Good Morning Christmas!

7/10 - romantic spoof of "Live! With Kelly and Michael" is fun and lighthearted

Well, somehow I wish I could just wrap this up by saying: another year, another sappy Hallmark Christmas movie.

But I can't. No. "Good Morning Christmas!" was actually a rather enjoyable and surprisingly nice Christmas movie. Sure, it had the traditional and archetypical sappy Hallmark romance that you have in just about every one of their holiday movies, but actually "Good Morning Christmas!" was more than just your run-of-the-mill romantic Christmas cheese.

The storyline told in "Good Morning Christmas!", as written by Riley Weston, was actually rather well-written and definitely captured that feeling of Christmas spirit and that romance that Hallmark tends to always make use of. But it worked. Oh yes, it worked so well in "Good Morning Christmas!".

Aside from having a greatly written storyline, then director Paul Ziller definitely had a good cast ensemble to work with here in bringing the characters to life on the screen. The movie starred Alison Sweeney and Marc Blucas, both of whom carried the movie quite well with their performances. And the two lead performers had a nice chemistry on the screen.

I was genuinely entertained by "Good Morning Christmas!", and it is certainly a movie that I can warmly recommend you sit down to watch if you enjoy Christmas movies.

My rating of "Good Morning Christmas!" lands on a seven out of ten stars.

Alison Sweeney and Marc Blucas are both Hallmark regulars, with more familiarity with Sweeney. Both of them have been in some good Hallmark films, such as Sweeney in one of the best Hallmark Christmas films last year and Blucas in a couple of Christmas films with a military theme. They were my main reason for seeing 'Good Morning Christmas'. Also because the premise sounded intriguing with a setting not seen a lot with Hallmark pre-2020 (has been used a number of times since though) and because Hallmark's 2020 Christmas batch has surprised me in a good way.

'Good Morning Christmas' on the whole did surprise me and in a good way. It is not always easy making a premise like this interesting, fun and heart-warming and generally all three are achieved. The film was seen for the leads and they and their chemistry do not disappoint. As far as the 2020 Hallmark Christmas films go, 'Good Morning Christmas' is in the high middle, close to best, category, and if asked as to whether it is worth watching the answer would be yes.

Did feel that it was a bit of a slow starter, with it taking a bit of time to get going and to connect with the characters.

Will agree too that the bickering was a bit too over the top and veered on mean spirited and the ending is on the too neat and easily foreseeable side.

However, there is a lot that works incredibly well. Sweeney and Blucas are very charming leads, playing their roles with a lot of gusto and heart while not taking them too seriously. Their chemistry is natural and genuine and the characters are not stereotypical ciphers, too perfect or overly-negative. The supporting cast is solid across the board.

Furthermore, the film pleases visually, lovely festive locations attractively and never drably or garishly shot. The music isn't as intrusive as it tends to be with Hallmark while the direction gets the job done well. The script doesn't get too cheesy or sentimental and does have a more natural flow when it becomes more settled. The story is not too heavy while taking itself seriously and is both warm-hearted and has a light touch when necessary. The conflict is not as forced or as predictable as it tends to be. Very interesting to see the festive traditions.

Overall, good but not great. 7/10.

Normally I love Marc Blucas and Alison Sweeney together and separate! They are two of my favorite Hallmark actors! This movie was just okay. The director made Brian (Blucas) act goofy and and Melissa (Sweeney) angry. Blucas in much better as a rough around the edges, blue collar type of character. The other issue I had was with the character of Lexi. She seemed like she was almost stalking Melissa and just walked into her room without knocking or calling first. This movie was not even close to the chemistry Blucas and Sweeney had in The Irresistible Blueberry Farm.

Love everything Alison is in. Didn't care for the male lead, it's not his fault but all I kept seeing is Ron DeSantis. He looks so much like him. And no way would the lady director/producer film them live without their permission. Bad idea!