Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas

This role is much more dramatic than the Three brothers movie.

Holland Roden is excellent as the woman who receives a heartfelt message in her voicemail that is actually meant for someone else, so she decides to track down the recipient.

Roden looks so familiar, but I don't recognize anything in her bio. Maybe a commercial?

She has great chemistry with Hynes, and they both show some fine dramatic acting chops. There is also time for some funny moments as well, which is what he is mote known for.

I would be remiss not to mention the performance by Steve Bacic. He is usually the smarmy guy you don't want to see the leading lady end up with.

Here he shows he can handle a dramatic role with skill.

They play the same song at the end as Time for ME to come home. I still hate that song, but this is an excellent movie, and I recommend it highly.

I watch "The Voice" and I find Blake Shelton to be the funniest part of that show. When I heard that he and his mother were responsible for this Hallmark holiday film, I made a point of checking it out. I was not disappointed.

If you are a fan of Hallmark films, this one will seem fairly conventional in the early going. A young woman (Holland Roden) confronts difficult feelings every Christmas, due to past events. This holiday is different, because she becomes involved in a search to solve a romantic mystery. She is assisted by an old friend (Tyler Hynes) who had dropped out of her life years ago.

Together they go on a quest that causes old feelings to re-emerge. But there is more to this story, which is actually a tale of two relationships. Stick around for the final act, because it delivers a narrative surprise and packs an emotional wallop.

The entire cast is good, but Holland Roden has the meatiest role and is the emotional linchpin of the story. She displays a range of emotions and convincingly anchors the complicated but enjoyable storyline.

This past year, Hallmark movies have been very disappointing. The writers just have not been able to get out of their own way, continually falling back on tired stories and too often used tropes. There were two different stories that were intertwined, both revolving around lost love. Tyler Hynes, a longtime Hallmark leading actor was paired with Holland Roden, an excellent addition to the Hallmark family. Elizabeth (Roden) receives a voicemail that was intended for Madelyn (Meghan Gardiner), which was from Madelyn's former boyfriend, Carter (Steve Bacic). Elizabeth teams up with longtime friend Josh (Hynes) to try to find Madelyn. The acting was excellent and the way the writers tied together the two stories kept my interest throughout.

I've been blown away by so many of this year's Hallmark Christmas movies. In a good way. I think I've only misses one of these (ie in the series for lack of a better word), and this one by far is my favorite. When I watched this tonight, I was so moved that I had to review. I was crying by the end, and I very rarely cry at these. The story, the characters, I loved it all. And as much smaltz is one would expect from a hallmark movie, this had the perfect amount - for the romantics and the ones who just want to see a decent movie. THIS IS DEFINITELY A RE-WATCHABLE MOVIE! I plan to make my brother watch it; i have a feeling he'll agree (he's agreed with the two other movies I made him watch from this year's lineup, and he's commented to me they're different and better.)

'Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas' (2022)

Opening thoughts: Have said more than once in previous reviews that Hallmark's 2022 Christmas output was extremely hit and miss, especially the Movies and Mysteries block. There were some good ones in the block, but when the block missed it failed very, very poorly. Part of me had a good idea that 'Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas' would be decent at least, it sounded interesting, had the always worth watching Tyler Hynes as the male lead and Hallmark have been responsible for a good number of good and more serious-themed films.

'Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas' is one of those Hallmark films with a more serious tone and is an example of one done well. Excellently actually in this case. It is for me the joint best 2022 Hallmark Movies and Mysteries film (not just Christmas but overall) along with 'Colour My World with Love', the best Hallmark film since that and one of the best 2022 Hallmark films. Also one of the best they ever did.

Bad things: Did feel that the ending was on the sappy and anti-climactic side, but for me that was it for the faults.

Good things: Everything else worked really well. Can't wait to see more of Holland Roden, judging from her sincere and poignant performance as a character who is true to life and easy to get behind. She has a sympathetic Hynes as her partner, who is typically down to earth and understated while never being dull.

Their chemistry is subtle and sweet, never looking awkward or cold. Their relationship develops realistically and their characters are well defined and relatable, not too perfect and any flaws are not exaggerated. This is also applicable to the supporting characters, all strongly played. Steve Bacic particularly excels against type.

It is a beautifully filmed film, complementing the picturesque scenery beautifully. The music didn't feel intrusive or overly low key, the placement never questionable or distracting. The non-cheesy and non-over sentimental script rarely sounds awkward or melodramatic, apart from some sappiness at the end. The story is gently but not dully paced, very soothingly gentle, very moving and also very heart-warming. Never found it difficult to relate to and found the family relationships and themes handled tactfully. The more mysterious parts don't feel too predictable either.

Closing thoughts: Overall, great.

9/10 (a rare rating for a Hallmark film, my usual highest rating for their films is either a 7 or 8)