A Merry Christmas Wish

A refreshing take on the city girl moves to the country theme so prevalent in holiday movies. The heroine is a decent human being who genuinely cares more about her family than the money she could get. Only thing that doesn't make sense is the title.

Janey is an advertising agent in New York when she learns a great uncle she stayed with as a kid has died. She returns home and reconnects with past friends while deciding what to do with her uncle's farm. In the process she has to choose whether to continue a town tradition.

A very humble movie that doesn't get caught up in itself. Also, best holiday kitchen and bedroom decorations for the win!

6.4 stars.

Sure, this has Jill Wagner. Even she can't resurrect a dead story. This is a standard Christmas movie across the board. The only problem with this standard movie is that it has absolutely nothing exciting or interesting, or original about it whatsoever. Take all the usual ingredients of a standard Hallmark, and it's simply that - standard. But the standards of this standard film are below average. The dialogue is mundane, and everything is cookie-cutter. This is why I called it the cookie cutter of cookie cutters, because it's literally nothing. Even the title is perfectly vanilla. This film is like a low end two-door Nissan sedan fresh off the assembly, no bells or whistles. Nobody brags about owning a Nissan sedan.

Project Christmas movie-watch continues but it seems I'm knee deep in Hallmark land already. Turning out these soporific seasonal romance movies seems akin to the film makers rearranging the slushy words in greeting cards to say the same thing in a different way.

In this one, we're introduced to New York-based advertising executive Jill Wagner's Janie character who seems to have it all. She's successful in her job, has a mirror-image boyfriend in wealth management and is getting ready to go with him to L. A. for Christmas.

Then, just her luck, she learns her rich, great uncle Randall has died and left her his farm at Brigadoon, sorry, that should read Woodland Falls, an idyllic little town three hours drive away from the city hustle and bustle, where she spent a happy childhood. So she makes the journey there to tie up the estate where she reconnects with her old childhood girlfriend, who now has a cute daughter and wouldn't you know it, hunky brother who apparently comes with the farm. We learn that her bequest comes with one condition, she has to continue the tradition of putting on the town's annual Christmas fair. Of course she's going to need help to do that and just where do you suppose she'll get a chunky hunk of help to do just that...?

It all ends up with our heroine having to choose between the city and the country, as well as the old slick, suited and booted beau or her new rugged, check-shirted boyfriend. No surprises for guessing which way she ends up going both times.

Listen, there's lots of Christmas Muzak playing in the background, there are plenty of Christmas decorations everywhere and everybody in Woodland Falls is just so gosh-darned nice as they make rosemary-flavoured honey and eat Friendship cookies, with Janie making their lives better yet with some free marketing advice she dispenses to all and sundry.

It's a typical seasonal TV movie, blandly predictable, supposedly heart-warming and undemanding if you like this sort of thing but in truth I think I'll look for something a little more substantial next time I peruse the schedules.

A Christmas movie with the classical theme of the unplanned return to the home town in the Christmas period. Janie Collins who works and live in Manhattan has to come back to Wodland Falls because of the death of her great uncle Randall and surprise she becomes owner of the farm of Randall: a great surprise for her. Then another surprise in a letter Randall asked her to rganize the Winter Wonderland in the barn of the estate.

Janie meets Dylan, the brother of her best friend Nicole, little by little she knows other people and prepares the Winter Wonderland with the help of Dylan, at the same time Jane has some memories (the song that she was dancing with Randall). Dylan is full of humour and very careful with Janie. Janie has also moments of doubts about her stay in Woodland Falls.

I enjoyed the performances of Jill Wagner, Cameron Matheson Morgan David Jones and Jeanna Jarvis.

Wow! I forgot how much I love Cameron Matheson! He is the perfect leading man for a romance movie. Those eyes, that smile, he's just perfect! Age is not hurting him at all either. I recall watching and enjoying his movies years ago.

I don't know where I've been to not have seen him in so long but I'm glad I caught him in this movie. I had never heard of Jill Wagner before now but she was also very good and convincing.

These romance movies get rushed because there is less than two hours to convince us that the love is real in the ned and this movie did it for me.

A few movies this year also had me grinning from ear to ear by the last scene, which almost always incudes a deep passionate kiss and this movie doesn't disappoint. It went a little further and made me actually envision the couple's future together and that's the biggest reason they got the 10 rating.

The farmhouse used in this movie was beautiful and so well decorated. It made me want to move back to the country.

Great movie and love story. Hope to see both these actors again soon.