savethewatchmaker

This is one of those films where one can't help but wonder how it ever got past the drawing board. For a cast that's shown themselves to be much more talented than what this movie's giving them, I actually feel a bit bad that they had to act in this catastrophe and try to make something out of it.

The film's weakest point is easily Jen Lilley's character, Kate, who everyone in the reviews (rightfully) is incredibly annoyed by. She is unbelievably neurotic and overanalyzes every possible human task, and at first, I was intrigued by these traits, because most Hallmark female leads don't have a personality outside of "driven businesswoman," which is the default template of a woman through which every lead gets recycled. I applaud (but not energetically) Hallmark for trying to make their characters be less two-dimensional, but they failed extraordinarily in this venture by making Kate so overwhelmingly obnoxious in her constant anxiety. To make matters worse, she's not actually consistent in this anxiety. She's afraid of driving in a car in Canada, but has no problem getting in a taxi in New York. She fears everything, but gives her love interest Noah lessons on getting over his stage fright.

Some of the reviewers were charmed by the side couple, photographer Jayne and right-hand-businessman Simon, but I found them so out of the realm of realistic that I couldn't enjoy them either. As much as I love and appreciate a woman who makes the first move, she pursues Simon -- a man who gives her flirtations absolutely no reaction -- to a point where it's cringeworthy, until Simon, suddenly and miraculously, returns her feelings and makes it clear by buying out what looks like all the inventory of a flower shop. Cut to the next scene, they're cuddling in each other's arms and giving each other goodbye kisses. Simon himself attests to being a man of few words, but Jayne is somehow convinced that they'll make a long distance relationship work. Their entire relationship is so ludicrous that it was hard to take it seriously.

Also breaking the suspension of disbelief is male lead Noah, who wants to save his B&B business by becoming a tour guide. He is so laughably bad (and also laughably oblivious about being so bad) that it's hard to believe that he and Simon are hinging the success of their entire business on Noah's adventure tour. He obsesses over perfecting his script, never once considering that he might -- like all tour guides -- need to actually learn the information instead of just memorize and regurgitate it.

Needless to say, he and Kate -- inexplicably -- begin to fall for each other. Their chemistry is completely lost in the absurdity of this movie. Not helping their cause is the rocky beginning this couple has, having an awkward first meeting at the airport and, thereafter, uncomfortable scenes in which they do little but disagree. Kate pounds on the fact that she's from New York, the best city in the world, and is so stubborn in this short-sighted opinion that it's hard not to get bored of her repeating it every other scene. How Hallmark thought a grown woman who can't handle a car ride, is too afraid to order coffee in a foreign country, and is too closed-minded to think happiness exists outside of Manhattan, would be a likable character is beyond me. Her and all the other ridiculous choices made in the story made this movie downright bad.

All in all, I'd recommend skipping this movie and choosing another from Hallmark's winter line-up this year. Two stars for beautiful Canadian scenery.

This movie is genuinely funny, heart-warming, and well-written. I can only hope Paul Campbell and Kimberley Sustad do more writing for Hallmark, specifically because I love the comedic touches put into this film (for all the rom-coms they put out, Hallmark frequently forgets to be funny). Paul Campbell is a force to be reckoned with when humor is in the picture, and I personally feel he thrives in those charmingly funny roles much more than when he plays overly earnest, serious characters (his best performances for me are his roles in Window Wonderland and Surprised by Love, where he plays Shawn-Spencer-like characters that you both want to roll your eyes at and love with all your heart). Even as a businessman, he gets to be authentically funny here, and paired with Kimberley's equally sharp comedic chops (she absolutely nails awkwardness in a way that's super amusing), the movie just works. It moves fluidly, believably, and the scenes are just fun to watch even if you already know how the whole thing will end.

Funny enough, I don't think the chemistry between Paul and Kimberley's characters was particularly strong (nor in their last movie they starred in together), but they're such a great writing team, I'd love to see them work together again.

This movie's predictability honestly turns it into a snoozefest.

I have no idea what happened to Chad Michael Murray in this film. I've really enjoyed him in Christmas films in the past (Write Before Christmas and Road to Christmas come to mind), but his acting was so poor here, I started wondering if he legitimately was trying to get himself fired off the film. His character was distant and cold and never really warmed up, not to his family and not to his love interest. He had this deep, almost Southern twang (completely unlike the rest of his family!) that kept making me think he was filming a movie about a grumpy rancher on the side and that character kept bleeding into this one. The lack of family chemistry was super disappointing, especially between the brothers, which not only felt inauthentic, but was a seriously missed opportunity for comedy. (I kept thinking back to Hallmark's The Christmas House, also from this year, where the fun and believable banter between the brothers really made the movie for me).

Jessica Lowndes has become a staple in these Lifetime/Hallmark movies, and I agree with other reviewers that she's slowly but surely improving. She's loosened up considerably and become much less wooden, but still needs to work on bringing emotion into her voice.

The movie's biggest failure, though, is that its plot is so predictable that the audience will literally never be surprised or even impressed by the storytelling. This plot has been told a million times before, and nothing helps it stand out from all the other recycled versions of this exact same movie. There's a calendar of almost rigid holiday traditions that the family follows to a T every year shown near the beginning, which would've been much more enjoyable to watch than what actually happens when everyone else is too sick or indisposed to participate: the two leads have to plan an event together. It's disappointing that this script was approved, because it lacks creativity and any real ingenuity.