Christmas Next Door

This was a pretty good Christmas movie, even in spite of a few minor details that bugged me. The chemistry between the leads was believable, and the script was actually decent. Fiona, the actress who played April, was adorable and charming. I had a harder time with Jesse Metcalfe, as I thought he was still a child before I looked him up and discovered he is only a few days younger than me. He played his bachelor role perfectly.

As for the negatives, I just wish they would have dubbed in a better violinist, and that the actress would have at least attempted to make it look like she was actually playing it. Also, what are these houses made of that he can be sitting in his study two houses away and hear her playing the violin loud enough that he's distracted? Or that when he turns his music up, it's loud enough to disrupt a music lesson with her student? Yet she couldn't hear a conversation between him and his ex-girlfriend in a super quiet evening from feet away? Okay.

All in all, I recommend watching it. It contains everything you expect from a Hallmark movie.

The minor details in the film make a huge difference in how one perceives it, between being a low budget waste of time and a decent film where they put at least some effort into the production.

Anyone else notice how they were skating on plastic tiles rather than ice? This, as well as the obvious violin playing.

Overall, it was a decent film for what it was, and I ended up watching it through completely. That's how I judge a film, if I can actually get through it. I just wish that they would focus on the minor details a bit more than they did. It would have made a huge difference in how it's seen.

When Eric goes to see April at the restaurant at the end, does anyone else find it weird that she just hands the violin off to someone dining, and just leaves without it?

Like all Christmas movies they are no different then one's at Valentines day. Except for the obvious exception in holidays. I'm not a fan of holiday movies but I've been watching quite a few during this pandemic. This wasn't too bad but definitely not my favorite. I couldn't focus on it very long. I did notice the House looked very familiar that Eric lives in. It's the same house as the movie Chloe with Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore.

Here we get an antithetical romance between Jesse Metcalfe--who we first saw and came to like in the Dallas sequel-- and Fiona Gubelmann.

Jesse plays a successful author of lifestyle books for single men, and he lives his lifestyles, adding authenticity to his work. He's also not a big "holiday guy".

He gets saddled with his niece and nephew leading up to Christmas, and is a real fish out of water in handling kids. His neighbor (Fiona) helps out even though she and Jesse don't get along that well.

A funny bit throughout the movie is someone continually placing Christmas decorations in his yard, and his frustration when he gets rid of them and they reappear.

It's well worth a watch, and we've seen it more than once.