2019, Pat Williams (Christmas Bells Are Ringing) -- Amazon
HERstory: This is more a movie of THEIR stories, as its an ensemble piece about various couples finding love at Xmas time. But the requisite of Hallmarkies is that there are two leads, so we have Jessica Winthrop, who ... what does she do again? Oh yes, she works in a music store but had dreams of being a concert cellist. And we have Luke, the local wedding photographer who works out of ... an Italian restaurant?
Anywayz, Jessica is all about the Xmas Spirit and is happily photoshopping her latest Xmas Card to include the face of her new-ish beau (25 dates!) which makes him uncomfortable. No pay no mind to that, she's doing her Xmas thing and places the order. And they have a date later that night and her friend/coworker are talking like there's a proposal to be expected. Really 25 dates? Isn't that a few months? But, and of course we all see this coming, bzzzzzzt, she's dumped. He's stuffy and annoying, she's bubbly and charming. They are not meant to be together.
Xmas is ruined. She's gonna skip out on it this year and avoid all the big to-do she usually does. But still, she can't resist buying those new Hallmark papercraft cards (pop-up folding kind, layered 3D cards, etc.) but instead of sending a bunch out to her friends & family from her beau and her, she sends cards to random strangers people who had an impact on her life in the past. Like her music teacher, or the guy in the boyband who helped her get through her parent's death, or her aunt who was always there for her. And her brother the soldier who is stationed... somewhere.
And thus begins the romance journey for a lot of different couples as inspired by the receipt of her cards. Her aunt drops the card as she gets it out of the mailbox prompting Old Guy Walking Dog to retrieve it for her. Old People (yeah yeah, they are only a few years older than me) Love! And her music teacher is not to be found, but her son (Luke) gets the card and comes to find Jessica to thank her for it. Her brother's card is used to woo the other private who doesn't get any Xmas cheer. And the Boy Band Boy, in his massssively tackily decorated house, is inspired by her heartfelt message to reunite with his old Boy Band Band Boys and write a new Xmas Song.
Luke is charmed by Jessica and impressed by her tree decorating skills so ask her to help him find the perfect tree for the orphanage (group home? that phrase sounds more.... juvenile offenders) so they go to the Tree Lot -- but not a date!! She also sees some of his very boring photos but she loves them and the moon shot has him quoting It's a Wonderful Life which is her favourite movie and Dick BF hadn't even seen it, so... she's lassoed ! And they have a charming time together playing Santa and Mrs. Kringle at the orphanage.
Buuuuut we need a complication. He is also being setup with young ladies by his friends, but Bad Date just turns out to be an actor looking for free headshots, which happens at Luke's hockey game, which Jessica sees and misinterprets. That said, there was almost an additional Love Interest as Primo, Luke's.... boss (?) meets Bad Date and they are smitten. But that storyline didn't get played out. Also, Luke sees her talking to Dick BF and misinterprets that they are getting back together. But in case you are worried, all the other couples are coming along quite nicely, especially Old People who are about to begin their couple status by sharing a cute dog. Soldier Brother makes a snowman with Soldier Girl from Florida. Sweet googly eyes abound.
But Luke is not to be deterred. Boy Band Boy has decided to play his new song in the PST where Jessica lives because she inspired the song. And Luke sneaks his way backstage so he can clear up all the misunderstandings and they can kiss for the first time. Well, not exactly the FIRST time, as that was covered in the "let's fuck with the Dick BF" scene earlier in the movie. I actually preferred Fake First Kiss to this one.
And everyone has a lovely Xmas due to Hallmark cards being sent, and terrrrible Boy Bands.
The Formulae:So, its a PST, and all the overhead stock shots are just absolutely lovely. I need to find out where that stock footage was from. There are Dead Parents cuz Ladies Who Love Xmas always need something sad in their past. There was the Xmas Tree Lot. And the requisite misunderstanding. The Boy Band event is kind of an Xmas Event. Now that also says something to me --- why was the Boy Band Event held on Christmas Day ?!? Shouldn't all these people be at home with their families? That just bugs me.
Unformulae: Well, is it really taking place in a PST ? I always thought it was, but the final scene of the movie has them pull up from all the lovely snow covered houses and ... its just a suburb of The Big City, as in like a ten minute drive from the skyscrapers and lights! Also, nobody is going from Big City to PST, as it all takes place there, and they all live there, and will continue to live there. Jessica or Luke do not have big career making/limiting moments, and while Jessica does actually pursue her cello dream, its not really a big part of the movie. And I don't think I caught any red dress, but I imagine she wore something Xmas-y to the Boy Band concert.
True Calling? I guess? She does write a bunch of heartfelt notices inside the fancy schmancy Xmas Cards she buys and that is the crux of the movie. But its not like the movie spells it out for you, constantly talking about how she wrote wrote wrote stuff. Its actually more .... organic and naturally played out.
The Rewind: Just one minor one, where at the end they zoom in on the house where everyone is enjoying Xmas, and ... wait, is that window CGI ? It does look odd, and make me wonder whether they just CGIed up the whole house and inserted the lovely picture window bit. It was all so soft-focus fuzzy, I couldn't really tell.
The Regulars: In between standard TV fare, DeVitto has done a few Hallmarkies before and after this one. Chad Michael Murphy (ahhhh the days of the 3-name heart throbs!!) has done a whole big bunch of these before and since this movie and even has become a regular on the NS-set TV series called Sullivan's Crossing which is pretty much Hallmarkie in Canadian TV format. I would have expected Grant Show to have done a ton of these, in between doing Dynasty episodes but apparently not. But most of the C-lane characters were played by the Hallmarkie stable of actors.
How does it Hallmark? This was less formulaic but in doing so, it actually lent itself to being much better here. This felt genuinely romantic and charming (my word for the season, I guess) and you really do want these characters to get together -- all of them !
How does it movie? This aspect is almost always a big No, but I think I might have to consider it whether I would ever consider watching the movie again, as to whether I might make it a Standard Xmas Movie. Alas, no. Despite being fully charmed, there weren't enough moments to make we watch it again. Have there been any ... yet?
How Does It Snow? Can't say I noticed as there weren't a whole lot of actual snowy scenes. But each time they focused on Old People Love there seemed to be a decent amount of background snow that could have been artfully placed shavings from Luke's hockey rink but at least it wasn't sprayed on soap flakes or cotton batting.
No comments:
Post a Comment