Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Better Late Then Never

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is the 2nd Christmas movie I've seen with the lovely Ellen Hollman- The Perfect Christmas List (2014) and that one was a little better with some humor, but not that good. Also saw Bobby Campo in My Christmas Love (2016) which was not good. My complaint is there was no creativity or depth in the story. I enjoyed the first 30 minutes with the festive colors and such. My wife and I both fell asleep at the 60 minute mark. The title of the movie should have been "The Christmas Shop" because that was the focus of the movie. Ellen Hollman just was just not suited for this role as the happy Christmas Shop owner. The scenes where she was not happy with Bobby Campo were the best. Cynthia Gibb has had small parts in many of these Christmas movies as she did here (not that good). She stars in one of my favorite Christmas movies "Mary Christmas (2002)" which had an excellent story. She needs another starring Christmas role.

It's not that great of a store. I feel I know a little too much about the real estate market in New York. At least there is no ice sculpting. I have no idea who Dave Koz is....that was kind of funny. Ellen Hollman is fine...the leading guy is a little weird but tolerable.

A beautiful woman takes over the family business (in this case, a Christmas shop, of all things, although it could be a cookie factory or a Christmas village or a tree farm, or a lodge) and then gets a letter from the landlord saying the building has been sold and they have 30 days to vacate. Of course, this takes place on December 1 so they have be out by the 31st. Surprise Surprise... the landlord just happens to run into the tenant (quite literally) and finds himself in her shop buying a Christmas ornament, or a tree or eating a cookie, although he has neither use nor need of Christmas or holidays or relationships. . She has no idea he's the man kicking her out and tells him about the eviction notice. Now, he could tell her who he is, but doesn't, and we're really not sure why. (Jake didn't tell Hannah who he was in 'Christmas Cookies', either). Instead he gives her options, one of them is to fight it the eviction and then even comes over to her side to keep the shop or the village or the lodge or the farm or the cookie company from having to close down or move or be taken over.... Well, you get the drift. How am I doing so far? Ok, Let's start a drinking game. For every hallmark Christmas movie that shares the same theme, plot line, characters, last minute twist and outcome, chug a brew of your choice. If you've really been paying attention to the movies, you will put away a couple of 6 packs. Yes, dear readers, of the recent crop of HMC movies to incorporate the exact same plot line, you'll have to count to 11. (Possibly more. I haven't watched all of them. I actually do have a life... of sorts). There is always the couple who start out hating or disliking or having some conflict with each other in one way or another, yet 30 minutes into the movie they seem to magically become drawn together. The man is usually a no nonsense businessman who sees money above sentiment (or in the case of the movie Christmas Cookies, that character is played by a woman). I could go on ad nauseum, but you get the point. Oh, by the way, care to venture a guess as to how it ends? Yup, you're right. That's how it ends, because that's how ALL HMC movies end... happily ever after. This one is no different. There are no surprises. There never are. For the marathon Hallmark Christmas movie junkies, this is pleasant enough fare. The actors are pleasant; the dialogue is pleasant; the scenery is pleasant; the music is pleasant; the ending is pleasant; and, as usual, the snow is fake.

'tis the season for Hallmark Christmas movies, which provide an enjoyable respite from the current climate of unpredictability in the real world and its current 'love' stories. At this time of year in the cable channel's world, you can depend on seeing a beautiful setting for a light chaste romance between a male character and a female character, both of whom are introduced early so there is little doubt they will end up together. It's the specific situation and its 'tension' to be resolved that make each movie different. The couple's relationship - and the story - will be consummated with a (many times first) kiss and their happily ever after is presumed.Sharing Christmas (2017) is not as formulaic as most I've seen of this 'genre': the relational tension between Stephanie and Michael is minimal from the start - there are no ex- or current boyfriends or girlfriends dispose of before they can be together. Their tension has to do with Michael's boss Helen, whose investors have purchased the building where Stephanie's Christmas Shop is a tenant; Helen plans to tear down the existing 'mall' to build a new mixed-use complex. While Michael is assigned to prepare and ultimately evict the tenants - including Stephanie, who's just assumed ownership of the business her parents established over 40 years - he actually becomes a quasi-employee of the shop while 'courting' Stephanie and trying to help her relocate or otherwise save the store.As their relationship develops, each has a confidant to discuss its progress, but a solution to Stephanie's business problem doesn't appear possible. While many of these Hallmark films telegraph how the 'tension' will be resolved, this one was a total surprise "out of nowhere" to the viewer: it introduces a new character at the last minute to save the day.