We Wish You a Married Christmas

I can't think of a movie with Kristoffer Polaha that was a dud until now. I loved Holly and Ivy which was the first time I saw Marisol Nichols so I wanted her to do well.

The story is extremely simple and basically a vehicle for a lot of humorous gags. I didn't find enough of them funny so I think this will be a movie that appeals to people who like that style of humor and leave other people like me wanting more. The story is totally predictable. Once you know the setup, it's easy to lay out what the outline for the rest of the movie is going to be. One slight exception is a side romance that totally lacked development and then bingo at the end, it's there. There are a lot of the usual Christmas activities that are so often crammed into these movies.

As for romance there's no chemistry. It was like two actors doing their parts alone or to a blank wall. The plot points were there for restoring the romance, but they made no sense because of the missing connection. It didn't help that Robby had a 180 degree personality change which wasn't really developed. It just happened. And Marisol Nichols, as Becca, lacked any emotional response to those efforts.

There are a couple of scenes which involve alcohol in ways that I think detracts from this being a family movie, but then I also think the subject and humor were probably above the level of children.

We Wish You A Married Christmas (2022) -

I really liked the idea of the two leads as a struggling couple to start with, just for a change. It wasn't a case of finding old love or new love, but finding a way to make their existing love succeed. It meant that things would only get better for them and it showed that sometimes a relationship can be worth fighting for and that all it would take was just a moment away to see things clearly.

Having said that - I know that I'm a man and obviously likely to say this; but she was definitely the larger problem in the marriage, because he was obviously quite happy to keep trying, whereas she put up obstacles. It does get frustrating in these films how they always make the women out to be the drama queens, because we all know that it's the men who don't tend to talk about their feelings of express why they're upset and can cause just as much drama as any woman and sometimes more.

While I did like Kristoffer Polaha, he was handsome even if he did walk a bit like Lurch annd I could appreciate Marisol Nichols in her role, the two leading players couldn't make up for the poor execution of the story and the concept. So a lot of the incidental elements like the really special townsfolk and the incredibly fake snow added to whet became quite silly in places and also some bits that were really quite hard to believe.

Kris and Marisol seemed to be the only sane people in a whirlwind of stupid, which was a shame, because, as stated above, the change of formula was refreshing and appealing until the daft really started to grate. A little bit more thought and polish could have worked wonders on this story.

5.25/10.

This was really good. Combining a troubled married couple with existing Christmas movie tropes is exactly how you change up your movies while leaving the audience satisfied at the end. This was totally predictable but the journey was a lot of fun. Kris and Marisol had great chemistry and the supporting cast was awesome. It starts off a bit slow but if you stick with it past the first 15 min, it's a great movie.

There were some weird directing choices though. We don't need to see constant close-ups of one person when two people are having a conversation. It got to the point where it was a bit distracting but I still enjoyed the movie.

I love both Kristoffer Polaha and Marisol Nichols, which is why it pains me to say that this was not my favorite Hallmark Holiday film. The juxtaposition of a couple on the verge of divorce and the overly cheery backdrop of a Christmas inn in a small town who goes over the top in their Christmas decorations, lead to some awkward if not painful moments.

The decorations where great, the holiday festivities were great...the alpacas (or llamas) where great. I just had difficulty dealing with the real down topic of this divorcing couple. I am not divorced myself, but I can't imagine if I was, that I would want to watch a struggling couple during the holidays.

I was really looking forward to this film as it did have two great leads...and I think the advertisements falsely played up the humor in the film. It's possible that the film was more of a let down because of that.

Good holiday fix and if you don't mind the sad storyline, this could be for you.

I didn't watch this when it came out in '22 because of all the reviews, so this year I decided to give it a chance.

I guess it just goes to show how different peoples' tastes are, because I thought it was great.

Marisol Nichols has never been one of my favorites, but she and Kris Polaha were both great. This took a lot of range to pull this off, but they did: funny, sweet, sad, bitter, all the emotions you go through in life except grief.

Maybe it's just because I'm a grumpy, snarky divorced guy, but I laughed a lot, recognizing my own life and having the same reactions as they did.

There is a homosexual couple in the movie, mostly for comic relief, but they did have a big smooch. That turns a lot of people off. Amy Groening, one of my favorites, as a quirky animal painter was good .

All in all, I'm sure I'll watch it again. To each his own.