The Noel Diary

I feel like I need a hard shower to get all the sap off after watching this. They used every cliche in the book to pull at the heart strings and create a Norman rockwell-like atmosphere with very fake-looking snow. And it's pretty much snowing the entire movie.

But the biggest fault is that the main characters didn't spend nearly enough time together to fall so deeply in love. I watched this without my wife because I figured she'd find it far too corny, and she would have. The big, emotional speech at the end sounded very familiar, and I'm sure I've heard variations in other rom-coms (though I don't think the com part applies here). Definitely don't see this becoming a Christmas classic.

I expected a dreaded Hallmark movie with a very weak plot but decided I would give this a shot due to Justin Hartley. I ended up enjoying it. It is a very simplistic movie, but it is far better than anything you would find on the Hallmark channel. It's a sentimental holiday movie that feels very Nicolas Sparks-esqe. There is a believable chemistry between both the leads but because I need to fill up IMBD's 600 character requirement, my only critique would be that maybe the female lead needed to be slightly older because the male lead looked closer in age to the female lead's mother. However, that was not enough to keep me from enjoying it. She was a great actress. Still a very sweet movie that I thoroughly enjoyed.

A famous author learns his mom has died and returns to his hometown to clean up her house. In the process he meets a woman looking for her birth mom and believes she had ties to his family.

I liked this movie a lot other than the pretty quick ending. Justin Hartley is really underrated as an actor. It was nice to see him out of Randall's shadow on This Is Us. The Vermont and Massachusetts winter scenery was beautiful and the cast dynamic was solid. The plot was simple but mostly believable.

As I said, my only complaint was the shotgun ending. Act 3 felt criminally short in comparison to the rest of the movie.

I wanted to like this movie because I am a Richard Paul Evans fan. I remember listening to the audiobook of this story a few years ago. In the book, the plot points are dealt with reverently and innocently (an Evans hallmark), unlike the writers of the screenplay who added characters that were not in the book and behaviors that were not in the book. They also left out some important reunions! Huh?!? All of this was very disappointing. I'm not sure Evans signed up for any of it.

In addition, there was a gloom hovering over the entire film. I'm not sure there was a sunny day anywhere. Every day was gray and snowy. The original story (as Evans wrote it) was about joy, forgiveness, and reunion.

Lots of missed opportunities. Skip this one and go to the library, a used bookstore, or Amazon and read the book instead. It's much better.

It's a heartwarming story; a feel-good story as most Christmas tales are although one might find it a bit cheesy.

The premise is rather unusual. How a diary could turn strangers into sweethearts, reconcile estranged relatives, and make a child fully understand her mother who abandons her is something to root for. And the movie brings out all the elements that make it a gem.

Justin Hartley and Barrett Doss have undeniably good chemistry on screen which makes their scenes together quite entertaining.

The soundtrack helps to energize it, and the cinematography captures the Christmassy feeling and tone.

There are many remarkable, quiet Christmas stories out there. This is one of them.