Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday

This movie seemed to gel a lot better than Sister Swap: Christmas in the City. Maybe I watched them out of order, but this storyline made more sense. The real-life sisters were more natural together, there was less of the social agenda and more attention to the story.

Their favorite uncle and owner of the local family theatre, Dave, has passed away and this will be the first Christmas without him. The sisters' parents have decided to sell the theater and Jennifer Swift (Meg Swift's sister) convinces local handyman and town council member Eric to help her do one last Christmas at The Madison...for just the family, but then the whole town gets invited. The two single parents (and former high school debate nemesis) bond over fixing up the theater. Lots of family and town Christmas memories.

"The Madison is famously romantic."-Pops.

"What, do you just walk through town with a later?"-Jennifer.

"You know I meet the best people that way."-Eric.

We love these two actresses. But they never stopped talking. The rest of the characters never got a word in edgewise. And the girls voices were like listening to a squeaky record. There was no balance between male and female voices. We gave it 30 minutes and just couldn't take listening to those voices another second.

My title is a quote from the character Simon about a bow tie. If you stretch your imagination a bit, you could think of these two movies that way. I'm a fan of Ashley Williams so I was ready to enjoy the pair of movies no matter what.

The hook in this movie is the multiple relationships. The story is nothing great. Have to sell our family ________ (movie theatre). The lead couple are working together to repair it. The premise is especially a bit of a stretch which is where "ridiculous" comes in. In this movie, the family relationships are just as significant as any romance. The sisters (real life sisters) love each other and it shows. Jennifer's son, Simon, forms a kind of fraternal bond with Eric's much younger daughter. Plus Meg and Jennifer's parents. There is a romance story, but it has to share the spotlight with all the other things.

I would think the story encompassing both movies could have been squeezed into one movie. As it is, the sister movie (yes it's a pun) steals several scenes from this one while a few of the same events are shot from different perspectives and maybe changed slightly. The stories run parallel and the other movie continues a little past the ending of this one. But combining the two into one who have squeezed everything a bit too much.

There's a lot of fun and energy in both movies. It's strange, but I don't think the two movies should be separated, but it also creates some confusion a little like mental whiplash. Also, while this movie is broader than a simple romance, the second movie is a little more focused on the corresponding romance.

I liked both movies, but not as much as I anticipated. I got the fun and energy I expected, but as another reviewer said, it's kind of all over the place. The two movies together use a lot of the common tropes which are overused this time of year. On the other hand, the parallel stories and how they are combined give a different feel to it. When it comes down to it, I think each person's enjoyment will be influenced by their predisposition to the two main actresses.

I loved the chemistry between the two real-life sisters, Ashley Williams and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. I had no idea that they were sisters, but I also am not typically a year-round Hallmark movie person. Christmas is the thing for me!

These movies are not meant to have massive plot-twists, nor are they rivals for the complexities of say, 'Inception', but I'm realizing how a shortcoming of development can really set movies back. (Novice movie critic here.) I don't think there is enough character development, and there is something missing in terms of relationships. Why was Dave so missed by his sister, which is an atypical 'trope'- usually movies are focused on main relationships, because they tend to reflect real-life. Siblings are always important, but there is not a connection that helps the audience understand why his passing was so devastating for his sister (the Mom).

Likewise, why don't we hear more about the loss of Jennifer's husband?

And also: why did they swap cities...what made that something that was helpful to the end goal of the plot?

And as far as grief is concerned, it seems that Meg (the younger sis who typically lives in the small town, Hazelwood) is in a phase of 'healing from grief'. Is this from her uncle passing, or...something else? If that was addressed, I missed it.

These are the questions that still remain unanswered.

I agree with the other reviewer that Jacob Buster is a star- he is so incredibly impressive, and resonates as an atypically sweet/sensitive teen. I hope that he continues his career, because he has the same charm and charisma as someone like Freddie Highmore, etc.

7 stars for beautiful scenery, natural chemistry between the two leads, and Jacob's efforts.

3 stars missing for lack of plot development, character definition/relationships, and some unanswered questions in general.

5/10 - contrary to the average IMDb score, I actually liked this movie's companion (A Christmas in the City) a bit more and felt like this one was frankly a little superfluous.