Sometimes not watching Hallmark Christmas movies before 2018 bites me in the butt. For example, A Mrs. Miracle Christmas is the third movie in this series. However, the first two came out in 2009 and 2010. That was so long ago! Well, despite not being familiar with the franchise (or the books they are based on), I watched the newest entry.
Laurel’s (Kaitlin Doubleday) family is suffering from loneliness and grief this Christmas season. The baby she was fostering with her husband, Will (Steve Lund), was returned to his mother. Her grandmother, Helen (Paula Shaw), recently injured her wrist, leaving her to sit home alone. Since Laurel and Will both work full time, they hire Gloria Merkle (Caroline Rhea) to help Helen during the day. But Mrs. Merkle ends up helping more than just Helen!
Before I started watching Hallmark movies every year, I thought that this was what they were going to be. A religious-but-not-too-religious movie about lost faith and regaining the Christmas Spirit. As you know, a majority of the movies are not that. They are more about the romance then about actual Christmas. That said, this was a nice breath of fresh air in the world of Hallmark movies. It was almost like a Mary Poppins for Christians. Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed it!
It can be difficult to pin down exactly why one likes a movie. I think that it was the downplayed magic of Mrs. Miracle that I loved the most. Her blue handbag (in the picture above) carries anything and everything. When grumpy Helen is looking for a reason to get rid of Mrs. Merkle, Laurel asks for references. Mrs. Merkle pulls out three giant stacks of references and reviews. In another scene, she pulls out a pair of ballroom shoes, even though there’s no way they would fit in that tiny bag! Add into that Mrs. Merkle’s low-key way of pointing the family in the right direction. In any other movie, the things she says would come off as cheesy or eye-rollingly annoying. But the way Caroline Rhea says these things…she makes me want to change the direction of my life!
If you are looking for a sweet, slightly religious, feel good movie, definitely watch A Mrs. Miracle Christmas. I can’t speak for the other two movies in the series but this one is worth your time and attention. I might watch it again when I need to cleanse my movie palate from other Hallmark movies.