Sugarplummed

As others mentioned, Sugarplummed parodies the general slate of Hallmark Christmas movies (and others, because many Hallmark romances throughout the year use the same tropes, just without the snow or decorations.

Here, the Christmas magic, which happens sometimes, is a hyper-competent and hyper-perky character coming out of a series of Christmas movies about a small town's Christmases. Janel Parrish's high-pitched voice is a BIT grating, but you'll get over that.

We've liked Maggie Lawson since Psych, so that gave us a bias toward the movie before it even started.

The gags used in the movie to accomplish Maggie's Christmas Wish List are fun, and follow along with the same sense of good-spirited send up of their movies over the years.

This one will be rewatchable. Recommended, and I didn't even have to finish the movie to give it the stars.

This Hallmark holiday movie turned out to be one of its best, largely due to treating the audience to two watchable leading ladies, Maggie Lawson and Janel Parrish. Lawson is wonderful at playing busy, harried professional Emily, who longs to create the perfect Christmas for her family. Parrish is hilarious pure joy as Sugarplum, an over-the-top character who comes straight out of a Hallmark-type movie franchise and into Emily's life via a Christmas wish by Emily, of course. Sugarplum is there to help Emily achieve "the perfect Christmas," but will she be able to? It truly is most enjoyable to watch it for yourself to find out because it could go either way.

Lots to enjoy about this movie. I loved the basic premise of Hallmark poking fun at its holiday romcoms and all the usual tropes. There are unexpected, fun cameos by a few other fave Hallmark leads too, and I wish they had more. Rounding out the cast was Emily's family, all well cast and very capable. Nice to see the actor who portrayed her husband, Brendon Zub, in a more prominent role. The actress who portrayed her daughter has a terrific singing voice. This one is a must-see this holiday season.

Hallmark has done some new things this year that deserve applause, but nothing more so than this not-so-tongue-in-cheek movie about the rules of Hallmark movies. I actually laughed out loud-at the spot on rules and wild results-so many times that I lost count. Sugarplummed is well-crafted and sure to be a favorite of Hallmark movie aficionados.

Happily married mother of two, Emily (Maggie Lawson) wants a perfect Christmas, but things aren't going according to her checklisted plan. Her family isn't exactly onboard with her version of the holiday. They are busy and have more important things on their minds. Thankfully Emily makes a wish on a magical Christmas tree star, bringing Sugarplum (Janel Parrish) to life-straight out of a Hallmark-type movie franchise where everything is perfect and follows very defined Christmas movie rules.

The rules (and I won't spoil them here) are the unique levity that seems like we're breaking the fourth wall and getting an inside look into the Hallmark-movie production factory where our favorites are cranked out each season. The rules about big time jobs, Christmas tree farms, small towns, high school loves, contests and so many other things are spot on and familiar, but charming nonetheless.

Sugarplum's use of the rules in the real world are a big hit, until they aren't. And that's where the lessons come from. This tale is really about lessons and learning to love what you have. Ironically, in a movie about Hallmark rules, there is no love story driving or dragging the action to conclusion. The movie is centered on Emily and her learning what it really means to have a perfect Christmas. She isn't meeting a new fella. She's married to Ben, who is just a hardworking husband who learns some lessons himself. It's refreshing to see that you don't need a 1+1 love story to tell a great Hallmark story. The family love was enough.

I think this just might be a Hallmark classic, because it didn't follow the formula, but seemed familiar all the same. Simply a joy to watch and highly recommended.

Cast Kudos: Janel Parrish as Sugarplum. She's a bit Mrs. Miracle, Mary Poppins and Buddy the Elf all rolled into one delightful package.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Oh, yeah. It was magic. Come for the snowglobe/ indoor snowball fight and stay for the ski lodge/condo story, or the jailbird songs.

Alternative movie titles: The Rules of Christmas Movies; Sugarplum saves Christmas; Sugarplum comes to Seattle.

I know people justifiably mock Hallmark Christmas movies but what about a Hallmark movie that mocks Hallmark movies? Sugarplummed is just that movie. It's funny and (unlike many of them) really smartly written.

Sugarplummed is about a mom that wishes for the perfect Christmas (which she always wishes for). But this time, Sugarplum, a character in a series of Christmas movies magically shows up to help the mom get her wish. She comes with a book of hard and fast rules like Flannel is a Natural Aphrodisiac and When a Big City Girl Meets a Small Town Bachelor, They're Guaranteed to Fall in Love and Get Married.

The kids are not perfect and they're not annoying. This time they're sarcastically funny. In what Hallmark movie does a kid walk in to the perfectly decorated room and say, "Why does it look like the North Pole threw up in here?"

I highly recommend this one!

This Hallmark holiday film is very meta: a gently self-mocking send-up of the formulaic Hallmark romances that concern the Christmas season. Good for Hallmark!

Emily (Maggie Lawson) is determined to achieve a "perfect" Christmas, using the five rules her mother gave her. Her family, however, has other plans, due to their focus on other personal issues, like a pressure-filled job (with a Scrooge-like boss), a desire to create music, and coping with peer pressure. Just when Emily is about to give up, she finds a star with an inscription that promises to fulfill a wish, and her life is visited by Sugar Plum, an iconic character on the Harmony Home Channel, which is a Hallmark-like television network.

Sugar Plum (Janel Parrish) is an excessively cheerful character with a Pollyannish outlook on life. Being a fictitious character, she has only known success, mostly by following her "Book of Rules". Hallmark viewers will recognize most of the rules; it's a clever, funny contrivance. Not surprisingly, Emily learns some lessons about relationships, ideals, and happiness.

Janel Parrish is perfect as Sugar Plum, embodying a fairy tale personality. She's one can-do gal. As the story develops, Maggie Lawson settles into her role, and the duo is great fun together.

Hallmark hits a homerun with this comedic tale that tweaks its own memes and plot conventions.