Coming Home for Christmas

Finally a nice Christmas film! I've been watching a fair few the last couple of weeks to get into the spirit of Christmas but this is the first one this year that I actually really enjoyed! As with all Christmas movies, it was predictable, but this one really got the Christmas feel across. Trees, ornaments, snow. A sweet love story. People becoming a whole lot friendlier because of a chatty little character. This one to me really was a lovely Christmas flick with all the right ingredients (and the occasional cringy acting). Definitely worth your while!

This was a decent Hallmark romance. It was enjoyable, though not overly memorable. Danica McKellar as Lizzie was great, as always. She literally drips positive energy and charm. You know from the start that the stuffy, dysfunctional, rich family doesn't stand a chance against such a force of nature as her. Neal Bledsoe as Robert seemed a bit wooden. I know that's the part he's supposed to be playing, but he never seemed to quite transition from his initial prickly self to a warmer, more open person capable of connecting romantically with Lizzie. I know they tried to make that appear to happen, with such scenes as the snowball fight with his nephews, but I never quite bought it. Nor did I buy the romance between the two. Somehow, the chemistry seemed to be lacking.

Younger brother Kip seemed a bit miscast to me, also. Somehow, he wasn't that convincing as the smooth ladies' man. He never seemed like serious competition for Lizzie's affections. It would have been more interesting if she had truly felt some spark with Kip too, but it was obvious from the start that she wasn't buying what he was selling.

I liked the overall story, where the rich family is able to become closer to each other through the charms of Lizzie. Through much of the movie, Robert walks around like a martyr, letting his parents' untimely deaths cloud his whole existence for decades, even to the point where he has a strained relationship with his family, hates the beautiful house he grew up in and even hates Christmas. Meanwhile, you have Lizzie, who also suffered heartbreak when her dad died, but who didn't let it destroy her love of life, her love of Christmas and her relationships with her family. The contrast couldn't be more stark. Everyone suffers adversity in this life, but it's not what you suffered, it's how you react to that suffering that counts.

So, all in all, this was a perfectly adequate Hallmark Christmas romance movie. The performances were mostly good and the story was nice. Not a movie that's going to stick around in your memory for a long time, but certainly a nice diversion for a couple of hours.

Danica McKellar heads up this fun Christmas film from Hallmark.

What I liked about it was the fact that it does deviate from the standard format these films tend to follow (though of course there are the seemingly obligatory dance and snowball fight scenes), with a nice love triangle element to it.

It's all nicely played, and there are some sweet moments, though Andrew Francis always seems miscast for me in the 'younger brother' role when actually he looks a bit too long in the tooth for such a part.

On the whole though this is good stuff.

Watched because Danica McKellar is always pleasant in these Hallmark movies. I don't want to say she and the male lead didn't have chemistry but something was off that I couldn't put my finger on. Either way, enjoyable movie and I appreciated the grandmother. Worth adding to your Christmas movie list.

Slows the way a good spirit and attitude can have wide ranging impacts. Enjoyed the way the different characters responded to unexpected changes.