Sadly Over-hyped

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Enjoyable story and cast.Yes, driving Grandpa's antique truck to D.C. was never going to be realistic as another reviewer mentioned.Yet another female character moving literally to be with a dolt of a boyfriend.Thankfully fate intervenes and she reconsiders the choices she is about to make!Worth a view for the Christmas wishes that bring magic to those who need it most.

Unlike some of our more paranoid reviewers who seem to think that one review constitutes the presence of movie production company mole among us, I actually think the opposite. Some people just feel strongly about one movie over the other. If our paranoid reviewer spent more time working on his grammar than he did trying to convince us everybody has an agenda but him, I'd have a greater tendency to believe him. As it is..... But I digress...I used to look forward to these. A few years ago, Hallmark Channel actually produced some pretty good holiday films. But, sadly, the more they do, the less creative they get. There are only so many ways you can tell the same story over and over and keep it fresh. As usual, this one has all the essential elements for its boilerplate plot line. Local girl in long distance romance with the usual unlikable fiancé, who is way too busy to appreciate the small town or the holiday spirit it spouts like a Mentos in a Pepsi bottle; The new guy with the kid, who's in town for one of many implausible reasons; some magical object (in this case a snow globe) that seems to grant wishes; your typical Santa Claus lookalike who may or may not, in fact, actually BE Santa Claus; the parents of said local girl who provide the understanding and patience that you know will ultimately give said local girl the wisdom to follow her heart. Now throw darts at the list of available actors, pick the first 4 or 5 from the stable of standard Hallmark Channel contract players, and start the cameras rolling. I'm not even certain they use a script anymore. The actors are so familiar with the plot line they can just ad lib the lines and the movie will end exactly the way you know it's supposed to. There are no surprises any more. The more you watch, the more you realize there will be the unlikable boyfriend/fiancé who shows up unexpectedly to disrupt the new, blossoming romance between said local girl and handsome new stranger (See The Christmas Card/Christmas Cookies/Christmas in Evergreen/Road to Christmas/A Royal Christmas/Christmas in Homestead/Christmas Under Wraps/Sleigh Bells Ring..... The list goes on and on and on..If you watch enough of them, you start to get confused as to what movie you're watching. The daughter in this movie played the daughter in "A Heavenly Christmas"... actually, she played it exactly the same way. She was also the daughter is 4 other Hallmark movies, as was many of the supporting cast and the 'stars'. They just rotate them through the system. I can't remember how many men Candace Cameron Bure has said 'I Love You' to. Or Alicia Witt or Taylor Cole or Danica McKellar or Catherine Bell or (fill in the blank). It gets to the point where, by December 10th, you stop being enchanted by them and one just does a soft fade into another and you don't even notice there has been a cast change. They become background noise you stop concentrating on. It's really too bad, because the premise is quite good. Hallmark Channel needs to broaden its horizons and start picking its actors from a wider pool. I'm sure they pay the minimum union scale (which is even less in Canada, where most of them are made, and it only takes up three weeks of an actor's time to shoot them), so I'm guessing the choices for quality talent is limited, but when the reaches the point where the same actors are starring in 3 different movies that are playing on both channels at the same time, you do get a bit of acting overload watching the same person be three different people. They need to expand the talent pool and get people who don't seem to be mailing their performance in. It must be hard for these actors to get excited about doing the same movie over and over bundled up in jackets and pretending to be cold day after day. It gets hard for the viewer, too.

If you like corny and sappy and Christmas on steroids, then you will probably enjoy this. Girl meets boy who has a little girl and the little girl wishes she and her dad would get stuck in Evergreen for Christmas.Sadly, that is pretty much the story. There is an existing boyfriend for Allie and there is really not much wrong with him other than he is serious about work and appears to be one of the upper class. He shows up unexpectedly. There is almost nothing in the way of surprises. There is a hint of real Christmas magic, but not displayed outright.There is nothing special about the acting, except maybe that Jaeda Lily Miller plays her part as super cute Zoe very well. Ashley Williams plays the optimistic, cheerful, sweet and generous lady, but it doesn't seem to be acting for her. I also wish her smile made it a little deeper into her eyes because that smile is on her face probably 80% or more of her screen time.As I said, if you want a typical Hallmark Christmas movie, this fits that scheme, but I'm sure there will be those who don't like that kind of thing.

I had high hopes for this movie, but a lack of plot, one dimensional characters, and a forced romance were what was delivered. Actually, the Zoe girl was the most realistic person in the whole movie. Ryan was pretty wooden the entire time while Allie seemed like she was plucked from a real world TV newscaster, TV weather lady, or infomercial career. Poor Spencer got the short end of the stick without deserving it. This gets a C- when compared to other cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies.