The Christmas Ornament

So many things to like about this understated holiday movie:

1. It's sweet without being sappy, a real relief to see a Hallmark holiday romance where the story is not over the top mushy and crowded with cliché.

2. the actors look and dress like real people, and their houses are closer to normal family homes than Hollywood-scale sets. A little crowded, a little dusty, with short sight-lines.

3. Kellie Martin (who plays Kathy, the widow running her late husband's dream shop) has a face that's lived a life and felt sorrow. She's not touched up to look like a typical young TV widow who has never actually wept or frowned (except beautifully). She moves flawlessly between strong and vulnerable, sadness and humour, tidy and a bit of a mess. She looks and sounds REAL.

4. Cameron Mathison as Tim is cute, in a harmlessly rugged kind of way. A former soap opera actor, he is muted and believable in his character and, unlike so many romantic-movie leads, marked but not terribly traumatized by his past life experiences. He doesn't need to be redeemed through the love of a good woman. There's a bit of believable tension and confusion, both internal and (as expected) external, about an old love affair. He behaves like a nice man, someone you would want to meet or have as a neighbour.

5. The secondary characters seem like real people with their own lives, not the story kind who live their whole lives in service of their cooler or more troubled friend. They never distract from the simple, touching story at the heart of the movie. Jewel Staite is great as Kathy's best friend Jenna, warm and cute and concerned, but clearly has her own life. There's good, credible friend-chemistry between the two, a level of comfort and non-competition that many women wish for and never find.

6. It made me want to go skating again (and eat Christmas cookies, but that I do anyway).

Anyway, without being a great classic in the making, this is a very nice way to spend an evening in the holiday TV season, with ordinary people working through ordinary situations. I know that sounds dull, but if you're tired of the kitcsch and hype of the usual TV fare, this is a nice change of pace that maintains the seasonal glow.

My talent is not writing but I want to say something about this movie.

I was expecting it to be an average movie or worse, so I watched it last of three movies on Sunday evening. It should have been the first one I watched.

I watch a lot of these kinds of Christmas movies and I personally rate everyone for myself, from 1 rating to 5 rating. Most of them, I rate about a 3. This was a 4 rating.

I don't know if it was mostly the director, writing or acting that made this movie better than most. All of the performances were good, particularly the lead male actor. For him, "Natural" was the word that came to mind as I watched him. Even the small parts were good, like the Christmas tree sale helper.

One of the messages of the film is very important of which everyone should heed.

"Discover what you love to do and figure out a way to make money doing it."

This is a great film. Kathy plans to avoid any holiday traditions that bring back memories of her late husband until she receives an ornament from a handsome shop owner. To move on from her loss, Kathy works for a balance between her memories and finding a future.

I am sure this film was conceived so that Hallmark could sell the Christmas Ornament that is featured in this film but they did make an amazing film to help sell it!

There is not anything I would change in the film. This film is so special that it made we want to bake cookies and open a Christmas Tree Lot.

If you love Romance then watch!

The Christmas Ornament is a Hallmark made-for-TV Christmas-themed movie - sentimental and largely predictable. In 2013, Hallmark seems to be making a push to produce better quality movies, and they are having some success. The Christmas Ornament has better dialog, acting and cinematography than the usual Hallmark fare and even had a small plot twist in the end that my wife and I did not see coming!

This film is almost completely a two actor movie. A haggard looking Kellie Martin plays Kathy, a recently widowed woman (without children) who isn't celebrating the Christmas season because she is still grieving for her dead husband. She meets Tim, played by Cameron Mathison,who is a successful and gorgeous businessman who loves Christmas and sells Christmas trees. However, the film rises above this incredibly cheesy premise. Kellie Martin delivers a fine acting performance and is believable as a struggling, sad woman who slowly allows herself to stumble up on happiness. I enjoyed this movie and will enjoy watching it again.

This is a well made film. I can not believe how special it is. This film is really all about "Love". Finding love and letting go at the same time.

What is nice about this is the film is about how real people act when possibly falling for somebody and hoping they feel the same.

In this film Kathie runs a bike shop. She and her husband opened it up in January but he dies shortly after that.

Tim owns and run a Tree Lot. When Kathie meets Tim the click but she is afraid of admitting that and she at the same time feels guilty for that. (This is not said by Kathie but if you watch this more than once you will understand what I am saying).

What is great about this film is that it captures real emotions and how people get scared of change and sometimes getting in their own way on the road to happiness.

Love This Film!! Can not say enough nice things about it.