Hallmark Movie Review: Christmas Island

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas-island

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This one completely sucked me in! There’s something special about a family coming together and a Grinch finding the Christmas spirit. Here’s a quick recap and my two cents 😉

Quick Recap

Kate is hired as a private pilot to take the famous Sharp family to Switzerland. Unfortunately a bad storm prevents them from completing the trip and they become stranded in Nova Scotia’s Christmas Island.

My Two Cents

I unexpectedly enjoyed this movie! It’s not new or different. But I’m always a sucker for small town romances where a twist of fate (in this case a snow storm) causes broken families to come back together and repair their relationships. There’s something so heartwarming about these types of movies.

I’m almost always a big fan of enemies to lovers plots. It was fun to see Kate and Oliver throw eye daggers at each other in the early part of the movie. Then Kate used Oliver to help her “do Christmas” with the kids. And through doing Christmas, they formed their relationship. It fit with their personalities much better than love at first sight!

Of course none of this could have happened without the freak snowstorm, Jim, Jim’s family, and Christmas Island’s charm. It was fun watching the candy making, Santa letter sending, and all the other little activities the family did that brought them together. I loved that it all happened without technology. When we put down the electronics, it’s a lot easier to see what’s right in front of us.

This will be a movie I can re-watch multiple times. It won’t reach The Most Wonderful Time of the Year status, but it’s pretty good! It even had me tearing up at the end for all the right reasons. Give this one a try!

Let me know what you thought! Leave a comment!

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Hallmark Movie Review: Three Wise Men and a Baby

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/three-wise-men-and-a-baby

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

It’s so much fun having a Hallmark movie that isn’t the typical boy meets girl Hallmark movie. While keeping a little romance, this one focused more on the relationship of three sweet brothers. Here’s a quick recap and my two cents 😉 

Quick Recap

Brothers Stephan, Taylor, and Luke have grown apart over the years. But when a baby is dropped off at the fire station with Luke’s name called out, the brothers band together to take care of him.

My Two Cents

Three of my favorite Hallmark leading men together with a baby?!? I think my ovaries are exploding! They were all so cute taking care of little Thomas. 😃

Plus, taking care of Thomas brought the three brothers closer together. And made them realize how amazing their Mom was to take care of all three of them without ever complaining. I’m not sure how their Mom did that either. She must be a saint!

As if all that wasn’t enough…there was also a Kimberley Sustad cameo!! YES!! I loved it! I’ve been waiting for a cameo all season!!

The whole movie felt very natural and fun. I really liked watching these three together and I sincerely hope they do more collaborations! Especially if they’re going to put together more ridiculously crazy dances. LOL.

There was all the typical baby drama you would expect in a movie like this. Accidentally switching the baby, trying to do regular activities with a baby, and changing diapers were all fun little scenes. I loved when Thomas fell asleep and the guys suddenly became statues. Yup, we’ve all been there guys!

I think the majority of Hallmark lovers will find something to enjoy about this movie. I’m sure I’m a little biased in my review, because seriously, these are three of my favorite leads and it’s very rare we have more than one Hallmark star in a movie.

If you like dorky comedies that are light on the romance, then give this movie a try. But if you’re looking for a steamy romance, then this isn’t your jam. I hope you enjoyed it!

Did you watch this movie? Let me know what you thought! Leave a comment!

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Hallmark Movie Review: An Unexpected Christmas

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/an-unexpected-christmas

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Funny and feels worthy! Can you ask for more in a Hallmark movie? This is definitely a movie to watch this year! Here’s a quick re-cap and my two cents.

Quick Re-Cap

Emily was planning on taking a Hawaiian vacation, but instead is sent to the hometown of her ex-boyfriend, Jamie, for a work project that a coworker wasn’t able to complete. By happenstance Jamie and Emily arrive in town at the same time and Jamie’s sister thinks she’s there to spend the holiday’s with them. Emily is unable to use her coworker’s hotel reservation, so she spends the week with Jamie’s family while pretending she’s still his girlfriend.

My Two Cents

First things first…was I the only person searching faces in the crowds for an Andrew Walker cameo?! Since Tyler cameo’d in Walker’s My Christmas Family Tree, it seemed only fitting that we would see Andrew in this one. And then I saw him!! Andrew runs into Jamie in the bar at about 1 hour into the movie for those who want to catch the scene 🙂

Since Paul Campbell was in Kimberley Sustad’s movie, I think I’m going to go back and re-watch The Santa Stakeout again and see if Kimberley is an undiscovered Easter egg somewhere in there 🙂 Did anyone notice her? If so, where??

Okay, moving on from the Hallmark Easter egg cameos. This movie has lots of humor and heart. I was laughing for most of the movie and swooning for the rest. These are my favorite movies. The romcom’s with lots of heart.

The heart came through especially strong in many of the family scenes. Like the explanation of the ornaments on the tree, the story of the sleigh falling off the roof, or when Jamie’s Mom tells Emily that she always has a home with them. Extra heart-worthy was when Jamie and Emily are outside by the fountain and he shares the tradition of the family members writing their initials on the stones and putting them in the fountain. 😍

But the swooniest (yup, I like making up new words at night) moment was when Jamie asked his Dad, “How’d you know she’s the one?” His Dad’s answer was so simple and perfect, “Whenever we’re apart, I feel like there’s a piece of me missing.” Then at the end of the movie when Emily leaves – c’mon, you knew that would happen! – everyone says they feel like a piece of them is missing. Seriously y’all, soooo sweet. 😍😍

Like I said, this movie isn’t all feels. It’s also fantastic amounts of funny 🙂 The scenes with the waiter were some of my favorites. Keep an eye out for him in the last two minutes of the movie. That little nugget was totally worth it! LOL.

Honestly though there are too many cute/funny moments to list. Tyler and Bethany did a fantastic job with their characters. And they weren’t the only ones! Alison Wandzura was great as Jamie’s sister Becca!

I’m sure we’ve all threatened to tell our parents about a secret our sibling was trying to keep, right? So, I loved when Becca threatened to tell the secret to their parents if Jamie wouldn’t agree to be in the show and Emily had to work concessions. It’s dog eat dog in show business folks 😉

This movie is definitely on my Countdown to Christmas must watch list. It’ll probably make my all time favorites list too. I have a feeling I could watch it anytime and enjoy it just the same. Give it a try folks! I hope you like it as much as I did!!

Have you seen it? What did you think? Leave a comment!

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Hallmark Movie Review: My Christmas Family Tree

Image via: https://www.hallmarkchannel.com/my-christmas-family-tree

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

What the what Hallmark!?! I’m not sure what to make of this movie. I was all set to make it a 4 or 5 rating until the last 10 minutes. Now I’m debating downgrading it to a 3. Ugh! Here’s a quick re-cap and my full two cents to explain my frustrations.

Quick Re-Cap

Vanessa’s mother died when she was 9 and she was fostered until she turned 18. Not having any family, she does a genetic test and discovers a paternal match. She meets her father who invites her to join the family over the holidays. Vanessa joins them and starts to feel like a member of the family until she receives a call saying the genetic testing company had a mix-up. Can she keep the family she’s begun to love?

My Two Cents

First things first. ANDREW WALKER! I haven’t always been an Andrew Walker fan. However, over the past few years he’s been steadily growing on me. I would compare him to aged wine, but I’m a Wisconsin girl, so he’s more like an aged cheddar…sharper and tastier over time. 😂

I also need to give a shout out to Aimee Teegarden. She was wonderful! She does sweet and cute really well in this movie. I also enjoyed her in A New Year’s Resolution earlier this year.

As much as I enjoyed Andrew and Aimee, I had a hard time with the reality of this movie. I understand not all Hallmark movies are real or believable, but this one had a major flaw that I really struggled with. Vanessa and/or Richard should have recognized an issue earlier.

Richard said Vanessa’s mom should have been Trish, but Vanessa’s mom’s name is Patty. Richard met Vanessa’s mom in Providence, but Vanessa never knew her mom to be in Providence.

I suppose when you have DNA telling you that you’re related, sometimes you’re blinded to the possibility it couldn’t be real. But it still felt like Vanessa and Richard should have second guessed things a lot earlier.

Okay, moving past that big flaw. I still really enjoyed the movie!

I loved the first phone call with Richard and Vanessa! It was so awkward and sweet. I would imagine most first phone calls would go this way. I also liked how the half siblings felt about Vanessa and we saw those relationships grow naturally.

I wrote all of this before the last 10 minutes of the movie. Then the last 10 minutes happened and I had no idea what to think. Way to throw a curve ball Hallmark!! I’m still not sure what to think. I’m going to try not to think about it too much and just say at least it has a Hallmark happily ever after.

This movie won’t hit my personal Countdown to Christmas must watch list. Mostly because of the ending. It didn’t feel complete. Who’s daughter is Vanessa? Does it really matter since she loves Kris and the family no matter what? I don’t know, but it bothered me too much to put this in the must watch category. Even Jeff was sitting here asking WTF??

Have you seen it? What did you think? What was that ending? What do you think was the actual truth? Leave a comment!

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