Christmas Under the Lights

Emily - Heather Hemmins - is called back to her small Washington state town by her brother around Christmas. She's in marketing in Los Angeles and doesn't want to look back. But, her Mother ran a small petting farm and put on a famous Christmas carnival. Now, Mother has passed away and Emily is torn up inside. But, she goes. Driving near the farm, her car almost collides with a new farm worker, Luke - Marco Grazzini. They trade snarls. Yet, as Emily gets involved in the Carnival plans, she begins to see value in Luke's help and presence. She likewise begins to heal from her Mother's death. Will she return to Los Angeles after the Carnival? Hallmark continues to deliver sweet, touching films for holiday romance fans. The two stars, Hemmens and Grazzini, were delightful, charming and good looking. Fans will welcome another heart warming Christmas flick.

6.4 stars.

Not much to see here. The story has potential that sort of falls flat. Mother is deceased, the lead female has flashes of seeing her mom, memories, all that good stuff, it is endearing.

The brother turns out to be a very quiet farmer who really has no personality. He is very laid back and nonchalant about life in general, which is sort of a realistic point of view actually. Many people become that way in life.

She is a go-getter, but too much of one. She ran away from home several times, wanted to get out, see the world, be adventurous and daring. These traits are her downfall, and now she's back home to see the town for Christmas due to her circumstances.

She meets an artist who is best friends with her brother and they eventually hit it off.

The film is not exciting and there is very little romance. It's a story of a woman reliving her past and regretting all her decisions, yet not really. She's conflicted, and so is this film.

I really enjoyed the stars Heather Hemmens (Emily) and Marco Grazzini (Luke). The film was supposed to be set in a small town near Seattle and in Seattle, which it so clearly and annoyingly was not.

Emily heads home to help her brother run their family farm Christmas carnival, the first since their mother passed. There she meets the famous artist Luke. The two initially have conflict, but then come up with the brilliant idea for Luke to do a "special" Christmas art installation for the carnival.

The conflict in this one seemed very manufactured and artificial. Luke's divorced and lost his artistic muse...he's helping on the farm to find himself and discover his next chapter...and Emily has guilt for not going home to help out her mom, but her home town is not big enough to support her successful career (talk about first world problems).

I did enjoy the hallmark actor cameo, that was fun but there was very little Christmas besides the white elephant gift party. I loved seeing the alpacas and goats...but their is no way they were drinking fresh out of the goat milk, and they certainly weren't whipping up goat milk eggnog that quickly!

For me this was very unrealistic and kind of middle of the road for a Hallmark holiday romance and I can't recommend it unless you have a crush on Marco Grazzini, he really is the best part of this film.

This is an example of a Hallmark movie that seems to be made with a low budget so it is just a series of endless scenes where the characters just talk on and on and nothing really happens. Plus, the scenes are very repetitive with the lead character, Emily, constantly agonizing over the loss of her mother. At times, Heather Hemmins, as Emily, even seems bored with the script herself. Usually, a very good actress, Hemmins just appears to get lost in all the word salad. Marco Grazinni, as Emily's love interest, Luke, tries valiantly to breathe some life into the story - but there's little he can salvage from this weak script. Sharon Taylor plays Emily's mother in flashback and she is the most interesting of all of the characters - she manages to add some spark to what is, ultimately, one of the biggest disappointments of this 2024 Christmas season at Hallmark.

I enjoy Heather Hemmens in most of her Hallmark movies. I thought this one was good, and she played the emotional story beats very well, mostly in trying to grapple with her mom's death and the regret associated with that. The romance as usual was a slow build over the course of maybe two weeks (lol), but I liked that it wasn't your typical "I'm in love with you" but rather "I really like you and want to see where a relationship could go".

For my first '24 Hallmark offering, this fit the bill. But it wasn't anything particularly groundbreaking. Still, even the most casual of Hallmark fans will find something enjoyable in this one, so I say give it a watch!