'Twas the Text Before Christmas

Love the ex-pat actors from Hallmark (Trevor Donovan & Merritt Patterson) but these GAF movies are super low budget and desperately in need of better dialog with very limited scenery. Even the Xmas decorations look cheap compared to the competition of Xmas movies from Hallmark, UPTV, Lifetime, etc. I devour Xmas and romance movies so I'm a conosseur of this genre and frankly after the first 15-20 min, I fast forward to the end and didn't miss much with this film.

I'm a big fan of the lead actors and the plots of their past Hallmark movies were way more complex and watchable compared to this GAF release. I know many actors moved to GAF to get production credit but obviously they didn't get script approval. This movie felt more like a low budget community stage production with a quickly written script than what I've grown to expect from other seasonal releases.

The GAF movies I wave watched so far have improved a little this year but the decorations & set design are awful to look at; too much just lumped on and it appears its recycled into several movies. It takes away from the improved story telling. Even the snow is visibly fake, no care is taken to create a convincing illusion of it. Someone is a sleep on the job and could do so much better with some effort Please please do not let your audiences and cast down with this lack of attention to the canvass on which the stories are told. Without which we are better off listening and not watching and that's a real let down.

I've often said that these Hallmark/Lifetime/GAC Family movies live or die based on their casting of the lead actors and how much chemistry those leads have. Safe to say, the producers got it one thousand percent correct when casting Canadian Merritt Patterson (one of my favourites, from ever since her early Hallmark days, through her incredibly risqué turn in 'Heatwave' and recent work on GAC Family) and Trevor Donovan, who is a sold actor and can always be counted on to turn in a good performance.

If Patterson and Donovan were good together two years ago in 'Jingle Bell Princess', they are GREAT here in 'Twas the Text Before Christmas', which features an inventive (if somewhat unlikely in real life) scenario that takes place over three Christmases (similar to one of my favourites, 'Four Christmases and a Wedding') and a well-cast group of secondary actors.

This slow-developing and pleasant movie is definitely one of the better Christmas movies you're likely to see in 2023.

Merritt Patterson is one of my favorite actors and I also like Trevor Donovan. My main complaint with this movie is the plot device of showing the characters lives only around successive Christmases. This device has been used several times, but it isn't as overused as many other premises.

The background for it all is a cornucopia of the usual stuff. Addie just broke up after a long term relationship. What little family she has is off jet setting for the holidays. Grandma decides to do some matchmaking. Both Addie and James will be leaving town soon after Christmas dinner. There were many other echoes of other Christmas movies, especially early on.

My problem is that there is too much jumping forward into next year and not enough spending time together and getting to know each other. Between Christmases their lives move on and we get brief recaps at the beginning of the next season. I thought it showed in the acting. Donovan and Patterson did a movie together last year and should have had great chemistry but I didn't really see it. It seemed like they were going through the motions to get on to the next Christmas.

Many Christmas movies have a cute kid that adds a spark and forms a bond with one of the leads. Paige did not play a big role in that sense. And two years after we first see her, she hasn't changed which isn't noticeable in an adult, but should be obvious in an early teen.

The movie is family friendly but might not have a lot to attract small children.

I continue to hope for great things from Great American Family, but it is not a good sign if two of their best veteran actors fail to deliver in one of the first premieres of the season.

The idea is not bad, leading actors i usually find likeable and the supporting ones were all pleasant, but it's like the writer and director tried to keep it as primitive as possible. Nor was there a hint of chemistry between the leads. Till the last moment they were willing to give up on each other, then he decides her happiness means so much to him that he's willing to follow her to another country... (when it makes a lot of sense to stay in his new home now, near his mom they both love...)

To offer a half-baked product that has all the potential of being a satisfying and original story with good actors must be ...sad.