Nobody should watch Hallmark films with massively high expectations, their Christmas output particularly. If a Hallmark fan or wanting to see as many Christmas films as possible, expectations would understandably be higher. They are very formulaic with most of them being more of the same narratively and structurally, apart from sporadic attempts at changes of pace. There are a fair share of them though that are surprisingly above average and even good amidst the many average and less ones.
The 2020 output from Hallmark did vary in quality but was not near as bad or wildly uneven as it could have been. None of the films from the batch were really terrible, and a small handful of them were actually very good. 'A Timeless Christmas' is one of the very good ones and benefits from having the most unique premise in a while for a Hallmark Christmas film and the performances. 'A Timeless Christmas' is a fine example of why Hallmark's Christmas output or even Hallmark in general should not be immediately scorned at.
Did find the final third a little too on the rushed side from trying to cram in a little too much with not enough time to explore it properly.
Have often found the music for Hallmark films over-used and in need of a toning down tonally too. There are pleasant moments here and there is some authentic atmosphere, but part of me did think it still could have been used less in placement and been more understated.
On the other hand, a lot is done very well indeed. Erin Cahill is heartfelt and charming, Hallmark do not always score when it comes to having female lead characters that are likeable, but they score here. She has a pleasing and hard to dislike chemistry with Ryan Paevey, equally appealing, and for me their romantic pairing was more rootable than most Hallmark romantic pairings. The supporting cast do more than solidly too.
There are some lovely locations here, complemented very well by the photography, and some pleasant moments in the soundtrack. The script is light-hearted without being too frothy and is not as cornball or as soapy as other Hallmark Christmas films. The story deserves a lot of credit for doing something different, a word usually not associated in the same sentence with Hallmark, and is a lot more creative than most Hallmark films. Concept-wise and its execution 'A Timeless Christmas' is to me in the top 5 of the most creative when it comes to Hallmark Christmas films, and is the most unique. It is not as formulaic and there is less of the Hallmark cliches. The story is also very charming and heart-warming and the time travel element is not wasted, avoiding convolution too.
Concluding, surprisingly very good which was not expected. 8/10.
