Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion

This is the story of one of the Gift Wrapping Shop co-owners, Olivia (Cindy Busby) who delivers an order of wrapped gifts and gets snowed in by a blizzard with her ex-boyfriend, Ben (Jake Epstein).

The plot is so predictable. As expected, their views of each change from a very disliking of each other to romance and seeing talents and skills in each other that they missed the first go around. Much like the characters trapped in the bluzzard, you get cabin fever as the storyline deadlines and there's little to hold your interest unless your thing is broken radiators, food supply running out, and getting firewood to try to keep the cabin warm. To add some comedy there are a series of mishaps involving the other shop co-owners taking care of Olivia's dog while she's away. The dog is cute. And to add to an already bad plot, there's also Ben's mother, who is stuck at a ski lodge, who is very curt and annoying that keeps checking in on Ben. THIS MOVIE IS HO HUM AND A WASTE OF TIME.

I didn't expect much of this four part Christmas series as most of the Christmas stories are bland but I figured I would give it a chance. I didn't like the first one, skipped the second one, liked the actors in the third one and got to the final of the four. Much has been noted that the idea of a gift wrapping business supporting four women is a stretch but it's Hallmark. What annoyed me with this installment is that it is a weak copy of an older Hallmark movie The Christmas Cottage, a much superior story. If you get the chance and Hallmark runs the Christmas Cottage again watch it and compare and contrast to see a much better movie.

There is almost no story, at least not beyond the basic outline - two ex's get stranded together by accident when Olivia delivers gift-wrapped presents to Ben. Jen, the store owner who appears a couple of times, would like to date Ben, but he doesn't reciprocate. After that setup there is almost nothing but the relationship between Olivia and Ben with Jen being a third wheel. And I don't really buy into there being anything serious between Ben and Olivia. Most of the time between her arrival at the door and his parents returning there is a whole lot of awkwardness between them. With that much awkwardness how can there be any chemistry? There are no great highs or lows or surprises. The brightest high spots in the script were about the dog who had been left behind with Olivia's gift wrapping partners.

Since I already watched two of the others in this "series" I knew something for sure about the ending of this one. Perhaps something I couldn't predict was how that was accomplished. BTW, after 3 of the movies, I can't really see that there is a definite order to watch them. This might be the first, but I can't see a problem with any order.

The movie was weak on details. For example, Olivia is reading a particular book and has been for a day or two. This is in direct contradiction to when she is seen with the book open after that and she is clearly only a few pages in. Yet she is able to say how good the book is. The entire business makes no sense about they can't get to Jen's grocery store but seem to get back and forth to between houses I can understand a bridge being closed for ice, but a covered bridge? Jen has no heat, but looks warm enough in a light sweater-shirt which is short enough for her midriff to peak out. Over a foot of snow and endless blizzard is only an hour north of the city where there everything looks clear most of the time, at least in this episode.

I will eagerly watch a movie with Jake Epstein in it, but this one was a disappointment. I have never been impressed with Cindy Busby. She never feels natural in her acting. As hinted above, the two have no chemistry. The dialogue is bland. As also implied, the story is boring.

Hallmark should really be careful with the use of AI to write its scripts. This one was terrible.

No chemistry, no humor, barely any holiday mood and (even) more predictable than usual. The actor tried his best and showed some charm; the actress was a disaster virtually expressionless and a negative attitude most of the time.

Not worth watching.

7.3 stars.

Best of the four in the series as far as I'm concerned. The reason is because it's simple and homey. This is not a glitzy story about city dwellers and all the frilly Christmas stuff. This is not about selling chocolate and candy and cards. We all know it's about sales, yes, but not as obvious as the first and third in the series.

This is an actual romance for the emotion and joy of love, and not about gingerbread and tree trimming. And the co-star male actually is a real man with a personality, unlike the first three installments in the series; which have forgettable male leads. I'm glad they gave this fellow a personality and some charisma.

As the story goes, one of the four unwrapped ladies (Busby), is stranded in a vacation cabin with her ex-boyfriend for a few days over the holidays. How they got in this predicament is a long story.

The theme is about mending failed relationships and rekindling the spark. We eventually learn why they broke up years ago, why he left town and why she didn't follow him.

It's not a bad film. This is a good old-fashioned love story between two likable Hallmark characters. Sure, it's somewhat average for the genre, but compared to the other three unwrapping stories, this is a breath of fresh air.

Too much fake snow for my liking, but otherwise a good little adventure.