Christmas by Starlight

The heir to a development company needs a legal babysitter according to his father and when he mistakes Annie for said legal babysitter he strikes a bargain with her to fake his legal council in return for him renewing the lease on her parents Starlight Cafe.

Annie's dog is named after Charles Dickens because Great Expectations destroyed her when she read it. Off the cuff our developer, William Holt, quotes Dickens, "I loved her, against promise, against reason, against hope, against all discouragement that could be."

When Annie gets William out of legal trouble with the preservation society she gets stuck putting on a high end fund raiser at her parents cafe The Starlight.

Can William hold up his end of the bargain?

There was cute banter in this fun loving holiday romance. In fact these two were both comedy and romantic gold.

"So what's your move, hotshot?"-William.

I like it for the crumbs of humor, nice acting, for fair portrait of maturization and the accent to family history and values. For the fresh ingenuity of story, to. And, not the last, for leading characters, well crafted, wise used. To be honest, exactly the honesty remains the main virtue of this different, in some measure, in inspired way, Hallmark film. Nothing fundamental changed but the story is more rich in nuances than you expect. So, I admitt, I like it.

When I read the story line I was a bit disappointed but these two did a great job and saved the movie from another predictable story line. They have great chemistry and had me laughing much more than most hallmark movies.

This is a very good Hallmark Christmas movie; it is one of the best thus far this 2020 season. The plot, of course, was quite predictable: I knew the ending already 10 minutes in after the scene at the coffee stand where the leads make a deal. However, to be fair, most people watching Hallmark films are not in it for unpredictability. I think, what is most important is whether the film pulls you in, engages you. This one pulled me from the start. I wonder if the writer was at all influenced by the film Two Weeks Notice (starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock), as this film reminded me a little of that one. The script, I thought, was well-written, especially the dialogue, the banter between the two leads. It was fun, cute and touching. Regarding the latter, I especially enjoyed the scenes with the gift Annie gave William and the one near the end where they have their first kiss (Annie's response to William here was touching, I thought). Overall, the acting was great. Kimberley Sustad's performance as Annie was impressive; for example, she did an excellent job with her dialogue (her banter) with William (played by Paul Campbell). Campbell had a good performance as well. I typically enjoy his Hallmark movies. The chemistry between the two was good but not great, not as good as the leads in, e.g., The Angel Tree (another very good Hallmark film this Christmas) or Lifetime's A Welcome Home Christmas. That said, the banter between the two was excellent. The supporting cast also had a good performance. Darren Martens had a strong performance in the role of Lyle. Finally, the scenery, props, and sets were all well-polished and quite festive. I did not notice any, e.g., fake snow in this one. Overall, this is a very entertaining Christmas movie, a nice new edition to Hallmark's 2020 movie lineup/collection.

So I like a good Christmas Hallmark movie, but let's be honest, I usually roll my eyes at least a dozen times. Between the cheesy banter and predictable plots, most of my laughter is ironic at best. Not so with this flick. I genuinely laughed a handful of times, and though you could see what was coming plot-wise, it warmed this cynic's heart. I really enjoyed the two main characters, and would definitely re-watch this film!