Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle

I know not to expect too much from Hallmark Christmas movies, yet I was still underwhelmed. The actors were awful, the storyline was ridiculous, and the chemistry between the romantic leads was non-existent. It's a good thing that there are three more of these crapfests in the Unwrapping Christmas movie series to watch. And yes, I'm still going to watch them because I'm a glutton for punishment and there's always a teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy chance that one of the four might be tolerable. I love a good Hallmark Christmas movie but sadly this was not one of them...

Why, oh why do I do this to myself???

The story was ok and the guy didn't annoy me as much as the girl did.

She was very weepy. She also said "Michael" so many times, I was cringing. It was like in almost every sentence she spoke to him. She did the same when speaking to her "Dad". I don't know what her purpose was for doing it, but it sure was annoying.

Not sure that this is a writer thing as much as the actress inserting it herself. I couldn't bear to watch this ever again.

The idea of the wrapping business is interesting but I have no idea how a business like that can survive year round with 4 main people plus other employees.

I enjoy these movies. I really do. But I am picky about my leads. They need to have chemistry, the men need to have personality, and being able to act is a huge must. These Unwrapping movies are just awful. Where did they find these guys??

This one in particular, the male lead talks like English isn't his first language. He is not believable as a father or the owner of some huge company. Natalie Hall is fine but she needed someone way better than this guy. The writing is not good, however, and a lot of the supporting cast can't act either. Just pretty awful all around. This one is so bad I do not plan to suffer through the other three.

Of course I had never heard about this movie, as I usually don't bother with Christmas movies. But every now and again, with years apart, I go all in and spend all days in December up to the 24th watching sappy Christmas movies. And 2024 would be one such year, and thus I happened to stumble upon the 2024 movie "Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle" as I was essentially sitting down to watch any Christmas movie I possibly could.

Was I expecting much? No, not really. I mean, the movie's cover is a bit boring, so I didn't really have any grand expectations. Not that I normally have high hopes for Christmas movies, as they tend to be rather formulaic and generic; once you've seen one Hallmark Christmas movie, you've essentially seen them all. But still, I opted to give director Max McGuire the benefit of the doubt.

Writer T. Booker James put together an enjoyable and entertaining script and storyline. I will say that the movie actually turned out to be an enjoyable Christmassy movie, for better or worse. I was genuinely entertained, and surprised of course, with the outcome of the script. Sure, it was generic and formulaic, but it was sappy enough to actually make it work and stand out in a vast sea of similar Christmas movies.

Of the entire cast ensemble, I was only familiar with leading actor Alec Santos. I will say that the acting performances in "Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle" were good. And there was a good on-screen chemistry between leading actress Natalie Hall and leading actor Alec Santos.

I am sure that the diehard fans of the sappy Christmas movies out there would really enjoy this 2024 movie.

My rating of director Max McGuire's 2024 movie "Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Did Hallmark put out an open casting call throughout Canada which read: "Actors, have you been rejected for a role in a Hallmark Christmas movie? We want you! The less talented you are, the bigger the role." I kept thinking that surely this movie was going to improve, but each scene introduced another terrible actor. The phony camaraderie of the 4 shop owners was cringeworthy. Plus, how can a little wrapping store support 4 women, enabling them to dress in upscale clothing and live in expensive places? Then the hero "hunk" looks scruffy enough to have recently jumped out of a freight train car. No, I will definitely not be watching the other three movies.