2023 Hallmark Christmas Movie Reviews

[rass]

Flipped over to the 830 at halftime of Notre Dame / Duke and while the female lead in the Venice movie is adorable (and the supposedly Venice-native male lead was born in London) they had a screen graphic touting the Countdown to Christmas starting…. OCTOBER 20TH???

And I ranted to my poor wife about that. Who do you know who enjoys these more and than me but wait until November!

Then they showed a preview of the first movie.

Checkin’ it Twice

It’s hockey themed.

I guess I’m in.





See you in October

[HaulCitgo]

Notre dame duke was 8.5/10

[rass]

I recorded Checkin’ It Twice but can’t bring myself to watch it yet. But our guy T-Hynes is back next week and it’s also a punny title and it’s gonna be November and this one is gonna happen

[govmentchedda]

I recorded Checkin’ It Twice but can’t bring myself to watch it yet. But our guy T-Hynes is back next week and it’s also a punny title and it’s gonna be November and this one is gonna happen

"Our guy" feels like it's doing a lot of heavy lifting, (says someone who hasn't dived all the way in to Hallmarks yet).

[rass]

Going in!

So excited about the note I left myself last December on a potential new category!

[sancarlos]

Hallmark researchers say they are close to developing a second movie plot

[DSafetyGuy]

Saw a commercial yesterday for "A Merry Scottish Christmas", the hook of which being Lacey Chabert is reunited with Scott Wolf from "Party of Five", playing brother and sister in this movie. Commercial did not show him getting any sort of love interest, just being a crutch. Very disappointing.

[rass]

I swear this was the last note I left myself at some point late last year in the template I keep in Notes:

For 2023 - does the title of the movie include the name of one of the characters?

Yes! Yes, it does!


Never Been Chris'd

Trailer:


Cable guide synopsis:
"Best friends, Naomi and Liz, return home for the holidays and simultaneously enter a love triangle when they both reconnect with their high school crush, Chris Silver."

Location: Weston (Iowa?)

Realism of location: never been, dunno

Primary setting: I guess the female leads' homes they grew up in

Relationship categorization: So to SC's joke above, this is a curveball! Sure there is a dude, but the movie is more about the BFF relationship of the female leads than the traditional meet cute at the holidays.

New Love or Rekindled Love: Rekindled, the women had a crush on Chris in HS

How the couple meets: The female leads come home to see their families for the holidays, the male lead lives in town

Female lead physical profile:

Liz - blonde Jewish, large cleavage mole

Naomi - brunette, Asian descent, small nose mole

Female lead signature look: lots of sweaters, Liz looks pretty great at the restaging of a HS holiday dance at the end

Female lead personality profile: They are childhood friends, attended Iowa State together, founders of an app called “Best Pal” (not pals), looking for “VC funding”, people keep saying Liz founded it and she says no, we co-founded it

Female lead confidant(s): each other

Male lead physical profile: It's Tyler (T) Hynes. Can't believe I didn't like him when I started doing these.

Male lead signature look: T Hynes, if you think there isn’t a cardigan then my friend you haven’t read my threads the last couple of years

Male lead personality profile: He was a cool kid, football star in HS, joined the Marines (I think because his dad did?), now heads the English department at their HS, “very vocal vegan” (they go to a bakery called Pretty Baked, have almond milk egg not) - he maybe ate lox? And stole fish off Naomi’s plate! - he’s sometimes a pescatarian, scandalous!

“I do a little woodworking and made everybody tea boxes”

Male lead confidant(s): N/A, few if any scenes with him without the female leads

Admittedly shallow rating of the appropriateness of the relationship based on purely physical terms: meh

Snow: yes

Quality/realism of snow: really bad, looks like foam

See someone’s breath?: no

Precocious child: Liz’s little sister got into Stanford and Liz didn’t and she seems self-conscious about it, but she barely has any lines - NO! Liz lied about not getting into Stanford because Naomi's dad had just died, so they could go to college together

Pets: no

Baking: no

Source of conflict/break-up after the leads fall for each other: As noted more about Naomi and Liz, and if they'll sell their company or Naomi will buy Liz out, it's quickly settled that Naomi and Chris are a couple, but their is some drama, Chris wants her to stay in town (and he ate her fish)

How the break-up is quickly resolved: they all make up pretty quickly

Open mouth final kiss: no!?!

Recently deceased relative: Naomi's dad died 17 years ago

Consumption of alcohol: Lots.

Female leads drink red wine in first scene

-they all meet at a brewery called Brews Brothers multiple times

-Chris throws a boozy party

Obviously fake cups/mugs of hot liquid: Yes, at a coffee shop when they meet Chris

Snowball fight: no

Ugly Christmas sweaters: Yes, Naomi’s mom gives them sweaters when they get to town, they hide them under their coats when they see Chris at Brews Brothers

Christmas music: plenty, heard at least one original-ish song

Does Santa appear: only in photo montage, I think

Town Christmas tree lighting: no

Christmas Market: no

Montage: A photo montage at the beginning establishing how long Naomi and Liz were friends.

Ice skating: yes, t Hynes can skate backwards

Running Count of Distinct Christmas trees:
2+5+4+8?+5 = 24+

I mean there were like 8 outside of Naomi's mom's house alone!

Did my wife stay awake: No (she is excited for the Lacey Chabert/Scott Wolf movie DSG mentioned, possible incestual connection undertones be damned)

[sancarlos]

So, two leads are Jewish and one is Asian, and we are supposed to believe they are all from the same small town in... Iowa? Have the filmmakers ever been to Iowa?

[govmentchedda]

My HS GF was never Chris'd either.

"Come out Virginia don't let me wait, you Catholic girls start much too late"

[rass]

SC, we making assumptions based on the last name “Hynes”? Otherwise I didn’t mean to imply anything else.

And chedda I should have mentioned the title. The female leads observed that girls who ended up in relationships with Chris in HS became popular, a phenomenon they called being “Chris’d”. And they were never Chris’d in HS.

[bapo!]

Consumption of alcohol: Lots.

-they all meet at a brewery called Brews Brothers multiple times

We have a Brews Brothers six-pack shop here in cheery ol' Mt. Lebanon.

Ice skating: yes, t Hynes can skate backwards

So jealous. You know he was looking forward to filming that day. Showed up on set with a swagger.

[P.D.X.]

blonde Jewish, large cleavage mole

Is that missing a comma because if not ugh

[mister d]

Is that missing a comma because if not ugh

I got ya, buddy.

blonde Jewish, large, cleavage mole

[P.D.X.]

that's better!

[rass]

I got one in the chamber just need to get home to the PC to post it. Too tedious on the phone.

I did forget this for the last one:

[rass]

A Merry Scottish Christmas

Trailer:


Cable guide synopsis:
Follows estranged siblings Lindsay and Brad as they travel to Scotland at Christmas to reunite with their mother Jo.

Location: Scotland

Realism of location: The shots of a car driving through the countryside look real, after that it's mostly castles and pubs to establish location.

Primary setting: Glencrave castle, ancestral home of the Glencrave family. Wonder who they could (unexpectedly) be?

Relationship categorization: brother and sister, another one where the tradition boy meets (or re-meets) girls takes a back seat

New Love or Rekindled Love: N/A (though the brother is married and the sister meets a nice Scottish guy)

How the couple meets: The siblings used to be close but have drifted apart in recent years. They find out from their mom that their family has a royal lineage that she hid from them so they could "be themselves".

Female lead physical profile: Pretty sure her age on Party of 5 has ruined any possible attraction I might otherwise have for Lacey, but see the next category.

Female lead signature look: My wife says she’s always showing off her shoulders and upper chest.

Female lead personality profile: Even though he and her brother have grown apart she seems to have not realized it?

Female lead confidant(s): I guess her brother?

Male lead physical profile: Still Scott Wolf

Male lead signature look: Imagine Scott Wolf looking sad around his wife, but he gets into a kilt at some point,

Male lead personality profile: Successful but doesn't enjoy his job, he and his wife are having some issues, decided late to try to have kids and IVF isn’t going well

Male lead confidant(s): I guess his sister?

Admittedly shallow rating of the appropriateness of the relationship based on purely physical terms: Sort of wish Netflix or Lifetime had ponied up the money to get them to be a couple

Snow: yes

Quality/realism of snow: looks like dust, does it snow in Scotland ?

See someone’s breath?: not that I noticed

Diversity: hahaha

Precocious child: Brad and his wife can only wish

Pets: No, but they do help Mac, the handsome Scottish groundskeeper who Lindsay falls for, collect Shetland ponies for a party

Baking: multiple baking scenes with the castle's butler

Amnesia?: N/A

Source of conflict/break-up after the leads fall for each other: Lindsay for some reason gets really pissed when Brad and his wife decide they want to move to Scotland and become royalty? Because they previously decided they were gonna hang out more in the states?

How the break-up is quickly resolved: Lindsay realizes she was being silly and also decides to stay, the "one year later" precedes a scene where we see everyone happily living in Scotland and Brad and his wife have a baby.

Open mouth final kiss: N/A

Recently deceased relative: The Duke, who it turns out was their uncle. Also, their grandparents died in a car accident years ago (Party of 5 shoutout?)

Consumption of alcohol: Brad and Lindsay go to a pub called Salinger’s, there is also a "Christmas whiskey" (scotch?) tasting contest at Kilbride

Obviously fake cups/mugs of hot liquid: Right at the beginning they get McMistletoe Mochas as soon as they get off the plane

Snowball fight: no

Ugly Christmas sweaters: Yes, Brad and his wife have a UCS party every year so they brought ugly sweaters to Scotland. Bonus ugly Christmas PJs at the end.

Christmas music: A bagpiper is playing deck the halls when they arrive at the castle. There is a running gag where the same guy wakes them up every day. There was also a song featuring Cher and Michael Buble, we think?

Does Santa appear: We see the back of his head walking at the airport, then Brad plays him at the solstice celebration with a Shetland pony pulling the sleigh (a role the deceased Duke used to play)

Town Christmas tree lighting: No, but there is a bonfire

Christmas Market: yes

Did my wife stay awake: yes

# of distinct Xmas trees: lost count, every room in the castle had at least 2

Ice skating: no

Montage: Yes! During the scotch whiskey contest

General Observations:
There is a scene where the camera starts above the pub sign, drops down and then moves ahead and THROUGH the window, through the bar, and then to the entrance where the stars walk in through the door. The director or cinematographer or someone was feeling it that day.

There is an odd scene right after that where the Scottish groundskeeper's BIL dances with Lindsay and it's obvious from how the camera lingers on him and how he mugs for the camera and how she says "do I know you??" that we're supposed to know who he is. After some googling I figured out he is another HM actor that Lacey has acted with in the past.


Up next: Not sure? Trying to let this year take me wherever it goes, watching previews and commercials while watching the movies, so I haven't looked for a list. Personal fave BJL was just in one this past weekend, A Biltmore Christmas, but it seems to be a straight-ahead, if high concept, historical romance. So maybe that one.

[rass]

A Biltmore Christmas

Trailer:


Cable guide synopsis:
It follows Lucy as she's hired to write the script for a remake of a holiday movie. She joins a tour of the grounds and when she knocks an hourglass over, she finds herself transported back in time to 1946.

Location: Asheville, NC

Realism of location: Definitely filmed on location at the hotel

Primary setting: The Biltmore House (Anyone been? Giff? chedda?)

Relationship categorization: I feel like I've lost what I meant by this one. I guess she sorta had a crush on the actor from watching the movie since she was a kid. He's a nice guy who is intrigued by the beautiful woman who keeps popping up and disappearing.

New Love or Rekindled Love: new

How the couple meets: She is at the hotel at the behest of the studio head who want her to soak in the history of the hotel as she writes a remake of a famous movie that was set there. She accidentally learns that turning over an hourglass sends her back to 1946 when the film is being made at the hotel

Female lead physical profile: Bethany Joy Lenz is Lucy Hargrove, a Hollywood screenwriter

Female lead signature look: dark blue Levi's, turtlenecks, a lot of velvet

Red tag count: Meaning the number of occassions where you could obviously see the Levi's tag on her ass - 2 (she spends much of the second hour in the 40s, so no slacks)

Female lead personality profile: Struggling screenwriter working on a modern update of holiday classic His Merry Wife!, which is meant to be an It's a Wonderful Life (also a 1946 film) knockoff. She thinks a less happy ending speaks more to modern audiences (and herself) “life rarely gives us happy endings” and the studio head disagrees.

Female lead confidant(s): A super fan of the movie also staying at the hotel

Male lead physical profile: Jack Houston, tall

Male lead signature look: dark suit, overcoat, occasionally a nice hat

Male lead personality profile: An actor getting his big break, APPARENTLY died the year after filming the movie. His role is one of an angel who is supposed to help another man woo his own (still living) wife so he can "earn his wings". Lucy's revamped script would have him not be successful and purposely torpedo the other man's relationship with his widow.

Male lead confidant(s): N/A

Admittedly shallow rating of the appropriateness of the relationship based on purely physical terms: dude who is supposed to be classically movie star handsome meets adorable, I guess it works

Snow: yes, some on the front lawn of the hotel when she arrives, but not on the back lawn in the next scene, outside on sidewalks in both current and 1947 Ashville.

Quality/realism of snow: At least it didn't look like foam. I enjoyed a scene where they show the use of fake snow for the movie in the movie and one of the actors complained about it.

See someone’s breath?: no

Diversity: In 40s Hollywood??

Precocious child: no

Pets: no

Baking: no

Amnesia?: no

Source of conflict/break-up after the leads fall for each other: Lucy realizes they’re falling in love after they kiss on Christmas Eve and decides it’s sorta wrong to do so and goes back to the future, but not before trying and failing to warn him that he dies in a car accident

How the break-up is quickly resolved: ONE YEAR LATER Jack manages to use the hourglass to go to the future and stays (his death was a cover story for his disappearance)

Open mouth final kiss: oh yes!

Recently deceased relative: no

Consumption of alcohol: Lucy drinks (eggnog) at a bar in the hotel with the director, champagne at the Christmas Eve party, at least one more scene at the hotel bar (all in the 40s)

Obviously fake cups/mugs of hot liquid: Yes the leads get hot cocoa, with no lids and no steam

Snowball fight: yes! Or at least snowballs are thrown by one person at another.

Ugly Christmas sweaters: no

Christmas music of note: The leads sing a duet of Jingle Bells at a piano. Cute.

Does Santa appear: no?

Town Christmas tree lighting: No, but how about a hotel Christmas tree lighting?

Christmas Market: no

Did my wife stay awake: off and on (mostly off)

Montage: no

Ice skating: no

Random Star Trek actors: Commander William Riker works at the hotel in the current timeline!

The doctor from Voyager is the head of the studio in the 40s

General Observations:
-Why so many ladders? Lucy is eventually knocked out by one

-Did hotel doors have peepholes in the 40s?

-A small moment where BJL looks for a seatbelt in a 40s car made me laugh

-BJL is a very attractive lady.

[mister d]

[govmentchedda]

That's definitely the Biltmore exterior. Looked like the interior too, but the trailer jumped around a bit too fast for me to tell for sure.

[Giff]

We didn’t go there when we visited Asheville a few years ago, but thanks for remembering we traveled there!

[rass]

Saw a billboard advertising this partnership today.

Also:
viewtopic.php?p=378364#p378364

[sancarlos]

I may have mentioned this previously, but the next street over from us is well-known around here for all its extravagant “Clark Griswoldish” lights and decorations. Some of them are quite over the top. People come from distance to walk through our neighborhood, so the traffic and parking and etc.* gets pretty problematic.


* Last night, some nice person left a loaded, soiled baby’s diaper in the street gutter in front of my house. Nice.

[A_B]

I may have mentioned this previously, but the next street over from us is well-known around here for all its extravagant “Clark Griswoldish” lights and decorations. Some of them are quite over the top. People come from distance to walk through our neighborhood, so the traffic and parking and etc.* gets pretty problematic.


* Last night, some nice person left a loaded, soiled baby’s diaper in the street gutter in front of my house. Nice.

Guess the shitter was full.

[govmentchedda]

I may have mentioned this previously, but the next street over from us is well-known around here for all its extravagant “Clark Griswoldish” lights and decorations. Some of them are quite over the top. People come from distance to walk through our neighborhood, so the traffic and parking and etc.* gets pretty problematic.


* Last night, some nice person left a loaded, soiled baby’s diaper in the street gutter in front of my house. Nice.

Guess the shitter was full.

Nailed it.

[Brontoburglar]

noting for the record that I've been to the biltmore too

[brian]

Yeah the Biltmore is pretty awesome though surprisingly expensive. But worth it if you’re going to Asheville anyway.

[EnochRoot]

I went to The Biltmore back in the mid 90s when Asheville was but a trading post. The Gilded Age, baby!

[rass]

Christmas on Cherry Lane

Trailer:


Cable guide synopsis:
Over the holidays, three couples at different stages of their lives traverse significant life turning moments at 7 Cherry Lane.

Location: If they specified I missed it, but we do see an Oregon license plate or two, so maybe Oregon?

Realism of location: They did a nice job with the titular house

Primary setting: 7 Cherry Lane

[+] spoiler

There was a major The Sixth Sense moment to start the movie when we realized (just before they explicitly told us) that all of the couples we just met all live in the same house in different time periods (2023, 1999 and 1973). The house #!!! The distinctive brickwork!!! The tiny kitchen!!!
The angle that shows the driveway just so!!! I guess they sort of hint at that in the promotional material, but luckily I don't pay too close attention to that stuff, because that was kind of fun.

Relationship categorization: This is the third one I've watched that doesn't fall into the traditional "couple meets (for the first time or for the first time in years) and falls in love due to the magic of the holidays" template. Not sure if that's just a coincidence or if HM making an effort to change up the formula. The main relationships all exist when the movie starts and there is never any sort of threat to their stability:

1973: A young couple that moved into a new house the week before Christmas. The wife is due within weeks, and her family shows up out of the blue on Christmas Eve to help unpack and decorate and get the nursery ready and make dinner and generally be assholes. Golly that new kitchen is so outdated!

1999: A brother and sister (Conrad and Winnie) go home to their mom's house for Christmas with plans on getting out and seeing their local friends as soon as possible. Those plans end when they realize that (A) mom is getting remarried and (B) plans on selling the house so this will be the last family Christmas in their childhood home. Winnie wants to be a singer and Conrad, despite having what we're told is a great job, still drives a blue, beat-up 70s muscle car that their dad's mysterious best friend "Uncle Ham" gave to him and he can't possibly part with...

PS their father is deceased and loved the holidays.

2023:A same-sex couple with the world's worst contractor trying to get a kitchen upgrade completed on Christmas Eve so they can host a bunch of people and who also find out their application to foster a child was approved and then the kid will also be showing up that evening.

As a result of all of this craziness I'm going to remove some of the normal categories except when I want to note something.

Female lead signature look: Catherine Bell (perhaps best known as starring in JAG commercials that aired during NFL games) - mom jeans (Levi’s) - the costume choice explained eventually by it being the 90s

Male lead physical profile: One half of the 2023/same-sex couple seems to be HM's goto gay Christmas guy, though I think he's played straight sometimes, too.

Male lead signature look: So much product in the 2023 hair. The 1973 guy has a pretty great beard.

Snow: Lots. Snow-covered town in the opening overhead shots, snowed-in cars

Quality/realism of snow: Pretty good, but...

See someone’s breath?: There was lots of standing outside and shivering but no breath

Diversity: One half of the same-sex couple is Filipino

Precocious child: A nephew (Peter) in 1973, a 6-year-old foster child in 2023 and a mysterious 4-year-old foster chld in 1999...

Pets: nope, I need to find a dog movie

Baking: Lots of scenes of turkey prep in what turns out to be the same kitchen, but no

Amnesia?: No...

Product placement: I should make this a standard category. Multiple scenes with close-ups of Hallmark Christmas ornaments. As mentioned, there were more very noticeable red Levi's tags. Not sure if that's paid placement or just good jeans.

Source of conflict/break-up after the leads fall for each other: So the main conflicts are:

1973: The wife's overbearing family is giving the husband shit because maybe he isn't prepared to be a dad and he owns a gas station/repair shop, at the dawn of fuel rationing (Nixon shoutout), so maybe he can't provide for his family. Not only does he have to deal with those assholes and the stress of impending fatherhood but someone angry over gas prices vandalizes his shop on Christmas Eve.

1999: The kids ("kids", they're in their 20s) don't want mom to leave and go hard on family holiday traditions to get her to stay and not sell the house. Winnie is OK with the mom getting married but is a little upset about the house, and Conrad is generally just a brat about the whole thing.

2023: As mentioned, the contractor sucks and has been working all year somehow with the promised deadline of 12/24. When they find out about the impending arrival of the foster kid, the Filipino dude goes into overdrive buying presents and fixing up the kid's room and wanting everything to be perfect, because he was also a foster kid, taken in on Christmas Eve. The other dude is a chef, and once it's clear the kitchen won't be done he leaves to cook at his restaurant, which is owned by a mysterious benefactor who happens to be a famous singer that no one references by name even though she is both of their bosses and is how the couple met (the Filipino dude is her manager)...

How the break-up is quickly resolved:
1973: The father-to-be befriends the cop who responds to his vandalized shop. When his wife goes into labor in the middle of a snow storm that prevents her from getting to the hospital and him from getting home, they hop in the snow-chained cop car because the dad's bright blue muscle car can't handle the snow. The in-laws admit they're assholes because they're nervous and are amazed when the dad-to-be shows up with a cop, who helps deliver the healthy baby girl in the living room. They name her Ivy (last name, HAMilton), and promise to sell the house to the cop and his family if they ever move.

1999: Conrad, upset when his sister relents on the whole selling the house thing and takes mom's side, goes to see a friend. He seeks her advice not just as a friend, but because she used to live at 7 Cherry Lane. Before moving across town? And her parents now live in Michigan? That part isn't important. What is important is the story she tells about how Christmas is made special by who you spend it with, not where, based around the time she and her husband temporarily fostered a 4-year-old Filipino kid at Christmas. Her name is Ivy.

2023: Dinner is being prepared at the restaurant, which clearly used to be a car repair shop. The same shop we saw vandalized in 1973! When he goes to leave to drive dinner home, his car won't start. We see someone sneak into the shop, and it turns out to be Winnie, who was on her way to dinner at 7 Cherry Lane and saw lights on at the restaurant she owns and is also apparently now a diva-level pop star. She helps pack up dinner and gets it transported home in a bright shiny and refurbished 70s muscle car driven by Conrad, who is sporting a pretty sweet mustache. The kitchen is finished, and the foster kid shows up, and everything is perfect.

Recently deceased relative: dead father (Catherine Bell’s husband)

Consumption of alcohol: red wine (with turkey!) at Christmas dinner

Obviously fake cups/mugs of hot liquid: Conrad and Ivy have mugs of hot cocoa outside (no steam)

Snowball fight: no

Ice skating: no

Ugly Christmas sweaters: Don't think so

Notable Christmas music: Cher again!

Does Santa appear: Shit. I don't think so?

Town Christmas tree lighting: no

Christmas Market: no

Christmas tree shopping: no

Did my wife stay awake: Yes, all in on this one.

Montage: A scene in 1999 where the kids convinced mom to play dead dad's favorite game, which was blindfold gift wrapping? This game includes an appearance by HM ornaments. There is also a big Christmas dinner montage across all 3 eras

General Observations:
Did I mention Daisy? She's the one character/actor that shows up in all three periods. She lived down the street in 1973, was the mom's best friend in 1999 and seems to be really good friends with the 2023 couple, helping them decorate the house and driving to the restaurant to help cook.

I liked this one, but I feel like with the ability to be a little darker, or at least a little less cheesy, it could have been better. The cross-era connections got to be a little much by the end, even while admittedly enjoying some of the reveals.

[The Sybian]

This one sounds really interesting, and I used to have a Catherine Bell crush. Almost enough to watch more than one episode of JAG.

[rass]

Flipped over to the 830 at halftime of Notre Dame / Duke and while the female lead in the Venice movie is adorable (and the supposedly Venice-native male lead was born in London) they had a screen graphic touting the Countdown to Christmas starting…. OCTOBER 20TH???

And I ranted to my poor wife about that. Who do you know who enjoys these more and than me but wait until November!

Then they showed a preview of the first movie.

Checkin’ it Twice

It’s hockey themed.

I guess I’m in.





See you in October

As September me mentioned, this was the premier HM holiday movie of the 2023 season. Let's get to...

Checkin' It Twice

Trailer:


Cable guide synopsis:
A journeyman hockey player falls for a real estate agent in a career crisis when he's traded to her hometown and moves into the cottage in her hockey loving family's backyard.

Location: Idaho? That's where the female lead gets off a flight. And walks past the male lead while they're both on the phone.

Realism of location: Lots of Fighting Trout signs, not a lot of gear in the stands/crowd other than the female lead's father.

Primary setting: Idaho Falls, which is a real place. Not sure if they filmed on location, but the outside establishing shots of the arena don't match the new IF arena that opened in 2022. That place is called the Hero Meat Snacks Arena at Mountain America Center

Relationship categorization: Small town girl who left to live and work in NYC comes home for the holidays and meets a hockey player

Female lead physical profile: blond, cute, a young Cybill Shepherd?

Female lead signature look: red lipstick, a toque with a huge pompom (not the same hat in she has in the trailer screen cap above)

Female lead personality profile: When she lands in Idaho, she calls her boyfriend (business suit, NYC-based) and after she asks him to make sure he follows her to Idaho so everyone can meet him, he tells her that he just poached a real estate client from her. And he can't spend the whole week with her. Not a good start, buddy. In fact, I think she broke up with him. Don't you even try showing up late in the final act in a desperate attempt to salvage this mess. (he doesn't)

She calls the male lead out on his subpar play by throwing his +/- at him, and backs it up as being a great evaluator of his impact on the ice.

Female lead confidant(s): One of her best friends is also a real estate agent and seems a little intimidated by her big city friend. And she initially lies to friends and family about breaking up with her BF.

Male lead physical profile: has good hockey hair

Male lead signature look: black denim jacket

Male lead personality profile: 32-year-old journeyman pro-hockey player, traded from the ECHL to an organ-EYE-zation that sent him to a small town in Idaho to play for the Idaho Falls Fighting Trout. He's trying to get fast-tracked to Boise? And after Boise it's just one stop to the NHL? Athe airport he's on the phone with his girlfriend, who breaks up with him because she's realized that his drive to be a hockey player is more important to him than being with her is.

Later on in the movie, he says he was in the Detroit system and played great but kept getting passed up by younger, less talented players. Even later after that, he mentions the Grand Rapids Griffins. They're in the AHL, and their ECHL affiliate is the Toledo Walleye. I guess he's a fish.

We learn he is living in the shadow of his dad, who is a two-time NHL defenseman of the year, Stanley Cup champ, and up for the hall of fame "in a few days" who never had time to go to his games growing up and taught him that those who can't play coach.

Male lead confidant(s): his teammates (who call him "pops")

New Love or Rekindled Love: new

How the couple meets: After their airport/phone break-ups, they both hit a convenience store in the airport. She gets chocolate and a magazine with a cover article about being single, and he gets a six-pack (looks like beer) and some manly snacks. They check out at the same time and their debit cards get switched. I guess businesses are pickier about processing debit cards, the cards get confiscated and they have to find each other to get their cards back. This all happens the first day, before he learns...

His team-provided accommodations end up being a cottage on the female lead's family's property.

Admittedly shallow rating of the appropriateness of the relationship based on purely physical terms: both pretty attractive

Snow: lots, there is a snowman building scene

Quality/realism of snow: not foam, seems to be real in the background of outdoor shots

See someone’s breath?: didn't notice any in multiple outdoor hockey scenes

Diversity: do Canadians count?

Precocious child: The female lead's nephew Parker has a burgeoning mullet, and is a hockey player. The male lead ends up playing with the kid in a kid's pickup game at an outdoor rink

Pets: no

Baking: No, but there is some time spent building gingerbread houses

Amnesia?: no

Product placement: do ads on the boards count?

Source of conflict/break-up after the leads fall for each other: She gets a great offer to close a deal in NYC, but needs to be back by 12/23. This happens just as he's telling her he might retire to settle down as a coach, for the F-Trout.

She decides to delay her decision, and then the next day he gets called up to Boise, so she decides to go back to NYC.

How the break-up is quickly resolved: He sad faces through a couple of hours in a Boise hotel, especially when he sees an interview with his dad, the newest member of the hockey hall of fame, where he thanks his true family - his teammates.

She sad faces her way through the IF airport, stops in the convenience store, and there he is.

Open mouth final kiss: aw yeah

Recently deceased relative: No, but it's mentioned the male lead's mother is dead (she came to his games, his dad doesn't)

Consumption of alcohol: The beer bought in the airport, scenes at the Drunken Puck bar, but other than some supposedly awful nog made by grandma I'm not sure we see anything drunk.

Obviously fake cups/mugs of hot liquid: peppermint tea at a hockey game

Snowball fight: yes!

Ice skating: so much ice skating

Ugly Christmas sweaters: Not really, but the female lead's grandma makes everyone garish Christmas scarves (that she gives them like a week beforehand)

Notable Christmas music: old-fashioned organ in the hockey arena playing Christmas tunes

Does Santa appear: yes, in the background at the holiday jamboree

Town Christmas tree lighting: no

Christmas Market: How about a holiday jamboree, sponsoered by the f-trout?

Christmas tree shopping: Yes, but she can't pay because she has his debit card.

Did my wife stay awake: N/A, I'm covid+ and sequestered and watched by myself

Montage: real estate rejection phone calls, though more quick series of out-of-sequence cuts than a montage

Yearbook quote: Take the hit, shake it off, get back out there.

General Observations:
-The title card features a logo that consists of a hockey stick crossed with a candy cane.
-Sort of weird seeing late October commercials that were but no longer are ubiquitous. Remember the guy who shaves his whole lower body so he can do a polar plunge set to Run the Jewels? Oh la la la. How's he doing?
-At least I remember that. Most of the HM movie commercials are for ones I don't remember seeing at all.
-The hockey action is about as you'd expect. At one point the male lead teaches a teammate how to shoot by telling him he's gripping the stick too tight and needs to change the angle of his blade?
-there is a USPHL junior hockey team in Idaho Falls, the Spud Kings!
-sign hanging in the locker room, Ted Lasso style:



-the male lead has to coach Parker's team because his dad has been banished at least 50 feet from the rink for arguing with the ref. The boards for the rink for that game seem dangerously low.

[rass]

This one sounds really interesting, and I used to have a Catherine Bell crush. Almost enough to watch more than one episode of JAG.

She looked pretty good. She had been in other HM movies in the past and in those older ones something was just off with the work done on her face, IMO.

[Brontoburglar]

wait did you watch two movies tonight

[rass]

Just one. The first one was this past weekend.

[Brontoburglar]

boo, i was hoping you were becoming a hallmark christmas ironman

[rass]

boo, i was hoping you were becoming a hallmark christmas ironman

This was the freshest review ever posted. Started watching sometime between 7 and 7:30 and posted by 10. Might do another tonight since I'm still stuck down here.

[Nonlinear FC]

Here's what's up: Both Netflix and Amazon Prime have jumped on the Christmas rom-com train and the acting and overall production are 10x's better.

We watched something calle ExMas last night with Leighton Meester and the dude from Upload. Very entertaining. And there were raunchy jokes and a lesbian couple.

[rass]

Here's what's up: Both Netflix and Amazon Prime have jumped on the Christmas rom-com train and the acting and overall production are 10x's better.

We watched something calle ExMas last night with Leighton Meester and the dude from Upload. Very entertaining. And there were raunchy jokes and a lesbian couple.

Someone is missing the point.

And I might have to start a free trial of HM Movies Now for this one. Tonight? I think RLC left to do Netflix romcoms for a couple of years.

[mister d]

Would just like to point out that any careful reader would be reasonably certain those two movies were watched on different nights. Maybe others here skim.

[rass]

Would just like to point out that any careful reader would be reasonably certain those two movies were watched on different nights. Maybe others here skim.

thanks dude