Leah's Perfect Gift

7.6 stars.

A lot of fans were horrified by this film. I can't blame them. The lead male's family is atrocious. Mainly the mother is a real piece of work. The whole atmosphere had to be staged just so, in order to make it as miserable as possible for the audience. I think the Director had the idea in mind to make it as realistic as possible, but only monsters truly act this way in reality.

This is an anti (you know what) story, no doubt. You cannot miss the blatant disregard for two different religions/cultures. I'll let you guess which. This is anti-both of them and it's disgusting. And the features of the lead female? Why do people assume that those people all look like that? They don't all look like that, it's such a cliché that they (Hallmark and many other studios) try to convey to the world that this culture/people has a particular visage and quirky way about them. I could go on and on down this rabbit hole, but I'll stop here. This movie is not subtle about it and I think Hallmark needs to be sued or something. This is so NOT cool.

Funny thing is, I like this movie. Let me explain why. About 30 minutes in, I realized this is that kind of story, you know the kind you see every so often about social injustice, equal rights, and all that jazz? Well, if you come at this film from that perspective, you will actually have a more fulfilling experience. I was quite pleased with it at that point. The lead female is quite the heroine. I was rooting for her at this point, and I had a great time watching her humbly dismantle this abomination of a matriarch and her buffoon of a husband.

This is not a Hallmark movie. Hallmark movies have lovable and kind characters. These people were mean and rude and it wasn't redeemed in the end. I thought the lead actress did a great job as an actress, it was no fault to her that the story line lacked the true Hallmark Christmas spirit.

Most of us watch Hallmark movies because they are uplifting and warm. This was one of those that left you uncomfortable in every scene. I don't understand the direction Hallmark is going in but this didn't work. I would compare this to Meet the Parents, although it wasn't a comedy it gave me the same uncomfortable feeling the entire movie.

Leah's Perfect Gift is one of the harder 2024 Hallmark Christmas movie releases to critique. There is a lot to like, but at the same time there are plenty of things in the plot that are head scratchers and detract from the movie. For the "pros" category: This was our first time seeing the actress Emil Arlook who plays "Leah" in this and her performance was actually quite good in this. She's believable and likeable, and Leah becomes more likeable as her character develops throughout the story. Leah's family is also quite believable and likeable and appear to be a lot of fun. Now the "cons": Leah's boyfriend, "Graham" (played by Evan Roderick) and his family aren't all that likeable. It's hard to describe but there's something super annoying about his parents, particularly his OCD mother "Barbara", and unfortunately, we get to spend the bulk of the time of the movie stuck with these parents. "Barbara" is not likeable, and maybe that's the whole point, but at the end of the story there's a total 180 degree turn with "Barbara" and we're all supposed to be empathetic towards her. Why? Not enough of a backstory there to explain why we should "let her off the hook" for her rude and abhorrent treatment of Leah throughout the majority of the movie. In many ways this felt like a Hallmark Christmas movie version of the 2017 horror thriller "Get Out" because for most of the movie I was yelling at the screen to Leah "Get out of there! Get away from his family!" Graham was a lousy boyfriend and really never stands up to his parents (he lets them off the hook one too many times IMO), he "humors" their rude behavior and treatment of Leah and constantly explains it off to Leah as basically "Well I told you they're quirky". I told my wife at the end of the movie, "I'd rather have spent the bull of the movie with Leah's family, they were fun and nice!" The only reason I'm giving this Hallmark Christmas movie 6 stars instead of 1 star is because Leah was likeable/believable and I was empathetic to her situation.

I saw other reviews and expected Graham's family, especially the mom, to be worse. Oh she was bad enough, but I've seen worse. Actually the movie started out well enough at Leah's family's house. There are several good moments between Graham and Leah. However, the constant putdowns of Leah did not lead to much Ho, Ho, Ho. Leah starts to get down on herself which isn't a good look for her.

So awkward? All the putdowns are nothing compared to the Christmas Eve gifts.

Obviously things pick up and several nice things happen.

BTW - about the vases. It really bothered me enough the Julia made Leah pay full price for the broken vases given that it was an accident. Over $300 at retail should have got a discount for multiple purchases anyway. But then she had to rub it in later when Leah meets her again making it sound like Leah did her so much harm even after paying for it.

Another BTW - Hallmark's running gag about Die Hard is kind of cute.

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie. I thought Leah and Graham had chemistry. You could tell they really loved each other. I loved the sister too. She brought in some comedic timing that was needed. I loved mixing the Jewish and Christian traditions. I would agree with other reviewers that Graham's parents were over the top and rude. I don't know why Hallmark does that and then in the final moments they change. It's not believable. I really felt Leah's performance and how she didn't feel like she fit in with Graham's parents. He played both sides well. Maybe he could have listened to Leah better but that is where some of the conflict lyes. The ex girlfriend could have been left out. She really brought nothing to the table. Overall I really liked this movie.