Magic in Mistletoe

After Campbell's hilarious Three Wise Men an a Baby I had high expectations on a fun quick-witted flick. The movie was unfortunately low on the comedy, higher on tropes.

The premise was slightly different than normally in Hallmark Christmas films, with the prickly novelist and the competent (and not bungling) PR person. This should've translated in more sparkly banter than there was.

Lyndie Greenwood's female lead was radiant, but Paul Campbell's character felt a bit bland in comparison: sympathetic, but not with the same energy levels. I couldn't really picture those two as a couple.

It was a pity that the novel they talked about sounded much more exciting than this movie.

Full disclosure, I was hoping for a comedy since this film stars Paul Campbell (Three Wisemen and a Baby). The dude also wrote Unexpected Christmas, a classic. Alas, it wasn't meant to be. Paul plays Harrington, an author who wrote a series of Christmas novels focused on his hometown of (you'll never guess) Mistletoe. He posts a scrooge-like message online and is on the verge of being cancelled until his publisher's PR rep shows up to save him; wow him; spend time with him; hand him pens; decorate in ways he hates; slow the story down; meet people who already know him; accompany him to sparsely attended events. OK, all of these things. This film is incredibly uneven. Harrington seemed to learn his lesson in minute 36 or so, when my movie-watching buddy turned to me and asked if the movie was already over. Sorry, there was 1.5 hours of bland mushiness, and mild life-lessons remaining.

The movie was rather slow moving. But it was your typical Hallmark Christmas romance film so that's to be expected.

Most of the acting was average-Except the woman who played April. She was very good. It never felt like she was "acting."

Once again, there is a Hallmark movie in a small town with some Christmas festival going on. I don't know why they came up. Can't come up with better plot lines.

And it sure was slow moving. I wished I could fast forward.

It had your typical sappy ending. All is well with the world in a Hallmark movie. The drama from the conflict is insignificant in these movies. But it doesn't matter. This is like drinking a cup of hot cocoa in a small town in December. Soothing, comfortable, and basically unimportant.

I know I sound like the grinch but this is the worst hallmark Christmas movie I've ever watched...my wife and I watch alot but this guy and the leading lady would never make it in the real world...he's flat and drab in acting and is way below her pay grade...no chemistry at all. Most of these movies are around 5 with an occasional 7...maybe cause I'm a guy but I watch alot of these and this one was a bomb...if the guy could be replaced with most dudes they use it actually might have a half life...and the script of getting upset with the leading lady twice proves to me he's a turkey and she needs to find a better human being.

Magic In Mistletoe (2023) -

I liked the strength of Lyndie Greenwood as April, and she was witty and cool too, but I am starting to get tired of Paul Campbell as a leading man. His character of disgraced writer Harrington was a knob and took far too long to mellow or redeem himself. Perhaps Paul needs to take a different role within these films now? I've noticed his name as a screenwriter, maybe that could be his place going forward?

As the film started off I certainly thought that April would have been better off with "Harry's" best friend Chris (Oliver Rice) or even Lindsay (Amy Trefry), but I supposed that the point was for Harry to be a bit temperamental. I just felt that April deserved someone easier to deal with in the first place.

The concept of trying to rebuild someone's career after a badly thought out social media comment was very relevant in a world where cancel culture is rife and nobody ever seems to consider that maybe there was something else behind it, so I thought this look from the other side was on topic to balance the scales.

I did feel that they should have just asked Harry why he made the comment in the first place and maybe given him more of a chance to explain his sudden change of heart towards the season, perhaps pushed him to open up sooner.

And I do get annoyed when people hate on Christmas because they've lost someone. You should never do that and those that you lose would never want that. It seems like the stupidest reason to me.

Despite the fact that at the start I had been concerned by Mr. Campbell's involvement it did turn out to be quite a charming story and production in the end.

It was a mostly well put together piece and I liked the fact that they actually paid out for a decent amount of extras this time.

There was a bit too much of an obsession with Cinnamon though and I was hoping that April's final outfit/costume would have been a little bit nicer. His was definitely lame.

I wouldn't necessarily rush back to watch it again, because there are some absolute Christmas Crackers out there the deserve my time more, like have you seen 'Catch Me If You Claus' (2023) or 'To All A Good Night' (2023), but I wouldn't be annoyed if I did record it again in a few years time forgetting that I'd already seen it.

6.47/10.