The Christmas Charade

This movie had me at the opening scene. It wasn't the typical high-falutin female lead walking thru her house or office in the boiler plate business suit yaking on her phone with her (empty) prop coffee cup in the other hand. And bonus, no Hallmark hair ringlets, Merry Christmas to us!

I liked Whitney's parents, even if they were nosy and intrusive. It's always a pleasure to see Rob Stewart.

This one is my favorite of the 2024 movies so far. If you like the more light hearted Christmas movies, please give this one a go. If for no other reason than to enjoy the absence of the Hallmark ringlet hair!

The Christmas Charade was pure fun and breezy joy from beginning to end. Rachel Skarsten (Whitney) brings a big dose of brains, beauty and comedic skills to this gem of a movie (pun intended), and Corey Sevier (Josh) hits it out of the park again as both actor and director.

The quick synopsis is: Librarian Whitney is on her way to meet a blind date at a restaurant. FBI agent Josh is headed to the same restaurant to meet a fellow operative who'll be posing as his date, and their assignment is to meet and gather info from a couple who are suspected art thieves at said restaurant. A date mixup ensues (the fellow operative is delayed by overzealous carolers) and Whitney is mistaken for Josh's date and quickly becomes involved in the covert operation, which involves a pricey Christmas necklace.

I loved the spy theme of the story, complete with Bond-esque music and not the usual cutesy background stuff played in most Hallmark caper movies. It's always fun to see Jayne Eastwood (The Santa Clause), and the rest of the supporting cast is great! This is a holiday must-see, so don't miss it.

Whitney (Rachel Skarsten), is a librarian living a hum drum life, and finds herself in a real-life adventure when a blind date mix-up leads her into an undercover FBI operation. She is forced to pose as the girlfriend of Special Agent Josh (Corey Sevier), and gets involved with the strategy to help track down and capture a thief targeting the valuable Heart of Christmas necklace that will be on display at a Christmas Eve charity ball.

This is a fun adventure movie with many surprises and twists and turns in the plot to keep you entertained. Corey and Rachel have excellent chemistry together and are perfectly cast in their roles. There is also some wit and humor thrown in for good measure too, like a hilarious reference to the movie Die Hard. Corey is one of my favorite actors and he even directed this movie and did an excellent job! THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST HALLMARK MOVIES!!! An enjoyable watch and not what you'd expect from a Christmas adventure.

Loved it! A different style Christmas movie,that wasn't overly clichéd.

Was cast & acted very well,cinematography decent.. Only suggestion is toning down music,during moments of conversation.

This kept my attention throughout which is a rarity,since stories are predictable only with varied titles or actors.

Like that it didn't seem to take place in a small town,that needed help to survive a crisis.. Hope that Hallmark takes note of viewers enjoying something,that doesn't revolve around festivals & so forth.

The leads did seem to have decent chemistry,story had a few twist & turns that made it intriguing.

Like the Die Hard reference & what seemed,to be True Lies nod.

Worth checking out,during this holiday season.

Throughly enjoyable. Like prior roles in Hallmark Christmas movies "Royal Nanny" (MI 5 agent) and "Christmas Island" (Commercial airline pilot), Skarsten is now a character right out of Hitchcock's classic "North by Northwest": Rather than Cary Grant it is now her character that through mistaken identity becomes involved in a complicated plot to prevent a jewelry heist. With scenes that recall "Diehard" and "Mission Impossible I" from years ago "Christmas Charade" is a delightful romp in the "this is fun to watch" genre regardless of whether Karsten could really slide down a rope suspended from the overhead ceiling. If Tom Cruise can do it...push the "I believe" button and so can Rachel. I still have "Royal Nanny" and "Christmas Island" on my DVR...and "Christmas Charade" is now added to my "watch again" collection of Christmas movies.