Christmas Comes Twice

This is Hallmark's second Christmas movie with a time travel twist this season; the first was A Timeless Christmas, which was excellent. Though this one was not as good, it still was a decent movie, nonetheless. At the center of the story is Cheryl Jenkins (played by Tamera Mowry-Housley), an astrophysicist and deputy director of the Federal Science Association. While visiting family and friends during the Christmas break in her hometown of Wellsboro, she starts thinking about the events that took place five years early, which lead her to where she is today, as she has become tired of admiration work as the deputy, and what she really wants is to do research again. One evening at the local Christmas carnival, a carousel appears, and Cheryl decides to take a ride. This is no ordinary carousel; the ride magically takes her back in time to five years earlier. And so, Cheryl's journey begins (and so does ours), her chance to address the 'what if' regrets of five years earlier and, just maybe, a second chance at love. One thing I enjoyed about this story/script was the focus on science. I don't think we see enough positive themes in popular culture around science, or rather, around being a scientist. That said, I did find the story, at times, to be a bit dull. Unlike A Timeless Christmas, I had a hard time engaging with the film; it did not pull me in. The carousel itself lacked a backstory really, and the viewer is left with questions. The ending was also quite rushed. The acting overall was pretty good. Mowry-Housley had a decent performance. However, I found her acting, at times, to be unconvincing, especially regarding her reactions to just having time-traveled five years into the past. I also thought her chemistry with Michael Xavier (playing George, who was also in Christmas on Wheels this season) was mediocre at best. Given the script, that is, the competitive back-and-forth between Cheryl and George, I would have thought the chemistry would be a 'slam dunk'. Instead, it was rather lacking, I felt. The supporting cast had a very strong performance. For example, I enjoyed watching Sheryl Lee Ralph (as Miss Nelson) on screen; she was great. Finally, the movie too is quite festive with some well-polished scenery, props, and sets. All in all, it is a decent Christmas movie. Not one of Hallmark's best this year nor one of their worse.

6/10 - cheesy and tired plotline makes for a Christmas movie that shouldn't be at the top of your list

Nobody should watch Hallmark films with massively high expectations, their Christmas output particularly. If a Hallmark fan or wanting to see as many Christmas films as possible, expectations would understandably be higher. They are very formulaic with most of them being more of the same narratively and structurally, apart from sporadic attempts at changes of pace. There are a fair share of them though that are surprisingly above average and even good amidst the many average and less ones.

'Christmas Comes Twice' is one of the average ones, neither terrible or particularly good. It is not one of the worst Hallmark Christmas films of 2020, or of their 2020 output overall. It is also a long way from being one of the best on all counts. While not hating 'Christmas Comes Twice' and finding some good things about it, there for me wasn't that much to write home about and there are some significant issues here (even when trying to not expect too much, certainly not high art).

There are good things here. Michael Xavier plays his role with understated confidence and honesty and comes over as very likeable. Sheryl Lee Ralph brings a lot of spark whenever she appears and her presence was refreshing. The supporting cast in general were well above average despite the material not being great.

Production values are pleasing, with the scenery being especially beautiful. There are some pleasant moments in the soundtrack.

However, 'Christmas Comes Twice' could have been better and has quite a lot of problems. The idea here was good and interesting, it is just too safely and conventionally executed with little imagination. The story never really comes to life either, too much of it is slight and drags and motivations and everything with the science are not very well fleshed out at all. The ending is very rushed and leaves more questions than answers. Too much of the script is awkward sounding and lacks spark.

Furthermore, Tamera Mowry-Housley tries her best with what she's given but she never looks completely comfortable and instead flat and neurotic. Really disliked her character too, very arrogant and snobbish and she never really grows as a character. Neither does the chemistry between her and Xavier, which is very muted and that is being generous. The direction is routine.

All in all, worth one time watch but pretty average. 5/10.

So I know that this wasn't a Christopher Nolan movie, but the time travel aspect of the story needed a little more science for me (especially considering that the main character was an astrophysicist). I feel that the writers could have developed that part of the story a lot more or tried to tie in the comet that is referred to throughout the movie. "Journey Back to Christmas" with Candace Cameron-Bure did a better job with it's time travel elements.

Also, the scenes on the carousel were very awkward. Could it have gone faster? Or could they have added in more special effects or whooshing sounds? Something was off there.

Having said all that, this was a pleasant, above average Hallmark offering and it's always nice to see Tamara Mowry-Housely on the screen. She is a good leading lady!

I really wanted to like this movie since I really like Tamara Mowry-Hously, but it was really slow and I gave up after about 30 minutes.