User reviews

Anything military touches my heart. I'm glad they embraced the life of how it's like to be in the military use - Love our military and their family. Thank you Halmark for acknowledging they exist

I just don't understand all the negative reviews this movie received....I grant you it wasn't an award winning movie but it wasn't a dud either. Julie Benz Is wonderful actress and the rest of the cast did a well enough job. I had a smile on my face at the end of the movie

I first saw this film a couple of Christmases ago and have since watched it again and I think it's pretty good. Granted, it's not the greatest film ever made but the leads give likable performances and I found the story believable and entertaining.

The main reason for writing this is in response to those saying the leads are too old for the parts they are playing.

Michael shanks was 46/47 when he made this film and Julie Benz was 44/45.

From what I was able to find out it appears the average age of a US Army Master Sergeant is 46.

Looks like they are both just the right age for their parts.

I thought this was one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. I absolutely love Michael Shanks and thought he was fantastic. I think the one that played Amanda was beautiful and played her part very well

Somehow this movie is attracting reviews from USA hating, anti military leftists. They seem to be disappointed that it wasn't anti war and anti military. As a veteran I respect and appreciated the way it handled the military service side with dignity befitting of the the sacrifice our veterans give for serving their country.

Also they show they have no concept of the Army rank structure as they think a grizzled Master Sergeant should be in his 20's or 30's. And why exactly should a veterans widow be in her 20's and 30's as well? Very strange. I found the age choice quite appropriate. My only quibble on that front would be how several of the actresses showed signs of plastic surgery to their faces. It is upsetting that these lovely women are in a system that makes them feel it is necessary to do that to remain relevant, and it didn't serve their roles as military spouses in this movie.

I wanted to really like this, but it was just too detached. I really didn't feel it. It felt like he had some problems brewing under the surface that their little play at Christmas spirit did not address or fix. She seemed to be just going through the motions and feeling like she should love him, instead of really loving him.

Anyway. An ok movie, and all the haters of our country and our military can jump in a lake or something.

Is it me, or are all the Hallmark movies getting some uplifting, better funding and improvements? The quality of them seem to be improving, which might have something to do with momentum and the crowd that watches these kind of sappy, predictable 'love dramas' is what I call them. But I keep watching them nonetheless because I'm a dreamer and I want to be hopeful that love can come to anyone and everyone at some point. But about the movie, I'm retired US Navy, so I kind of like the 'realistic' kind of military stories of today. It sucks to bring back deployment memories, but it's just a movie and it is enjoyable for a new Hallmark movie this year! I've watched it on 3-4 different occasions, but I seem to get distracted a lot with doing other things, so the last time I watched it was the time I saw it all the way through. I have to watch them at 11 pm to not be distracted that much and I live with my senior citizen mom. That's all. Enjoy your holidays and enjoy this movie!

I hope I never become as cynical as most reviewers on this website. This is a beautiful story of loss and healing. The comments that the actors are too old for their parts are absurd. Not everyone is some shallow twenty-something.

I am familiar with Ms. Benz acting in other movies and shows and I liked what I saw in her in this movie, more enlighten and spirited in her roll. Also, Michael Shanks showed so much enthusiasm in the roll he played as a wounded soldier. It about time to see him in a more a beautiful film. Between the both of them, they make a very good pair as roles in this film. Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

I am a widow and I know how the characters felt after losing a loved one. If you haven't been through the experience - you can't truly understand. I've watched the movie several times and it still tugs at my heartstrings.

Have seen some mixed reviews for 'Christmas Homecoming', on both sides of positive and negative strongly opinioned. With quite a number liking/loving the film, for its emotion and handling of heavy themes, so admiring that they had the themes in the first place and how they were handled. Yet also with quite a number disliking/hating it for in their cases unrealistic ages (meaning considering the leads too old for their characters), being pro-war and one-sidedness.

Count me in as somebody that mostly really liked 'Christmas Homecoming', while finding some issues with it. Issues that others have had with it. This is coming from somebody who loves Christmas and Christmas films, have got some surprising pleasure out of a good deal of the film seen as part of my recent festive film quest but have been critical of quite a handful without ever being nasty or with any intent to upset anybody.

Do think that 'Christmas Homecoming' is not perfect. The coda did feel too sentimental and tacked on, one that easily could have been left out and it would not have affected the film's quality at all. Some motivations could have been a lot clearer and more consistent and Jim is by far the better developed character of the two leads.

Some of the dialogue can be very cheesy and predictability as always is very high.

There is a lot in 'Christmas Homecoming' that is done right. Both Michael Shanks and Julie Benz do a great job in the lead roles, giving their difficult roles a lot of charm and tenderness. Particularly Shanks. Their chemistry is also understated and never forced, and am not as bothered as other people of whether they were age appropriate for their characters. What mattered to me more were the quality of the performances and the film is a winner on that front. The supporting cast don't stand out as much but are always a good match for the leads and don't overshadow them while having presence.

It is a pleasant looking film with the scenery standing out in particular, while the soundtrack matches the spirit of the holiday and the film's themes very well. Unlike some of the recently seen festive films, the characters were relatable and worth caring about even when there could have been more development to them. Story-wise, 'Christmas Homecoming' does have more depth than most of the films watched as part of the quest too, with contrivance and lack of realism being nowhere near as big problems as they can be with Hallmark/Lifetime (and similar) festive films. It was very brave exploring the themes that it did and so maturely and with such tenderness, making it a genuinely moving film without being too dark or too dreary. With these themes, it could easily have been over-serious, but thanks to the leads and their chemistry particularly the film still managed to be immensely charming, heart-warming and light-hearted.

On the whole, nicely done and one of those liked but not loved it films. 7/10

Dreadful crap. That is the only way to describe this garbage. In this latest Hallmark Christmas movie Hallmark proves once again that they have no original ideas.

This film borrows dramatically when it comes to emotional beats! This war time movie however is terrible. The casting is wrong and it never really touches on why a woman who just lost her husband would want to date another soldier? It also never goes to deep in the cost that war plays on veterans.

A better way to approach this movie would of been playing these characters as "Older" and both questioning the cost of war and if the USA should of really butted in? The War and why we are there is never addressed. That makes this film one sided.

It doesn't help that the soldier looks like he is about 60. The woman looks like she is 45 thinking/acting like she is 25.

One Huge Boring Mess!

It is a beautiful film first, for the nice try to be different by the classic recipe of genre. Second, for the fine work of M Shankd . Not less se- for the fair portrait of two adults across cure of loss and rediscover of the life. Poetic and gentle. And just charming. Sure, I do not ignore the cliches but it reflects different perspectives about the way to happiness and, not being original, gives a fair and, in some measure, precious emotions fist. Reasonable performances, inspired use of melancolia. So, just beautiful.

6.7 stars.

The characters in this - Benz and Shanks, I don't feel they are any more special than others overall. They are easy on the eyes, that's a bonus, although a bit on the more "mature" side of Hallmark actors.

The story is grounded in military honor, decency, bravery, and pain. We remember our nation's service-people, and we move on. She honored her husband, she missed him, she moved on ever so slowly. She's a wavering and very hesitant widow. She had a very difficult time letting go, and that was the most realistic, yet most difficult aspect of this film to stomach. She was primarily a military brat and the cliché applies, she will probably end up with another soldier.

I've got exactly 62 Hallmark X-mas movies on my DVR and I've only been recording for 5 days (round the clock on two Hallmark channels). Will I complete this task of watching 100+ by Christmas? Who knows, but if I fail, it won't be for lack of material.

As I watched this, I realized it's the music of Hallmark movies that makes them so deeply moving on a grander scale. Watch a movie without music, and I'll show you an uninspired human, watching a flat and lifeless film.

This movie was great, and it's probably the music that accounts for half of that, even though the music is really no better than any other Hallmark film. On that note (no pun intended), I was sifting through the movies to delete the lesser quality ones, because I'm running out of DVR space. This one was to be one of the casualties but I loved Benz in Dexter, so I had to check it out. And voila it hit my affections just like any other. I need a more effective selection process. The ratings are not totally accurate. I was about to cut an IMDB 6.4 rated, bad idea - it was great. I started watching an IMDB 7.0, and it was comatose, so I slashed it. I've tried to focus on pretty girls, great guys - nope... I'm starting to wonder if it's the people behind the scenes more than the talent.

I was sort of a military brat, probably was considered one. Dad worked as a contractor for the military, but he got stationed and moved just as often. I lived in NJ, AK, WA, Panama, back to NJ, then WA again. It was a roller coaster. Never stayed in one place more than 5 years until I was 20.

This movie has more relevance to us brats I suppose, nonetheless it's a good story, and it touched me where it hurts, and where it heals.

This movie is predictable and never really rises above that. There was nothing in the story that made it special.

The acting was mostly good. I was particularly impressed with Michael Shanks. He plays a disciplined and serious man who is a product of a lot of years in the army, yet he is still able to show some emotion including a positive attitude.

Julie Benz has a difficult part. I don't think you can watch this movie and not ask why her character would follow the course that she does. And I'm not sure the answer came through. Perhaps someone in that situation would get it, but the actor's and writer's job is to show it to the audience. I'm not saying Benz did a bad job. I tend to think more that the role might have been too much for anyone, at least the way it was written. Even Sergeant Mullins' choices were hard to understand. Shanks made a stab at it, but again I don't think the limitations of the film made it possible to portray it well.

There were definitely some heartwarming moments and I think on the whole I would recommend it with some reservations.

Christmas Homecoming was a beautiful, heartfelt Christmas movie. Benz and Shanks did an excellent job portraying wounded military hearts trying to save a history museum in the town. They were the perfect ages as adults having gone through losses in their lives and finding joy again together. And the music was lower so you could hear the dialogue clearly. Thank you, Hallmark, for a great touching movie. Thank you to all our veterans who have served. They are all our heroes.

Fine Xmas viewing.

'Christmas Homecoming' is as cheesy and predictable as you'd expect, but that's not a negative as long as they execute events well - which this does. It has solid performances from the seemingly always likeable Julie Benz and co-star Michael Shanks, while it also features a satisfactorily hearty and warm plot.

Julie Benz and Michael Shanks take a well-written script and give nicely memorable performances in this story of two people with personal issues that they strive to resolve during the Christmas season. Benz is particularly believable and interesting as a military widow struggling with the loss of her husband while encountering (by chance) a soldier (played by Shanks) struggling with the loss of his comrades. This is not your cookie-cutter Hallmark Christmas couple, but rather, two intelligent characters whose emotions are sincerely felt and discussed. Nice pairing of these two very good performers. Supporting cast does well, too, particularly Jordana Largy as Lily, the newly widowed wife of a vet who had a connection with the soldier played by Shanks. The "One Year Later" sequence that is tacked on at the end is a little contrived but it doesn't detract from the charm of the story. We watch this one every year.

This is one of those films that make you hate "Hallmark Movies". The screenplay is terrible. The acting quality is not there. You have 2 people who are 20 years too old for the parts.

In this film a widow of a soldier is hard up for cash. Her hours are being cut down at work. She is now renting out a room and she happens to rent it out to a solider that is on the mend from combat duty.

Together they are both not only mending each other but they are also trying to save the city's museum. Because this is a Hallmark film you know what is going to happen. A SUGAR COMA!!!

I absolutely loved this movie! Not only because I love anything that puts the military in a favorable light, but because this is a beautiful love story mixed in with stories of healing. I loved Michael Shanks in the role of Sgt Mullins. The chemistry between him and Julie Benz is electric from their first meeting. As they both heal, their romance unfolds and endures ups and downs.

When a wounded soldier rents a studio apartment from a grieving widow, whose own soldier husband was lost in action, emotions begin to become conflicted.

Generally, my reviews are ridiculous and nowhere close to being serious. However, I do not mess around with the sacrifices our military personnel make on our behalf.

I watched this movie precisely because of the military based plot. It's a Hallmark...but, the movie did well enough to weave in the hurt and grief of those who served and lost friends and loved ones, from multiple angles.

It isn't the best show, but it is a good one to teach little kids about those who serve and the pain that accompanies it, whether they come home or not.

Merry Christmas to the real heroes, who sacrifice so much everyday to preserve our freedoms!

I lost my husband in the Iraq invasion. He was sent there because George W Bush lied about Iraq having "Weapons of mass destruction". I was left alone with 2 children. I then had to move out of base housing because "I was not in the service".

This film show us nothing of the pain of explaining "loss to children". It also show "nothing of the 24/7 pain" that you go through when you lose someone. My husband hated the war! "He was mad when had to go". He was mad when fellow vets were "Hushed" when they even dared to question the mission.

So my children are now 22 and 24. They will not enlist in the war because our country only cares about rich people now.

This film makes saints out of vets which truthfully "THEY ARE NOT SAINTS". They are just doing what they are told. When one vets saves another vet "That's a Hero", When they enter a country with a TANK "Do you think they seem like heroes to the people who live there?"

This film was crap. It will only be good to people who "Never question authority"