'Five Gold Rings' Reviews: "Holland Roden and Nolan Gerard Funk have nice, comfortable chemistry as romantic leads"

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Heather Beckstead

         On November 7, 2024, Hallmark Channel premiered 'Five Gold Rings', which has earned predominantly positive reviews from critics. In the film, which stars Nolan Gerard Funk and Holland Roden, "An artist returns home for the holidays and gets tasked with a Christmas quest left by her grandmother. She and the local PI must return lost items to their owners before Christmas." But what did the critics say?

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Heather Beckstead

        Maddy Casale of Decider writes, "More than a movie, Five Gold Rings actually reminds me of Gilmore Girls. Led by three generations of women, the Miller family has single mom Kay raising bright, only daughter Audrey in a cozy small town, where they live in a surprisingly large home considering Kay runs a small family business. Audrey goes from struggling at chasing her dreams in a big city to return to her charming hometown to start over and maybe even find love with a guy from her past, while Kay falls for a local blue-collar guy who has always pined for her. If that’s not the Hallmark version of Lorelei and Rory Gilmore I don’t know what is!" Adding, "Five Gold Rings may be cheesy and extremely earnest in the way that Hallmark movies tend to be, but its mystery aspect keeps things from feeling completely predictable. Sure we still know how it’s all going to end, but the moments of discovery with the five gold rings and their little stories carried enough originality and surprises to keep things feeling relatively fun and fresh. Additionally, the whole plot device of needing to find the owners of each ring also cleverly separated the movie into a natural five act structure that felt well-paced and focused from beginning to end. Holland Roden and Nolan Gerard Funk have nice, comfortable chemistry as romantic leads, and their blossoming connecting was overall pleasant to watch, even if they were obviously down bad for each other for the start (especially Funk’s Finn, wow, what a flirt). It feels like, though, the heart of this movie is familial love and connection, and we feel that through Molly’s intricately planned quest for Audrey, and Audrey’s sweet, close relationship with her mom. So even though there are, of course, absurd or goofy things, like people in the Midwest being lightly dressed for winter, an over-the-top snooty rival antique store owner, or adults making a snowman with a random teen because one of them has never made a snowman before (he grew up in Minnesota, how is that possible), the good outweighs the bad and leaves a positive impression in the end."