'Twas the Date Before Christmas

I am so happy to see sweet Amy Groening finally get a lead. I've been saying she deserves one for quite a while, and I've been vindicated: she really knocked it out of the park.

The story was fun too: a woman wants to preserve the Christmas traditions she has enjoyed with her very eccentric family, so she invents a boyfriend, finding someone on a dating app to pass along.

She brings him to the family Olympics, which is a series of zany Christmas themed competitions.

There's plenty of fun, and a lot of heartwarming situations as the family bonds with her new "boyfriend" only to discover he's actually a stranger.

This is the first of the Hallmarks for me this year, and they're off to a nice start.

A very strong start to Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas 2024.

The fairly implausible plot line hardly seems to matter when you see Robert Buckley (of "One Tree Hill" and "Chesapeake Shores" fame) and Amy Groening on screen together.

They are both strong actors, and their chemistry is absolutely perfect - it carries the movie brilliantly. They elevate it from being a fairly run-of-the-mill movie to one you want to watch again.

It's great to see Groening in a lead role, and Buckley has been killing it as a Hallmark leading man for years now.

The story involves a family holding a 'Christmas Olympics', which gives us plenty of light moments, and the heavier ones are handed deftly.

I wouldn't be averse to a sequel.

I really enjoyed 'Twas The Date Before Christmas for its well thought out storyline, talented topnotch leads and excellent supporting cast.

Jessie (Amy Groening) and Bryan (Robert Buckley) meet via a dating app. She's been nursing a broken heart for a year and is looking for a date to bring to her family's wacky, over-the-top Christmas party, and he is encouraged by his close friends to get back into the dating pool. After they work out the logistics of their first date with some cute texting banter, we soon see them on their way to her mom's house for the big event, where Bryan meets her boisterous, loving family and is introduced to a 23-year-old tradition called the Chamberlain Family Christmas Olympics. They partake in all the events as a couple, while keeping the fact that this is actually their first date a secret. Is their secret eventually uncovered? Maybe. And is there a plot twist that somehow connects Bryan to someone in the family? Maybe. Am I going to ruin it for you? No.

Robert Buckley (charming and likable as ever) elevates every show/movie he's in, and wasn't it about time that Hallmark finally promoted the warm and witty Amy Groening to top billing?! Both give performances with real heart, and their chemistry is easy and palpable. I had high hopes for this particular movie, and it rose to the occasion in spades. Very much worth the watch, and I highly recommend it.

I was pleased to see Amy Groening in the lead role here (Jesse). She has been in a number of Hallmark movies playing the sidekick, where she proved herself to be funny and likeable, and that is the case here as well. There is a fair amount of silliness in this movie which is typical for Hallmark, but she and Robert Buckley (Bryan) have a natural chemistry which carries things. Bryan is kind and curious, and ready to take the zany ride with Jesse's family after meeting her in a coffee shop, where they both sense potential. There is the necessary misunderstanding near the end, but the characters talk things through and all is well. And by the way, the Christmas decorations throughout the movie are wonderful. This is one of Hallmark's better Christmas movies, and I'm glad they led the "Countdown to Christmas" with it.

When Jesse (Amy Groening) learns that her family is planning to cancel her favorite traditions this year, she is devastated. Hoping to save the tradition, she tells her mom that she's got someone special to bring to the festivities. The trouble is, she doesn't. Using a dating app (who among us hasn't) she finds a guy, Bryan (Robert Buckley), willing to spend his Christmas Eve taking part in the Chamberlain Family Christmas Olympics. This movie doesn't fall into the expected trappings of every "fake boyfriend" Christmas movie you've seen before. In fact, they play it pretty loose, which is refreshing and rather enjoyable. The on-screen chemistry between Jesse and Bryan is very much apparent and believable as well.

This was a great movie to kick off the 2024 Countdown to Christmas, even if it's mid-October and my house is decorated for Halloween. It's sweet and funny, but there is one clear reason why: Amy Groening. I've seen her in Santa Summit, sharing the female co-starring role with two others and as a secondary character in several other Hallmark movies. But this is the first lead role I've seen her in. Forgive me if it's not the first. She's excellent. Often we have Hallmark female leads who are a bit-how do I put this nicely-stiff. Groening is anything but stiff. She's playful and funny, and easy to root for. Buckley too, is kind and sweet. Hallmark better get this dude a Christmas tree farm or a failing community center to save ASAP.

Loved it and would watch again.

Cast Kudos: Marcus the stepdad who rules the kitchen and wears a lot of aprons. He is hilarious, but unfortunately, IMDB doesn't even list him as part of the cast, so I can't find his name.

Alternative titles: Blind Date for Christmas; Saving the Christmas Olympics.