The Christmas Charade

This is the first 10 I have given a Hallmark effort - most are cookie cutter movies or series that if done well with good casting will receive a 7 or on a rare occasion an 8 - but this movie had it all - comedy, adventure, action and Romance - good grief could you ask for anything more - the casting was perfect. Rachel Skarsten was the perfect comedic, action and romantic foil for the loner FBI agent and the mix up to get them together on the wild adventure was priceless - the writing was crisp, the direction almost reminded me of an Indiana Jones movie , which for a Hallmark movie is high praise - I regretted deleting it off my DVR right after I did - I will certainly rewatch this unique Hallmark movie again. - Must Watch.

Absolutely loved this!

This was a fresh burst of wintery Christmas mystique for all you Hallmark Christmas movie lovers out there. It has the perfect elements of humor, mystery, romance, and Christmas that combine to create a truly wonderfully different story for the holidays. The characters were very well written. The actors did an outstanding job portraying those characters especially Rachel Skarsten and Corey Sevier, who also.did a wonderful job as director.

Sharon and Sevier have terrific screen presence and chemistry together and, in my opinion, should work together more often in roles such as these. I love it when actors are able to just relax and not take themselves too seriously. It makes them more relatable and believable in certain roles. Plus, just makes me like them more in general because you feel like you actually really get a sense or glimpse maybe of who they are at times "behind the scenes."

In most Hallmark movies I usually cringe or fast forward through at least a tiny bit of them because of the fact that they are just so darned corny or sappy. And I actually LOOOVE Christmas movies AND Hallmark Christmas movies!!! But in The Christmas Charade I found myself utterly enjoying each and every moment...couldn't wait for the advertisements to be over. It is a delightful story and different type of Hallmark Christmas movie experience, one that I hope they will continue with in the future because this has been the MOST ENTERTAINING Hallmark Christmas movie that I believe I have ever seen in my life.

The one thing I don't forward to in these Christmas movies are the same warmed-over tropes offered again and again by writers with no imagination.

The Christmas Charade broke the mold, even if it did offer a toned-down version of the "fake boyfriend trope". That element didn't dominate the story, and that made it easy to forgive.

Cory Seiver is one of the actors in these movies who can play different roles with different personalities. Not all of the actors have that talent. Here his serious FBI agent is full of engaging and amusing moments.

Rachel Skarsten does a great job as a quirkly librarian hooked on adventure romance movies. When they meet accidentally and insert her into his case, the dialogue and situations provoked some laugh out loud moments, which we find rare in these movies, but appreciate when they show up.

The story is funny and engaging, and actually manages to touch on Christmas in a more solid way than a lot of these movies do.

I actually really enjoyed the two main characters in this Hallmark Christmas romance. I thought the serious FBI agent role of Josh was perfect for Corey Sevier, who had excellent chemistry with Rachel Skarsten. Whitney (Skarsten) is a play-it-safe librarian who stumbles into the middle of an FBI art theft operation being conducted by Josh.

Dropped down in the middle of the operation, Whitney gets read into the FBI sting by Josh and his boss. Whitney has to play Josh's fake girlfriend as they infiltrate a charity at an art museum in order to catch a thief before he steals a priceless necklace that only makes an appearance once a year.

I loved the Christmas-lite approach to this Hallmark Holiday romance...I also really liked the twist with Whitney's parents. The FBI training was fun and I really appreciated that Whitney actually had some skills that she brought to the table.

For me this was a surprise and I really enjoyed it and think fellow romantics will also.

Loved it! A different style Christmas movie,that wasn't overly clichéd.

Was cast & acted very well,cinematography decent.. Only suggestion is toning down music,during moments of conversation.

This kept my attention throughout which is a rarity,since stories are predictable only with varied titles or actors.

Like that it didn't seem to take place in a small town,that needed help to survive a crisis.. Hope that Hallmark takes note of viewers enjoying something,that doesn't revolve around festivals & so forth.

The leads did seem to have decent chemistry,story had a few twist & turns that made it intriguing.

Like the Die Hard reference & what seemed,to be True Lies nod.

Worth checking out,during this holiday season.