A Novel Noel

A Novel Noel (2024) -

This story was similar to 'Christmas Around The Corner' (2018) in its having a visitor to a book store to work over Christmas. It also had hints of 'Trading Christmas' (2010) with the book editing element too. As such it kind of felt that they had cherry picked some of the best bits from previous films to deliver this with an experienced polish for the most part.

Julie Gonzalo played Harper, a publisher that needed a break, who headed to a small town to work in a book shop over December where she met the very handsome Brendan Penny as Sawyer.

I LOVE Brendan Penny! But he was a bit officious and aggro to start with. I could tell that he was probably still nice inside though and it certainly didn't take him long to thaw out. He really would make even the worst film worth watching.

And to be fair Harper was really quite abrasive with her opinions to begin with as well. She also mellowed out nicely though.

Josie (Kaitlyn Bernard), his little sister substitute, was a bit too cartoon like in a lot of her delivery but bearable. Unlike the "British" bartender Rhys (Christiaan Westerveld), who was just a caricature of Stephen Merchant. As a Brit I do find these exaggerated jokey characters a tad offensive. It's like they're trying to make up for the fact that the British bad guys in action films always do it so well, but humiliating those they use in these films. He was awful as if he was from a completely different and comedic film to the rest of them. His whole thing was so exaggerated like when Bart Simpson* pretends to be an old Boot Black.

I have found that the people at Hallmark, etc have been going heavy on the wine theme lately though, but it was just a hint here. And I was a bit stunned when he fell out with her having told him what she did for a living. Even after his explanation why. It felt a bit lame.

Other than that I really liked this one, not just because of Mr. Penny, but because there were twists to the standard format and a lot of how it fell was out of the blue. There was a moment regarding her best friend which was sudden and refreshing and actually a lot of it was unexpected in a very good way. I liked that they went for something slightly different in the way that the story unfolded.

I do wish that they'd applied a bit more polish to the story in some ways though. It didn't need the "Fall Out" which was brief and pointless anyway because Sawyers decision towards the end was enough of a moment without the necessity of upsetting things otherwise. And it could easily have done without Rhys, but I will definitely be recommending this one to friends purely for its out of the box thinking and I don't like to repeat myself, but refreshing approach, regardless of it's similarities to others, because it did it in its own way.

I also might have to start playing Christmas Bingo.

8.39/10.

*The Simpsons (1989-)

The perfect storm of trying to recover from the 2023 writers and actors strikes combined with Hallmark's breathtaking avarice funneling resources away to other revenue streams has created a very disappointing season so far. This movie is one of the few I enjoyed enough to watch twice.

With a plot similar to Lifetime's quirky 2018 "Christmas Around the Corner", the. Bookstore setting gives it an automatic appeal. And while some of the plot developments were easy to see coming, the appealing cast made it an enjoyable watch.

My only issue was that the final denouement seemed a little awkward and rushed, but since that would describe the entirety of most other movies this season, I can't complain too much. Definitely worth watching.

This movie has some common elements in terms of a struggling bookstore, a burnt out publishing editor, rookie writer needing a push, and newbie shakes things up to help profits. It is also a bit unusual in that the editor appears to have paid to work there and live above the store as a kind of vacation. As another reviewer pointed out, there was one other movie almost exactly like that, but that's the only one I can think of.

I enjoyed this movie probably because I was tolerant of how annoying the two leads were with each other for a little bit too long. The reason I tolerated it was because I am very familiar with both Gonzalo and Penny. Their characters eventually connect and I got invested in their relationship. Beyond that though, the story doesn't stand out. The secret identity, if you will, of Harper comes out to Sawyer before halfway which is a bit unusual. There is a bittersweet twist towards the end.

The basics in acting and dialogue were decent, you might even say good.

A successful NYC editor wins an opportunity to spend weeks working at an independent bookstore and--get this, so exciting--live in the apartment over the bookstore. Gee!

The male lead runs the bookstore for his owner parents and has evidently turned the corner on profitability. From the small number of customers never buying anything, I'm not sure how. Plus, the two mains seem okay with locking the place up during business hours to go to Christmas Fairs and do holiday games?

Then it turns out that bookstore guy wrote a novel ... really good, of course.

The editor seems unaware of writing groups, so she's proud that she came up with the idea and started one in the store.

A side plot about Christmas Bingo adds nothing.

Then when she tells him she's a big-time editor, he gets miffed she didn't tell him earlier? This is no writer's reaction, EVER, to finding out a editor likes their work.

An author myself (36 books written), I look forward to some of these stories about writers ... when they get it right. This movie doesn't come close.

Whilst there are - as some previous reviewers have correctly pointed out - some oft-used tropes in "A Novel Noel", the pairing of Hallmark veteran Brendan Penney (of "Chesapeake Shores" and the "Vineyard" movies fame) and the Julie Gonzalo saves the movie from being another run of the mill production.

Once they get past the initial bickering phase (if you watch enough of these movies, you know what I'm talking about!) their characters mesh together perfectly.

There's also a great and eclectic cast of secondary characters, some really nice, festive scenes (including a singalong at a pub and a scene with a Santa Claus) and Hallmark's impeccably-decorated sets.

Not a movie I'll probably watch again, but not one I hated, either.