A Novel Noel | 2024 Christmas Movies

You know, I still hate when the movies on Hallmark Mystery don’t have a mystery in them. A Novel Noel is another non-mystery on the Mystery channel. Why must they do this?

Harper (Julie Gonzalo) is a book editor that has lost her love for her job. When she gets an offer from Sawyer (Brendan Penny) to work at his bookstore in Maine for the month of December, she jumps at the offer. Hopefully, this will help her find her passion again.

I wanted to like A Novel Noel so much. There was so much they could have done to make this an interesting movie. They could have gone deeper into the cute Christmas events the town was running. Or they could have gone deeper into the secret-editor-helping-writers plot. She basically ignored all of the other writers, including the one that inspired her to start the writing group, to solely focus on Sawyer. Blech. Like every other Hallmark Mystery movie, it’s fine. I just wish there was more.

Rating: WHAT DID BETH WRITE?!

A Season For Family | 2023 Christmas Movies

Thanks to the commercials, I knew that A Season For Family was about adoption. But I didn’t know who was the adopted one and what that meant to the plot of the movie. In short, Hallmark commercials kinda suck.

Maddy (Stacey Farber) and her adopted son, Wesley (Benjamin Jacobson), come back to their hometown in Utah. While shopping for ski rentals, they meet Paul (Brendan Penny) and his adopted son, Cody (Azriel Dalman). Little did Maddy and Paul know that Wesley and Cody are actually brothers.

For once, the kids take center stage in a Hallmark movie. Sure, there is a little bit of romance between Maddy and Paul but that is secondary to the needs of Wesley and Cody. Granted, I think Paul makes way too big of a deal regarding telling Cody that he’s adopted and that Wesley is his brother. Especially since the boys get along so well. But I guess they had to pad the script somehow. In the end, this is a sweet movie for someone looking for more than just straight up romance.

Rating: No fighting from these brothers

In Merry Measure | 2022 Christmas Movies

We now have Hallmark’s second movie about a singer. All Saints Christmas aired on November 6 and In Merry Measure aired on November 11. You would think that, when making their annual schedule, the network would try to put a bit more time between movies with a similar premise.

Darcy (Patti Murin) is an aging pop star. Dropped by her label, she is trying her best to get signed by a new label. She decides to come home to Dayton, OH to spend Christmas with her sister, Gretchen (Jennifer Robertson), and her niece, Megan (Cassidy Reichman). Megan dreams of singing with her high school glee club, The Herald Angels. When she doesn’t make the cut, Darcy steps in to help boost Megan’s confidence and maybe make the Angels a bit better as well.

I was surprised when I found myself actually enjoying In Merry Measure. Instead of focusing on the romance between Darcy and music teacher Adam (Brendan Penny), the movie actually focused a bit more on the kids and their singing. Granted, I was a little disappointed that the only black girl in the choir, Sasha played by Pendo Muema, was relegated to only beat boxing. The other characters of color were all male. It would have been nice to see a few more non-white ladies in the choir. Though, to be honest, we didn’t spend a lot of time with the rest of the choir. The movie only focused on five or six kids. The rest were only panned by while they sang. There could have been more people of color in the choir and I didn’t notice due to the lack of time spent on them.

In addition to focusing on the kids, the movie also prioritized the relationship between Darcy and Gretchen more than Darcy and Adam. There are a couple of references that Gretchen’s husband passed away about six months prior to the movie but we never really see Gretchen crying over it. She is sad when they are hanging stockings and she notes that she hasn’t been crying every day since Darcy arrived but I think the movie may have been a little stronger if there was just one scene of Gretchen breaking down a little. She doesn’t need to be completely unable to live or anything. Just maybe slightly more emotional with Darcy there to really support her.

In Merry Measure is definitely a movie you should watch. Jennifer Robertson is always a joy to watch and Patti Murin is delightful alongside her. You might even walk away humming a few of the songs. Especially Sugar Rush.

Time For Them To Come Home For Christmas | 2021 Christmas Movies

Apparently, Time For Them To Come Home For Christmas is the FOURTH movie in this series! They already did Time For Me, Time For You, and Time For Us. I guess the next few years will have Time For Him and Time For Her before they run out of pronouns.

Paul (Brendan Penny) is a nurse at a hospital in Maine. Shortly before Christmas, a woman (Jessy Schram) is almost hit by a car. When she wakes up, they find that she can’t remember anything about her life. Paul, who is planning on driving to Columbia, South Carolina, to visit family, agrees to take Jane Doe with him in the hopes that her memory will return when she meets up with…someone…at the Christmas Tree lighting.

I don’t understand the appeal of Jessy Schram. She was in last year’s dud, A Nashville Christmas Carol, and she isn’t any better in this year’s Christmas movie. While she is a beautiful woman, her acting is wooden and I’m not sure she has control over her facial movements. Looking over her IMDb listing, she does have recurring roles in some big television series. That means that she does have acting talent in there somewhere. Maybe she wasn’t meant for Hallmark Christmas movies. Not everyone can achieve the right amount of cheesiness without overshooting into awfulness.

The story begins on a good note. She has amnesia and they are trying to figure out who she is. The only clue they have is a newspaper clipping about a Christmas Tree lighting ceremony with a man’s name written on the back. So she decides to just take off to South Carolina, which is about an 18-hour drive with no stops. And the police sheriff (Lochlyn Munro) lets her go? Even if she’s traveling with a nurse, it’s a terrible idea. Especially since they have no idea who she would be meeting there. Once they leave the hospital, everything falls apart.

Much like last year’s installment, this one isn’t particularly worth watching. I’ll actually reiterate my suggestion from last year: “Watch beginning and the last 30 minutes. Skip the rest.”

A Little Christmas Charm | 2020 Christmas Movies

I kinda love when Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movies have multiple names. Granted, it can make it a little difficult to research the movie but it feels like someone is trying to hide the movie from the world. A Little Christmas Charm also goes by the name The Charm Bracelet.

Holly (Ashley Greene Khoury) is a jewelry designer working at her best friend’s vintage store. When her friend, Megan (Britt Irvin), brings in a jacket for Holly to prep for the sales floor, Holly finds a charm bracelet in the pocket. Determined to find the owner, Holly pairs up with Greg (Brendan Penny), a reporter with a local paper.

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries tends to air the movies that have a mystery attached. Returning lost items, finding lost loves…those types of things. Normally, I’m into those types of movies. Christmas Charm, however, loses its focus halfway through. Instead of giving them a good mid-movie conflict, Greg just gives up because he doesn’t think they will find the owner by the deadline for his “feel good” article. Since Holly doesn’t want to search on her own (she says “it’s more fun with Greg”), the search completely stops. It isn’t until Holly has an epiphany while looking at pictures from Megan’s baby shower that the search continues. There should have been something like - Holly loses a charm (because she keeps taking them off the damn bracelet) and they have to retrace their steps then they see something they didn’t notice last time that helps them. Giving up is dumb when the writers made Holly so determined in the beginning to find the owner.

If you aren’t a super fan of one of the actors, I would recommend that you skip A Little Christmas Charm. The Christmas Ring has a similar plot. If you need to watch a Christmas mystery, watch that one instead. It’s much better.