A Perfect Christmas Pairing

A Perfect Christmas/Pairing (2023) -

This was yet another tale of a small town girl returning home from the big city to save a restaurant/cafe/vineyard? It was unclear to start with.

Chris Connell was a bit smarmy in his role of Asher and a big head character to boot. His dodgy hair didn't help either.

Ansley Gordon, as Grace, was fine and with a more convincing story and opposite lead might have done well, but she really wasn't supported by the production values the lacklustre script and less abled supporting actors.

The Uncle (Carlos Harrison) and Aunty (Kelly Ryan) were a bit much, but not as over the top as the realtor Rita (Gowrie Hayden) who was a vile character anyway.

I couldn't understand how Felicity (Meg Biddle Smith) was a friend of Grace's, but she didn't know her brother Asher or about their family. And there were other bits that just didn't connect as well.

As such it was all just a bit lame, so after a while I had to give up on it. Another time I might have given it more of an opportunity and wrapped some presents whilst watching it, so it wasn't a complete waste of time, but on this occasion I had a mass of other films requiring my attention that might bring me more joy, so it went off after about 30 minutes.

Unscored as Unfinished.

I don't know what I just watched. I'm positive the two leads didn't have any sort of chemistry test before they were cast. The male lead looks like a guy who you'd keep your drink covered around at a bar. Throughout the "film", I kept checking to make sure I wasn't accidentally watching at 0.75x speed. At about the halfway mark, despite being by myself, I said "wait, is this Mormon?" out loud because that's the only thing that would make any sense. The two best things about this "movie": 1) the completely OTT realtor (? Is that what she was?) who alludes to her lactose-induced flatulence with a guy she just met at a coffee shop, and; 2) the aunt and uncle who I'm positive slammed back at least 3 shots of tequila a few minutes prior to filming each of their scenes. I genuinely laughed out loud multiple times because it felt like I was having a waking stress dream. The fact that multiple people watched this and went "yep! Looks good! Print!" is just amazing. The cherry on top was that this contains what is definitely the #1 most awkward, stiffest, driest kiss in the history of Hallmark movies.

A very horrible and cringy Christmas movie with no likable characters. Not only were the characters not likable but they were unrealistic and unbelievable. It followed the formula of the typical Hallmark Christmas films but added more cheesiness if that was possible. I forced myself to watch the entire movie and regreted every moment. I am now giving up on PG rated Christmas movies. Tired of the same old Christmas movies with the same actors, you seen one, you seen them all. How about some fresh ideas and better actors. Christmas movies do not have to be unrealistic. If you happen to be scrolling for a good Christmas movie to watch I recommend that you bypass this one. 👎🏽👎🏽👎🏽

It could have been a watchable Christmas rom-com had the script been revised a few more times -- we got the most laughs from the huge plot holes and nonsensical leaps from scene to scene. The second most laughs were from the poorly done props. The cookbook with the title "Fondue" at the top of the page and then recipies for swan's down gingerbread and a cake was hilarious, especially with the exact same recipes on the facing page. Then the letters to Father Christmas were clearly already written -- and it is so clear that these actors have no idea how to handle cookie dough or how to cut out cookies.

The two leads were okay with acceptable chemistry, but the giggles and extra smiles got old. The aunt and uncle were sweet, but the land-grabbing realtor was ridiculously over the top. Overall it is watchable, but had potential to be more.

This is a bad movie, really bad, but fun bad in a lot of ways. I'm only writing this review to point out this movie was not made by Hallmark, and is not distributed by Hallmark, many reviewers are saying that it is, even though it is not. I'm not trying to defend this movie in any way, although I give it 2 stars because even though its terrible it has some laugh out loud funny moment. This movie proves how much effort hallmark actually does put into their movies. This makes hallmark movies look well thought out and polished. I only watched this film because it was filmed in my community and there's no other reason to watch it.