The Sweetest Christmas

I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 Christmas MOVIES.

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THAT TELLS ME THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I AM HONEST! I REVIEW Christmas MOVIES AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN!

Hallmark seems to cast the same ladies in their films. I think its great. It seems every year they have Candace Cameron, Alicia Witt, Erin Krakow, & Lacey Chabert in a Christmas film. To me Lacey always has a film that I enjoy watching. SHe is now like an old friend you see during the holidays. Here she shines again in this drama that plays to her strengths.

In this film: A struggling pastry chef Kylie Watson (Chabert) learns she's made it to the finals of the American Gingerbread Competition, she thinks her competitive spirit has finally paid off and hopes the publicity will help her jump start her new café. There's just one problem — the oven she's supposed to use breaks down right before the contest. Determined to enter, she reaches out to Nick Mazannti (Coco), her old boyfriend from culinary school who gave up his dream of being a pastry chef to take over his family's pizzeria.

The film is one of those movies that you just sit back and enjoy. I love the fact that this film was logical on how people would react in real life.

Worth Watching

Some reviews for these types of movies come across so harsh. Sure they're predictable but, isn't that what we're looking for when we tune in to Hallmark movies? They give us exactly what we want, a happy ending with two people finding a way to be together. We watch them not because we expect them to appear on the next Oscar ballot, but because we want to escape the world for a bit, drink something warm & smile cause it worked out exactly how we wanted in the end, which is a nice change from reality.

Kylie Watson (Lacey Chabert) is trying to start her own cake business and expecting a marriage proposal from boyfriend Alex. He brings her to a pizza place owned by her high school boyfriend Nick. Instead of a marriage proposal, Alex offers her a promotion. Disappointed, she breaks up with him. She gets into the American Gingerbread Competition and needs Nick's oven.

I actually like Alex trying to fix it. It's not the greatest move. It could have been funny. Of course, Kylie has to go with the hunkier guy and on top of that, he has a cute little boy. Lacey Chabert is super sweet and that's the central heart of this Hallmark romance. Otherwise, I don't think this would work. I don't really like Nick. She makes it work. She is so up that she uplifts the whole movie. In the end, that's all that matters in this type of movies.

TV Guide this week labeled Lacey Chabert the current holiday champ of Christmas leading ladies and she doesn't hurt that reputation in this movie.

This movie is filled with the clichés of plot devices. 1) A contest the protagonist must win to either seed a business or pay debts; 2) The protagonist is invited to a special dinner where she expects a ring but doesn't get it; 3) The lady falls off a ladder into man's arms; 4) Snowball fight (2 in this one); 5) High school sweethearts parted for their careers; 6) A kid with an absent mother that one of the protagonists befriends. And so many more. But wait. The movie laughs with us at some of these. The best example is the aftermath of the failed special dinner - one potential suitor explains to the other why Kylie was mad when she left the dinner.

The story teases us with what we think is predictable, and is to a certain extent, but then slightly twists it. Yes it's Hallmark and yes it is a Hallmark ending, but it is still worth watching.

I loved Jonathan Adams as Ralphie. He added so much humor along with sage advice. I criticized Lara Gilchrist is All of My Heart: Inn Love, but I loved her here, again with Chabert, as Kylie's wise sister. Kylie and Nick are almost comical in their sad behavior and they definitely need wise heads beside them. I wish I could say I thought Lea Coco had great chemistry with Chabert, but to me it was just slightly above average.

This is a typical, cute baking storyline. The male lead is kind of forgettable, but Lacey shines and Johnathan (Ralphie) is a hoot! I love him on Last Man Standing. Anyways, I'll watch this movie if it's on but probably won't go out of my way to watch it on purpose.