#Xmas

I love Hallmark movies. I watch ALL of them. This is one of the worst movies in their 2022 catalog because of the character of Jen and the actress who plays her. She is one of the most unlikable female leads and sadly one of the worst actresses. Jen does nothing except wallow in self pity and act like her life is terrible. She is so mean to her mother, and to Max, played by the charming Brant Doughtery. I literally liked every character in this movie except Jen and she is so one dimensional. Maybe it was the writing, maybe it was the actress, maybe both. By the end of the movie I cringed at every gesture and vocal inflection she made. I cannot recommend this one.

This movie is very social media based, even the opening credits, which is clever and annoying in equal measures ... but I had to give up when they crept about to not wake the baby, whilst jabbering away at each other in loud voices. Like the internet, there were so many words swirling around, most with no real meaning. I'm sure the movie probably gets better, but there was too much setting the social media feel and not enough connecting with reality for me to get into it. In a way that felt fake, but sadly it happens too much in life - all to often we get so distracted by the digital world and forget what's going on right around us.

While the entire story is not bad, Hallmark has a huge collection of christmas movies but many are so badly acted that you what a few minutes and then turn it off. This particular one - that actress went about as if she was under an electric shock. Terrible acting. Who is she? The guy I am familiar with and he was not bad. The actress who played her sister was far more likeable and jenu-ine and the character of a her mum was good but one bad actress can ruin it for all. Sometimes Hallmark movies are so over done it and this was one of them. It is a pity as the story was an interesting angle but I think they should have gone with another actress.

How about calling it "theater"? So many Christmas movies have a "white lie". But Jen and her cohorts know that this is more deception than a white lie. False pretenses are necessary to enter the contest and their store needs the exposure, so it is OK, right?

Deception aside, this story is good. It has some fresh angles. It has energy, It has suspense. The situation keeps building. There is a twist that is heavily hinted. Clare Bowen and Brant Daugherty have great chemistry and good comedic timing. Karen Kruper slightly overplays the meddling mom, but it works. There are some great lines. I loved the conversation that comes in the bedroom the night after the gingerbread house video.

There is an interesting theme where the real Jen thinks she is the opposite of Jen T. She has real self-esteem issues. The trolls among her online followers really hurt her. She also has a strong aversion to marriage. This movie does an amazing job of developing this character, and this character is real. What is especially interesting is how her personality as Jen T shines a light on who the real Jen is.

The relationship between Jen and Max doesn't get as much screen time as many of these movies, but it makes great use of the time they have. I enjoyed watching this relationship as much as many I can think of.

To portray a character like Jen takes some good acting. Like the character, Bowen may not have been perfect, but she showed us a real person. I don't think Max's character had the layer of depth, but Daugherty was outstanding in this part.

I am amazed that I want to give what is basically a fake marriage movie 10 stars. But also I can't ignore what I said in the first paragraph. Of course, the truth comes out and has consequences, and the audience expected it. So 1 star deduction for real deception because I am a dinosaur who still believes honesty is a virtue and it has become to easy to blur the lines between fake and real.

We only started watching because of Brant Daughtery. Finally Hallmark gets a good leading guy for a holiday movie, but leaves him mostly in the background. Astoria and Portland Oregon are not places that have snow (Astoria has an average of less than 1/4 inch of snow a year.) The premise of the movie is untruths, is this the new standard for Hallmark? Lies upon lies and too many to keep track of. Definitely full of family drama with bad family dynamics. Not sure it makes the best Christmas movie, but better than most Hallmark has done this year overall. Hope they decide to do more films with Brant.