Jingle Bell Run

The jock and the brain are paired up on a great Christmas race event that has them solving puzzles and completing challenges as they travel to major American Cities.

"His competitiveness is bringing out his inner Scrooge."

Grade school teacher Avery gets signed up to compete by her sister and she meets Wes while she is trying to get coordinated at the gym. Their first meeting is a total disaster, so when Wes, a retired professional hockey player, is paired with Avery...he is less than thrilled.

The two end up pairing pretty well together, continuing to advance in the competition...when the producers approach Wes to play up the Romance aspect with Avery. Seems like a recipe for disaster.

I like both Ashley Williams and Andrew W. Walker...they had great banter and decent chemistry together. I think fans of romance and The Great Race will really enjoy this one.

This is one of my favorite movies now. I enjoyed every moment of it. Jingle Bell Run is comical and awesome. And has an amazing cast. Ashley and Andrew have great chemistry, and make a awesome team. I like how Wes and Avery. Became close! And form a unbreakable bond. Also! I was so happy to see Brad in this movie. He is an amazing actor. Hallmark is making some great Christmas movies this year. Keep up the great work! Seeing Avery and Wes. Going across the world was epic. It was a adventure of a lifetime. This movie deserves nothing but positive reviews. Instead of hate! Hallmark rocks. Always!

Initially when I sat down to watch the 2024 Christmas movie "Jingle Bell Run", I have to admit that I harbored no expectations. Why? Well, the movie's cover isn't exactly enticing, nor does it have a particular sappy Christmas feel to it. But since I had never heard about it, of course I opted to give the movie a fair chance and thus added it to my December Christmas movie marathon.

Writers Tom McCurrie and Stephanie Sourapas churned out a script and storyline that definitely put the movie's cover and initial presentation to shame. The storyline was actually rather enjoyable and well-written. It was a script that sort of broke the formulaic theme of sappy Christmas movies, yet at the same time still managing to remain a sappy Christmas movie. Thumbs up to the writers for that accomplishment.

The only familiar faces on the screen for me were actress Ashley Williams and actor David James Lewis. The acting performances in the movie were good, and leading actress Ashley Williams and leading actor Andrew W. Walker had great on-screen chemistry and made the movie work nicely.

I was genuinely entertained throughout the course of the movie. And if you enjoy sappy Christmas movies, then you certainly should sit down and watch "Jingle Bell Run".

This is actually a Christmas movie that I will say is worth sitting down and watching, as it deviates from the standard archetypical formula of sappy Christmas movies.

My rating of director Lucie Guest's 2024 Christmas movie "Jingle Bell Run" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Here Hallmark has made a Christmas movie with a reality show theme as contestants vie for a million dollar prize while engaging in a race across the country. Does it work ?

Yes, because Williams and Walker are such engaging performers, so they are able to carry this off. Plus, there is some comedy and sentimentality that is quite good.

The supporting cast does well, too, particularly Teana-Marie Smith as Shirley. So, basically, this works well and is an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours. It's not one of Hallmark's best but it is satisfying and it will not make you feel like you wasted your time. It's worth it.

Andrew Walker and Ashley Williams are two standards of Hallmark Christmas movies for more than a decade. Walker's first was in 2012, and Williams in 2011, and they've both appeared in MANY of these Christmas movies over the years.

The only issue I have with Ashley is that she tends to smile ALL the time, even in some situations where a smile isn't called for. However, that's a small gripe, because she does always bring a lot of life to her roles. (And why is it I always initially confuse her with Kimberly Sustad LOL).

The movie starts out with a bit of a silly episode to extablish an antithetical romance, then they wind up teamed--without their choice--in the Amazing Race style contest. The antithetical element quickly disappears after that.

The movie spent plenty of time in relationship building, making their growing regard for each other believable, and as Amazing Race fans, we enjoyed that element of the plot.

Recommended.