sad to see stuff like this; lazy and uncaring. It simply disrespects the viewer-base (i want to like it, but they're legit making it impossible to do so)

Wow! I actually loved this Hallmark holiday film. Every time I see Barbara Niven, I forget how much I love her...this film was her show and she was fantastic. She plays the lead Gale, aka Ms. Christmas the famous and wildly popular holiday host of the HSC (Home Shopping Channel). Unfortunately, she receives the bad news that she has a glioblastoma (a terminal brain cancer) with at the most 2 years to live. She tells her friend and studio executive boss, Elizabeth about her diagnosis and her wishes to do one more Christmas road show without anyone being the wiser to her condition. Her compassionate friend and boss agrees, but on one condition...she travel with a personal nurse in tow. The cover story for nurse Travis (Brennan Elliott), becomes that he is Elizabeth's godson and going on tour with Ms. Christmas to learn the ropes.

Ms. Christmas' contract allows her to pick her successor, for which she has wanted her longtime friend and assistant (the daughter of her deceased best friend) Amanda (Erica Durance). The plan is to bring Amanda on to set for this Christmas' road-trip as Ms. Holiday, Ms. Christmas' apprentice as she spreads cheer across small towns in Washington state (only as a Washington state native, born and raised...I can tell you it wasn't, I wish it was). A slight wrinkle ends up being that Amanda has already met Travis...sort of, when she mistakes him for her blind date. The two really have chemistry and Ms. Christmas brings Travis on camera to join them after a Christmas makeover as Mr. Winter.

I loved all of the Christmas details in this holiday film...like the addition of new animated Christmas sun-catchers to their tour bus dash in each new town by their cheery tour bus driver, Murray and the Christmas cookie decorations, and the great Christmas wardrobe.

But the big story is Ms. Christmas' last tour and making it the best ever as her staff and colleagues have become her family over the years since she prioritized her career, sacrificing her own family. When out of the blue a blast from her past shows up...and as much as she pushes him away, he doesn't take no for an answer.

Brennen Elliot and Erica Durance are fantastic independently and together and paired with Barbara Niven...the three of them are fire. They really complement one another. And the story line was great. I loved the handling of a terminal condition, with compassion and kindness. I loved how important it was to Gale to not just pass her role off to Amanda...but to really help her succeed, not just with encouraging words...but by also being with her, in her ear piece for her first solo on screen performance. It was nice to see how people should be treating each other. There were no villains in this story and there was no miracle cure...making this more true to life than a lot of stories I have seen brought to the holiday screen. I highly recommend this film to Hallmark fans, fans of Barbara Niven and fans of Christmas.

(I did have a slight issue with the commercial aspect of the film, and am not a proponent of the home shopping network...but I am aware it exists and has a huge following. I also think that they handled the story in a way to not emphasize the gross commercialism and focus more on the beauty of Christmas and the Christmas spirit.)

This production caught my attention when I saw Brennan Elliott (virtually guarantees a 7+ rating, just due to his professionalism and relaxed posture on film). Then you mix in two more seasoned actresses, Barbara Niven (Chesapeake Shores) and Erica Durance, the movie had am emotional maturity (not just by age) that has been lacking in this season's movie offerings. Again, the storyline is only a small twist from a lot of Hallmark's formulae, ie. Travelling to small towns for the holidays. What makes this story gratifying is the interaction of the 3 central characters. It is believable, onscreen, how they care for one another, and the romance that develops between Ms. Holiday and Mr. Winter is quite conceivable, despite a very short backstory. The kiss is definitely warranted. Ms. Christmas is elegant, and earnest. She thinks of Ms. Holiday as her own daughter, and doesn't dump the dire news of her impending death on her or her high school sweetheart, who floats into the story as the secondary romance. The Christmas traditions are rolled into the screenplay, and fit in here (not forcibly), as a means of deepening the attraction of Ms. Holiday and Mr. Winter. All-in-all one of the best, so far, this year in strengthening your belief in the good of humanity (heartwarming). The movie closes, cleverly, by wishing us in the audience a Happy Holidays!

The start of this movie is fun and has a few surprises before the leads in this film start their christmassy tour on wheels. The actors are talented and it is impossible not to have high hopes for this film. However the story takes a turn for the worse, it becomes sappy and unrealistic as the bus moves from town to town. The storyline is rather bland and the cast despite their long experience and acting skills cannot make this holiday movie anything but a wreck. That said, the leads got a cool and down-to-earth way of being. I would love to see all three of them in a different Christmas film as soon as possible!