Cranberry Christmas

This movie was a little slow, but the cast was so good. I enjoyed it but wouldn't go out of my way to watch again.

There's been quite a few Christmas movies I've watched this holiday season that had a bit too much unnecessary giddiness in them. But this one was an enjoyable watch. No over the top giddiness, the characters were likeable and it had a good story. The leads had great chemistry together and the supporting cast did well too. I would definitely recommend this to family and friends.

Potentially, there was a really good movie to be found within the broad outlines of the overall situation and the plot. In this adaptation, however, while the actors pleasantly went thorough their assigned paces to reach a meaningful conclusion, there was almost no chemistry between any combination of the actors -- just a little, here and there. No Zing! No spark. Kind of like watching paint dry.

I'm a huge fan of Nikki DeLoach. She usually does movies for Hallmark that have a little more depth than all the fluff out there.

There are plenty of rekindling romance movies., Like at least one other reviewer, they are not my favorite. My enjoyment is in new developing relationships. This was a little different than most of the rekindling ones in that it involved two married people who had been together since they were very young. And it didn't involve a time travel, alternate universe, or dream reset. Nikki did one a little like this a couple of Christmases ago.

Nikki does her usual good job reaching down below the surface to pull up the feelings that are most important for her character and ones that most of us value. Benjamin Ayres plays well opposite her. There is chemistry, but it's quiet because that's what the setting requires.

The problem is there just isn't anything that makes the movie stand out like I usually expect from Nikki. That's more because of the story than anything. No great highs or lows. No surprises. The only tension is the future of their relationship. There is a little secret Gabe is holding until "the right time", but it was disappointingly trivial. There were some clues. "The right time" turns out to be about half way through.

This is the 5th Hallmark movie I have seen of the 2020 Christmas movie season. Hands down, the best movie thus far. Nikki Deloach was excellent; she has always performed great in Hallmark movies. Benjamin Ayres was pretty good too. And the supporting cast was great. The storyline/plot was a bit outside the norm for Hallmark, which I really liked here: the focus was on a troubled marriage as opposed to two people meeting and falling in love. I think this worked well; it touched on some important issues in this regard. I love Hallmark movies because of their Christmas spirit and festive atmosphere. You will not be disappointed: this movie provides all of this. Overall, well worth the watch, especially if you are a fan of Hallmark Christmas movies (as I am).