Mistletoe Magic

The movie gets off to a horrible start. The acting of almost everyone involved seems like the actors are trying too hard to deliver their lines. The dialogue is a combination of bland and stupid. The whole thing feels like hearing fingernails on a chalk board.

Either the acting got better or I got immune to it, because I stuck with it and I stopped noticing these problems.

The story is mostly predictable. The leads, Harper and Luke are thrown together for almost all of the screen time by a quest to find "magic mistletoe" from Harper's family's legend. Harper is pretty much a grinch, and not at all likeable for the early part of the movie. Being a "scientist" she doesn't believe in magic. It was unconvincing to me why she would spend so much effort for the mistletoe when she hates Christmas. Meanwhile Luke loves it. So you'll never guess what happens with Harper and Luke. OK, yes you will. The story has no great highs or lows, or surprises. Other than the lost mistletoe, and Harper's current absentee boyfriend, there is no tension. The conflict before the climax is even weak.

Jessica Sipos and Stephen Huszar, who as leads, dominate the story despite this website's cast listing showing them way down the list and it lists minor players as the stars. These two leads begin to generate some chemistry fairly late in the movie. Sipos' Harper isn't just uninterested at first, but she is rude and arrogant with Luke. Of course this changes, but I thought it was put off too late into the movie.

There are efforts at humor through exaggeration and silliness which fell flat for me. I did like a musical montage with Sipos trying on different outfits, including some Christmas theme costumes, mostly because she was dancing to the background music in a flirty way.

Boy, was this one cute! Great comedic acting, funny original script, and excellent chemistry between the two leads. Cute and appealing as Harper, the cynical Christmas hating meteorologist whose quest to find her family's magic mistletoe eventually melts her cynicism and Christmas hatred, Jessica Sisbo should be a hallmark regular. Her partner in crime is the owner of a Christmas Thrift store who used to be a chubby nerdy schoolmate of Harper, one of the popular kids. Huszar is excellent in this one, as is not always the case. He has never been one of my favorites, but his comedy and chemistry with Jessica is really special. The only two downsides are the actors who play Harper's bad boyfriend and her super annoying best friend. The director really needed to take her in hand. She was awful. Really over the top. As for the actor who played Brad, this is the second time I have seen him play the bad boyfriend of an appealing attractive lead. Maybe it's just me but I find him very icky. Even though that's kind of the point, He is miscast as a credible heartbreaker.

Anyway this one was a pleasant surprise and a real treat. And I especially loved the surprising little twist at the end. Well Done!

I was excited to see two stars of Chesapeake Shores team up in a Hallmark Christmas flick: Jessica Sipos and Stephen Huszar. The story is a bit thin: she's on a quest to find a magical Christmas bunch of mistletoe that belonged to her family, and she recruits him to help her. Still, since it's Christmas, we all make exceptions for silly plots and just enjoy the positive energy. Unless, there is none. . .

Jessica might be the most depressive Hallmark heroine I've seen. Her energy sucks everyone, including the viewers, down with her, although Stephen gives a valiant effort to buoy himself up. Her incredibly annoying sidekick also tries, but her efforts come off as spastic and mentally off.

They're supposed to be in a huge hurry to find the mistletoe and make it to her parents' house for dinner, and yet they saunter around town remarkably slowly and take breaks in their quest. They drink tea, bake cookies together, shop for presents, and take time out for a fashion show. How much of a hurry are they in? Seriously, folks. Jessica actually models different outfits for Stephen, prances around and dances. Personally, I felt the segment was a little inappropriate for the usual Hallmark fare. She flirted shamelessly and even wiggled her behind while making "cute" faces.

If the mistletoe is that important, why wouldn't they get to the mall as soon as it opens and be the first in line to speak with Santa? Instead, they stroll around at a leisurely pace, stand in line when the Santa stand has obviously been open for a while, then complain about what a long day it's been. It makes no sense. Not only is the plot full of holes and the screenplay irritating and repetitive, but the leading lady is just impossible to root for. She makes you wonder what Hallmark was thinking when it offered her a contract. She's incredibly insincere, with the one exception being when she thinks she's adorable.

I'm also surprised at the part of the script that talks about Stephen's character. He's given two traits: he used to be overweight, and he's a lawyer. It's supposed to be a huge shock that he'd traded fifty pounds of fat for muscle, and as soon as Jessica finds out, she starts looking at him with a twinkle in her eye. Doesn't that make her character shallow? And before she finds out he's earned his law degree, she makes fun of him for owning a thrift shop; afterwards, she accuses him of doing the exact same thing to her. In essence, two traits that show positive things about his character are only used to make her look bad. What an unsatisfying role for Stephen.

This movie avoided the usual, corny Hallmark trademarks. There was no "whipped cream" on the nose scene nor any Christmas cookie baking flour throwing scene. There was plenty of witty dialogue. Jessica Sipos is always natural and always solid. I thought that Alys Crocker was a real find and a hoot.

The movie was alright. It was sweet and charming in places and I liked it.