Woo hoo! Another advent calendar almost done (my seond last post). I still have a few Hallmarkies left in my queue, which I will probably watch on Xmas day and post on the Leftovers post, before going on an extended holiday.
2021, Sean McNamara (Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday) -- download/Hallmark
HERstory: When last we left our sisters, (Classic Aunt) Meg (Ashley Williams, Warehouse 13) had decided to stay in Salt Lake, at her sister's place, a way of decompressing from her grief over Uncle Dave's (Kevin Nealon, SNL; who gets actual flashback scenes in this one, instead of just on a video screen) death. This was the time of year when she & Dave would normally be planning their France trip, and as the dates get closer, the weight lies heavier on her. Not that you can really tell, as Meg is one over-the-fucking-top, annoying level, chipper person. She shows up at her sister's resto, to say hi to people she knows, meets the new General Manager Joe (Keith D Robinson, A Christmas Love Story), who is affronted by her buttinsky attitude. I don't blame him; she's annoying AF and without any real qualifications. In fact, I may have missed (even with two movies worth of details available) what exactly Meg did. Did she just work at her uncle's theatre? Who knows, but whatever it is, she is not qualified to be making decisions for the resto, nor waiting tables, nor commenting on the food. But she does. Constantly. But in the most charming way! (!!)
"It's a joke! I was joking !!"
Now, her sister Jenn did ask her to help with "the Xmas party" which for some reason is part of a competition to ... hold the best party? Yeah, some organization/magazine is comparing resto holiday parties and the bestest of the best will receive a big check they can donate to a charity of their own choice, and be mentioned in some magazine or a website or whatever. The reasons for these "events" are never really clear nor logical, but it gives The Mains something to interrupt their daily routine with, so they can have time to chat and fall in love. And when I say, "interrupt their daily routines" I mean Joe, as Meg really has no life at the moment, but I still think Joe really needs to be MANAGING THE RESTO.
So, back to the dual-movies conceit. The first thing I noticed is that there are going to have to be some shared scenes in both movies, because either Jenn and Meg were in both scenes together or they were talking to each other. What I was not expecting was them to change things up and show the shared-scenes from different angles! How... innovative. No irony in the statement; its a neat idea and they have fun with it. Amusingly, when they cut the split-screen scene, they actually reference a "sister swap". Snort.
Anywayz, Meg and Joe start up on the trope train pretty much right away, heading off to an Xmas Market (<insert note about where this market is shot>) where Meg explains the different between holly and mistletoe, while wearing her best red coat. She is so fucking chipper and I constantly waver between finding her infectious and, as Joe does, really fucking annoying (have I said that yet?). He refers to her as a "town busybody" and she doesn't disagree. She has already taken over the Xmas Party planning (nor sure Jenn explained to Joe why she was there), and has Joe following her around from interstitial scene to interstitial scene, so he drags her along to his passion project -- the local food bank, which will be the resto's recipient of the charity money, should they win. They have an idea, an idea borrowed from the Evergreen movies, where the foodbank will be operated like a market square, with little stores for each item group. I suppose if you are doing multiple movies all for the same production company, you are allowed to lift, steal and borrow ideas beyond the shared multitude of tropes. That said, The Mains vibe between the two is taken kind of slow, rather than the usual "I wuv woo" energy that usually happens instantly in these movies. Neither is looking for someone, with no Dead Spouse energy, and spend most of the time not thinking along those lines. BUT I guess Meg's energy does become infectious when she applies it to the food bank.
So, the big tension act comes when they let the head chef of Jenn's resto quit the week before Xmas. OK, I get being a family like business, and caring for your staff, but her primary driver in quitting is a BETTER JOB. If it was family only, yes, but she's moving on. Keep her ass in the kitchen until you finish the Big Event or Find a New Chef. But nah, she's out so Meg and Joe run around trying to find applicants who are willing/able to quit THEIR gigs the week before Xmas. After a few failures, and a throw-Joe-under-the-bus moment, the movie swings around to one of the B Plots (head waiter is dating a food stand guy) AND brings in the movie cross-over scene where Meg convinces Jenn to hire food stand guy. What I didn't know from the other movie, was that Meg fabricated this whole scene by sending Food Stand Guy an article on Jenn and her resto, allowing him to use flattery as a driver instead of ... well, skill ? No matter, day saved even if they discover a few weeks later that he cannot cut it in the kitchen.
But...
Oh noes, the special resto contest is Snowed Out ! But Meg saves the day, by having all the restos in the contest bring their food to the IG spot in a hotel, and convinces the contest holder to split the money. Considering this was all for charity, she loses major points by not inviting the food insecure to the party, because even if all the restos were within walking distance, their staff might not be. No matter, everyone shows, including all her family despite I don't recall there being a scene in the other movie where everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) drives back to The Big City to attend her IG worthy Xmas Party, where there is no blue dress, no red dress, just a ... burgundy jump suit? How progressive Meg.
Now with her party a success, a new chef found, Joe having jumped ship to the now further funded Food Bank, and Meg taking his job, they now have time to smooch.
The Formulae: Cookie decorating station ! I actually ordered piping bags because I was inspired by Meg's cute reindeer in an ugly sweater; alas, Amazon lost them. Tree lighting ceremony! Meg makes it back to Hazelwood (technically, the other movie) for theirs. Special Event almost cancelled! Meg saves the day by bringing all the restos, and their food, to the IG worthy spot in Salt Lake City commenting on how small the downtown must be if they can all walk through the snowmageddon to the hotel. Xmas Party! Meg arranges a big party at Jenn's place for all the staff of the resto. Ummm, so she closes Jenn's resto during the holiday season, so EVERYONE can come eat finger food? Hope Jenn OK'd this, but knowing Classic Aunt Meg, not likely. Ice Skating! Joe sucks at ice skating, but there was an awkward almost-kiss scene under mistletoe. Sleigh/Carriage Ride; Joe and Meg waste more time to talk about life goals, relationships and sacrificing Me Time for work. Meg is figuring out "what's next" but I am still not sure "what was before".
Unformulae: Well, this movie's conceit is that the PST girl goes to spend Xmas in The Big City. Said Big City is only an hour away. Also, she is not dumping any career aspirations for Joe, as she seems to do nothing but live off her family.
True Calling? Yes, quite accurately.
The Rewind: While not for the usual reasons, we actually did pause & rewind so the Peanut Gallery could comment on the types of tubas Meg was playing. Yep, I didn't know there were types of tubas either.
The Regulars: Literally copying & pasting this from the other post. Well, Kimberly Williams-Paisley has only really started doing these movies while her sister Ashley IRL (as well as in the movie) has done... well, fewer than I thought she had. She really got started with the first movie in the Evergreen Cinematic Universe, Christmas in Evergreen, and has been going strong since. Mark Deklin has also done far fewer than I expected. So... all new regulars, I guess?
How does it Hallmark? I enjoyed this side of the dual movies more, but primarily from my love-hate-on for Classic Aunt Meg. Despite the innovation they were seeking for these dual-movies, I think they did a successful stock Hallmarkie.
How does it movie? Almost to the point, I might watch them again. Almost.
How Does It Snow? Other than the scenes shared, most of the snow is pretty standard cotton batting.
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