A Very Vermont Christmas

6.3 stars.

This is one of a thousand Hallmark films that sits neatly on the shelf never to return to again. I enjoyed the acting somewhat, the actors did their part. Even the music and the cinematography were decent. But all in all this is a very slow and dead end of a film.

Dead parent: check. Interrupted kiss: check. Stolen ingredients to a recipe: check. Secondary character hinting at lead character about a handsome stranger: check. Inept secondary character: check. Another inept secondary character: check. Mild gaslighting: check. Wealthy businessman squeezing out the poor good people: check. A food/drink contest: check. Lead character has to keep secret from other lead in order to keep their job: check. Secret gets out, lead blames other lead for lying, even though they had to withhold the truth to save hurt feelings: check.

It's about a small family, trying to compete in the microbrew market. They have a pub near a ski resort in Vermont. The lead female's Father passed away a year prior, so now she must keep the brewery business alive with her mother. This story is worn out.

There is a "bad" guy who is creepy. He's her ex boyfriend. To imagine the lead female character ever dated a guy like that already reflects negatively on her.

There is another character who's somewhat of a buffoon who tends bar for them in their brewery, he made a few mistakes that were actually quite irritating.

I was turned off by this film after about 30 minutes. The acting becomes melodramatic for a Hallmark, no more light and fun after midway, which casts a shadow on the story. It had potential but lost momentum, and the dialogue and script were quite lifeless after 30 minutes.

Almost halfway through. So far it's a bit cringe worthy. We like Katie Leclerc and Ryan McPartlin, however Katie seems to smile awkwardly at everything and Ryan's hair always looks a mess. Will have to see how it pans out but I'm betting the picture Zac takes with her recipes in the background will cause a problem going forward. Also, their "relationship" seemed to take all of three days to build into something serious. The ex, Greg is really creepy. Was going to DVR it but quite honestly we don't feel like it's worth a second viewing. If you like craft beers, you may find it interesting and if there's nothing else to do it's not the worst thing to watch.

This is one of the odder entries in the 2024 Hallmark holiday film lineup. It is all about microbrews and instead of mocking the snobbery, they have fully embraced it. I don't drink beer at all, so all of this craft brew nonsense was lost on me. In fact I think I might really dislike this film with its clear jealous villain, if it were not for its main leads.

This is about the rivalry of a big beer company and a small ma and pop craft brewery. The Ma and pop, now run by the ma and daughter is struggling until they enter a competition and come up with a holiday aka seasonal craft brew that the jealous ex-boyfriend steels and sells to the big beer company (in a totally ugly and unseasonable move).

This might be a good holiday film for someone, but it wasn't my cup of tea...which keeps me from recommending it.

The following could be true of all Hallmark movies. If you are a critical person or in a bad mood, all of the holes and faults noted elsewhere are true. You can not have a completely new plot after hundreds of xmas movies produced in the Hallmark formula. If you are in a good mood, you might enjoy the sweetness and predictability of this movie, rooting ahead of the plot twists. I am completely burnt out on these films, and can be intensely critical, but I still enjoyed it. The actors were relatable, not Emmy winners, but entirely appropriate for their roles. So, feeling good is still the mission for some of us who are not grinches.

YET ANOTHER LET'S SAVE THE BUSINESS PLOT---hoo hum! Local champion skier and Vermont brew master team up as an unlikely match to create a seasonal microbrew, in order to save her family's business . First of all I didn't like how Katie Lynn Leclerc portrayed the main character, I found her cold, arrogant, and bossy, absolutely no warmth which created problems with chemistry with her and male star, Ryan McPartlin. The plot went into so much detail on the microbrew business I felt like I was applying for the job! Perhaps the writer did this because the plot is so simplestic which centers around a microbrew recipe. This whole movie is just too predicable and boring. Viewer beware this is 2 hours you will never get back!