Debbie Macomber's Joyful Mrs. Miracle | 2024 Christmas Movies

Back in 2021, I watched my first Mrs. Miracle Christmas movie. That was the third movie in the series, which didn’t matter much because it was a new actress (Caroline Rhea) playing the Mrs. Miracle character. This year’s Joyful Mrs. Miracle has Rachel Boston in the role. I love that this is a character that can easily switch actresses with no real consequence to her.

After the passing of their grandmother, siblings Charlotte (Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes), Benedict (Matthew James Dowden), and Henry (Max Lloyd-Jones) reunite to decide who will take over as CEO of the family company. Annie Merkle (Boston), an estate planner, arrives to help the family realize what is really important to them and to help Charlotte reconnect with her first love, Austin (Tanner Novlan).

I loved this version of Mrs. Miracle. To me, Caroline Rhea made the character a bit more goofy. The Rachel Boston version is still a little silly but in a that-person-is-too-happy kind of way. There is a scene where a couple gets engaged and Annie tries her best to contain her excitement before she yells “Oh! I’m a hugger!” and hugs the newly engaged woman so tightly. I honestly hope that Hallmark keeps Boston as Mrs. Miracle for any future movies. She really was the brightest spot of the movie for me.

Don’t get me wrong…the rest of the actors are great in their roles. Even Charlotte’s son, Cody (Logan Carriere), was decent. As a matter of fact, there is a possibility that Joyful Mrs. Miracle will be my favorite movie of the year. Other movies will have to work very hard to beat it.

Rating: I would like Mrs. Miracle to come hang out with me

The Holiday Sitter | 2022 Christmas Movies

As we’re heading into the home stretch of Christmas movies, there are a few that I am looking forward to watching. The Holiday Sitter is one of those movies. Let’s see if it is as good as I hope.

Sam (Jonathan Bennett) gets called to babysit his niece and nephew when his sister, Kathleen (Chelsea Walker), and her husband, Nate (Matthew James Dowden), travel to Buffalo to pick up the newborn baby they are adopting. Unfortunately, Sam is terrible with kids. He hires their neighbor, Jason (George Krissa), to help him with…well, everything. Jason and the kids help change Sam’s viewpoint on family and life.

I loved The Holiday Sitter so much. Bennett, famously known as Aaron from Mean Girls, is such an amazing actor. While he does so well with the romantic drama parts, my favorite parts were when he was overemoting. The way his face contorts is hysterical. This is his third Christmas movie with Hallmark, The Christmas House and The Christmas House 2 being the first two. I love that Bennett has become the face of Hallmark’s gay Christmas movies. All three of those movies are wonderful and I can’t wait to see what comes next for him.

Not only should you watch The Holiday Sitter, you should watch it more than once. It may not be an annual movie to watch with the family but it definitely should be an annual romance movie you watch after you’ve put the kids to bed. It is just that good.

The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls | 2021 Christmas Movies

Last year, Hallmark gave us an amazingly good movie called The Christmas House. They followed it up this year with the sequel, The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls. As a general rule, sequels suck. Let’s see if this one lived up to last year’s greatness.

Now that Mike (Robert Buckley) owns The Christmas House, that makes him the King of Christmas, right? Not if his brother, Brandon (Jonathan Bennett), has anything to say about it. The brothers take part in a TV competition show to find out who has the best Christmas House. Hopefully they don’t destroy everything in the meantime.

Hallmark did it! Deck Those Halls is just as good as last year’s iteration. They did up the emotional stakes a little bit by adding Andi’s (Ana Ayora) ex-husband - and Noah’s (Mattia Castrillo) dad - into the mix. Mike wants to propose to Andi so he feels the need to be fatherly and bond with Noah but Zane (Matthew James Dowden) keeps showing up at the worst moments. Not only does this expand on Mike’s character, it also adds to the stress of being a television star competing on a television show with his brother. He feels the need to be the absolute best.

On the other side, Brandon has his own issues. Now that he has kids with his husband, Jake (Brad Harder), he feels like he has to provide the best Christmas for his family. (Even though the kids are still babies.) Plus he feels like he is missing out on important moments in the kids’ lives since Jake can work from home and be with the more while he has to go to his bakery every day. Plus he has the stress of being the older brother to a handsome television star that everyone loves.

I love that Hallmark added depth to these characters. Usually, we get cardboard cutout characters that have one thing in life…usually their job…and everything else has to get shoved aside or they have to quit their current life in order to “have it all.” These people have full lives with work and family. Sure, there are complications but that is what happens in real life. Giving the characters all of this makes them feel more real. I think that is why this series is so successful.

If you couldn’t tell, I absolutely think you should watch Deck Those Halls. As a matter of fact, you should watch The Christmas House then immediately follow it up with this one. Then tell everyone you know to watch it too. We need Hallmark to know that we want them to continue to make these good movies and stop making the terrible stuff.