Networks Offer a Stocking Full of Holiday Joy: Part 2

         This week, the various networks producing holiday fare offered more notable content than normal, so narrowing the choices down to just five was a bit more difficult this time around. Saying that, here are the four that critics have singled out as being the most intriguing and caught my eye.

        On December 14, 2024, Lifetime released 'The Holiday Junkie', which has earned rave reviews. Mandi Bierly of TVLine says, "Jennifer Love Hewitt has never headlined a holiday movie before, but she made up for lost time by developing, directing and starring in this obvious labor of love (she even performs two songs on the soundtrack). She plays professional Christmas decorator and planner Andie, who’s carrying on her late mother’s legacy with the titular company but also dreams of expanding it into a consumer brand. She hopes to impress her newest client, a venture capitalist, by giving his family a picture-perfect holiday. But when the brood gets stuck out of town, Andie finds herself home alone for days with Scrooge house manager Mason (Brian Hallisay, Hewitt’s husband and former The Client List co-star). He has a valid reason for being an ice man in December, but eventually, he thaws. Things heat up. Then way up. Then cool off. Then…well, you’ll have to watch. There are a lot of films with characters adjusting to Christmas without a parent, but few explore the grief as fully as this one. You’ve never seen a character tear up as many times as Andie does throughout the film — a realistic number, if you’ve been through it yourself. Yet as palpable as the pain is at times (listen for Hewitt’s cover of “Missing You”), so, too, is the tenderness Mason and Andie show each other in certain moments (wait for the Christmas lights). Here’s hoping Hewitt pours her heart into another movie next year."

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Lindsay Siu

        Also on that night, Hallmark Channel released 'The Santa Class', which was my personal favorite of the grouping. Bierly notes, "If you like your holiday movies with some Christmas magic — but still shy of the story taking place inside a snow globe — our runner-up pick, The Santa Class (premieres Saturday, Dec. 14 at 8 pm on Hallmark Channel), is for you. Kate North (the always wonderful Kimberley Sustad) is dealing with a lot this season: Her father has handed over the reins of his once-great academy that trains seasonal Santas. To save it, she needs the latest ragtag group of recruits to defeat a rival Santa school in the annual Christmas Cup for the first time ever, with the help of side-switching instructor Dan (Benjamin Ayres, tempering a Buddy the Elf-level enthusiasm). And among those recruits are the real Santa (Holiday Road’s Trevor Lerner), who Kate and Ben discover in the road with amnesia, and Hallmark fave Paul Campbell, who plays himself. Campbell’s hilarious turn, and the sentimental ending, will make this a film you’ll be happy to randomly catch during Countdown to Christmas for years to come." Personally, it is also my favorite tv movie of the year but knowing how the Emmy Awards work...it sadly will not get noticed.

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Luka Cyprian

        Much to my surprise, 'All I Need for Christmas', which premiered on Hallmark Mystery on December 12, 2024 to little fanfare or commercials, proved the be the most emotional of the group. Bierly also was impressed, stating, "Flip phone-toting singer/songwriter Maggie (Mallory Jansen) fears today’s music-making apps have killed her career for good. Which means she’s not thrilled to meet Archer (Dan Jeannotte), the developer of her presumed downfall, at her family’s New York state Christmas tree farm. With time, Archer inspires her to see a way forward, and she encourages him to repair his relationship with his sister Piper (Emily Tennant) using his years of therapy spent processing their father’s shockingly toxic holiday tradition. Jansen and Jeannotte play the tension and romance with ease, and aren’t even upstaged by adorable piglets named Johnny and June."

        Last, but certainly not least, OWN released 'Mistletoe & Matrimony', which was the most unexpectedly fun. Bierly writes, "Chicago wedding planner Olivia (Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut) gets a last-minute client for Christmas Eve — her nearly unredeemable bridezilla sister Rosemary (Asha James) — whose fiancée Gwen’s (Krista Nazaire) best friend happens to be Olivia’s ex, travel photographer Isaiah (Etienne Maurice). While Olivia and Isaiah team up to fulfill Rosemary’s demands, their feelings and dreams of launching a destination wedding business together resurface. So do all their past issues." While I was completely unaware that OWN made movies in the first place, this film is absolutely going on my annual rewatch list due to the chemistry between the cast as well as a top notch script.

        

Hallmark Releases Two Instant Classics

         On November 9, 2024 and November 10, 2024, Hallmark Channel released two films that seem destined to become classics for the holiday based network, 'Santa Tell Me' and 'Tis the Season to Be Irish', which have received rave reviews from critics. 

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Ricardo Hubbs

        In 'Santa Tell Me', "A design show host finds a letter from Santa promising to meet her true love, a man named Nick, by Christmas Eve. Meeting three Nicks complicates her search." The ensemble cast includes Daniel Lissing, Erin Krawkow, Benjamin Ayres, and Christopher Russell. Maddy Casale of Decider notes, "Our Call: STREAM IT! Embrace some seasonal silliness with the easy viewing and simple charms of Santa Tell Me. Because sometimes Santa Claus has nothing better to do than play matchmaker for one specific lady and you know what? That’s okay!" Adding, "When you accept that Santa Tell Me takes place in a some alternate reality where magical letters from Santa write themselves out of thin air (to much less shock and fanfare than I would have expected) and horse drawn carriages appear in your driveway exactly when you need them, you can have a really fun time with this movie. There may not be much logic or realism to this, but it’s a Hallmark Christmas movie, okay, it doesn’t always have to be that deep! Olivia is a winning leading lady (it’s also fun that she ends up being a bit of a player as she tries to sift through the Nicks to find The Nick To Rule Them All) and the guys end of being entertaining caricatures of leading men. The three Nicks are especially hilarious himbos once they all meet and interact with one another, making for some laughs and a dynamic that I certainly would want to keep watching. Admittedly Darcy at times just seems to serve as a vehicle to help push Olivia’s story forward, but even she has her pops of personality and hidden inner depths (like that little moment towards the end of the movie between her and a surprise arrival at the sisters’ door). Olivia and Chris have a nice build up to their own romantic connection and everyone in this movie seems to understand the assignment and commit to the roles they’re playing from top to bottom."

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Martin Maguire

        In 'Tis the Season to Be Irish', "Rose tries to flip a house in Ireland but is blocked by Sean, a handsome local who wants to preserve the historic cottage." The ensemble cast includes Fiona Gubelmann, Rowan Finken, Sophia Adli, Ali Hardiman, Rosemary Henderson, and Natalie Britton. Liz Kocan of Decider says, "Think of ‘Tis The Season To Be Irish as what would happen if Nancy Meyers’ The Holiday was not about a house swap but was only told from Cameron Diaz’s point of view as she visits rural England at Christmas. (And swap England for Ireland, of course.) There’s also the running gag with the rogue sheep that wanders around town that may or may not be a nod to Jenny the donkey from The Banshees of Inisherin. Probably not, but is a livestock cameo required for every movie set in Ireland? They tell you to dress for the job you want, but I have no idea what a person who makes up Hallmark movie titles wears. ‘Tis The Season To Be Irish?? What a name! It tells you everything you need to know about the movie (Ireland at Christmas) and lets you fill in the blanks everywhere else. If you hear me, Hallmark, you know where to find me and I’m open for title brainstorming work. (Looking forward to the sequel, Dingle All The Way, and the unrelated but also set-in-Ireland movie Four-Leaf Lover.) For serious though, this movie. Fiona Gubelmann and Eoin Macken are the reason this movie works; their characters are both “old,” as in, in their 30s, one assumes, but their life experience is what exposes their vulnerabilities. As Sean, Macken spends a lot of the movie drily poking fun of Rose, but his sarcasm is a mask to cover up the hurt he’s experienced after previous heartbreak. Rose, feeling abandoned by her father (and lonely after the death of her mother) uses her nomadic lifestyle as an excuse to not get close to others. Both characters are a little lost and lonely thanks to their parental issues, and romantically, they’re both slightly damaged goods, but the film never lets things get to dark and tortured. Instead, they realize that instead of fighting their feelings, love is a risk worth taking now that they’ve found one another."