Where Are You, Christmas?

I love Lyndsy Fonseca and have since her turn in Nikita. It's great to see her doing another Christmas movie, and this one is good. It feels oddly similar to Next Stop, Christmas back in 2021. But it doesn't take away from this being a good movie and her giving a good performance. The whole cast is good, and the setting has that small-town Christmas charm these movies love to showcase.

The message of finding your Christmas spirit, which is so prevalent in Christmas movies, is handled very well. It doesn't seem too forced or outrageous, and the whole premise seems very grounded in the hustle and bustle of today.

This one is a keeper and worth watching,

First, nice story, very typical Hallmark (with can be a good thing). The two leads had great chem and were nice to watch together. Lyndsy was funny on her own and a better actor than some of the other Hallmark Heroines.

But there were too many problems to overcome for me to like this more.

1) Dad's constant passive aggressiveness toward his daughter. No wonder she doesn't come back more often. I know I wouldn't if I had face that barrage of attacks.

2) The green screen effects for a bunch of the fake backgrounds (in color or BW) were so cheap, I thought they were done with an iPhone. I guess if they had to blow their budget on the BW -> Color stuff, something else was going to suffer

3) Dad DOESN'T get his color after the heartfelt convo with daughter, but only when the rest of the town sings his praises... self-centered much?

4) Too much of a rip off of Pleasantville. My wife and I often play the "guess the movie it's based on", but this wasn't even subtle.

Good people in a less than good movie.

Addy is going home for Christmas after his brother asked for it. She usually doesn't go back during this season so this is quite exciting for everyone. While having problems with her car she meets Hunter, a mechanic who is dealing with stuff of his own. She accidentally wishes Christmas doesn't exist and he is the only one who can help her. Funny.

Such a imaginative plot, one that I wasn't expecting but quite liked. Michael Rady never fails (at least for me) and I think Lyndsy Fonseca is quite funny and I hope she gets to make more movies.

Something I really like is that this movie kind of mocked Hallmark with two lines: one about the NYE's movies starting in June and at the end about someone falling in love and kissing like in those movies. Nothing bad just the truth.

For once, the actors playing the parents could actually be the leads parents. They always are so young. I felt this movie wasn't so much about romance but the Christmas spirit. In my opinion, the leads had few scenes for them to fall in love.

Not a favorite regarding the romance but overall, nice Christmas movie.

Very rare to enjoy a new holiday movie,that Hallmark has put out over the years.. With that said,was it perfect? No! Was full of clichés,including taking a concept done from Pleasantville.

However actually nice it wasn't about saving a business,festivals or usual themed topics.

Was cast ok,feel another lead actress might of did better.

Didn't even recognize Julie Warner,until double checking who the mom was played by.

Acting overall was decent enough,as well the cinematography.. Some color adjustments despite the black & white parts felt dull in vibrancy,so that may of helped it feel more magical.

Music didn't overwhelm the conversations,but could be toned a bit.

As mentioned rare to enjoy newer movies,have only liked a handful in years because Hallmark mass produces cookie cutter productions.

Worth checking out,as its something different.. Well,for Hallmark anyway.

It is difficult to find truly new themes for these Christmas movies. It was a good effort borrowing the main idea from Pleasantville to give us a new angle for this Christmas movie. But when it comes down to it, there were still many of the usual Christmas movie subplots. Addy living in big city Chicago comes home for Christmas. Like many of the leads in Christmas movies, she hasn't been home in a while and there is family resentment. And even Addy is having trouble finding her Christmas spirit. It gets so bad that she wishes Christmas away completely.

The rest of the movie is Addy trying to restore the color of Christmas, first to those around her and ultimately to herself. She quickly teams up with her romantic opposite, Hunter.

I usually consider Michael Rady to be one of Hallmark's go-to actors, but I was disappointed this time. He and Lyndsy Fonseca didn't have much chemistry and the inevitable love affair between the characters lacked credibility. Part of this was because Addy was the center of the story until later in the story and until then Hunter was secondary. Another reason for lack of chemistry was the attitude of Hunter. His wish to stay out of the spotlight came off as him wanting to be a victim.

I thought the vehicle for Addy's restoration was obvious until it wasn't. I was mostly wrong leaving the movie with a cliche ending.

Still, give the movie points for a new take on losing the Christmas spirit. My interest was maintained to the end despite my preferring a slightly different ending.