The Christmas Bow

I was a little worried that a musician as the female lead would make this a move that's a little hard to watch, but Lucia Micarelli did a wonderful job. If the whole violin thing doesn't work out for her, I believe she's set as an actress.

The casting of Lucia with Michael Rady was a stroke of genius, they were great together, completely believable as one of those couples that are perfect for each other. The attraction between the leads however, was a shy and timid type. I would have enjoyed it if the story would have given their romance a little more growing passion, as they made some pretty significant decisions in their lives for it.

We were treated to several looks at Micarelli's playing and from the very first note you can tell she is magnificent. With looks into both characters sweet and loving families and a little humor from a young cousin, this was a real pleasure to watch.

With a lot of time at home during the 2020 holiday season, my wife and I have watched nearly all of this year's Hallmark Christmas movies. In our experience, the ones that involve music can be cringe-inducing, so we were tempted to skip this one.

"The Christmas Bow" ended up being a terrific surprise, thanks mostly to Lucia Micarelli, whose considerable, multifaceted talents are on full display. Her character is given a believable backstory, and she plays her with quiet reserve and empathy. The director gives her some great moments to display her musical talent, and wisely frames the shots to show us that yes, she really is playing that amazing music!

All of the main cast is great in this, playing relatable characters whose motivations make sense. One scene in particular, with the main character's grandmother suffering from dementia, stands out for its sensitivity. It's a scene that ties the plot together and gives it much more weight than the usual Hallmark fare.

With this one, you can just tell that the creative team cared about the story. It almost feels like they wanted to give Lucia Micarelli a film worthy of her talent.

Sometimes, movies with or about musicians are hard to watch. The actor or actress is only pretending while the real performer is hidden. This is not the case in this movie. While the movie is not perfect, it has some good moments and is very watchable.

Nobody should watch Hallmark films with massively high expectations, their Christmas output particularly. If a Hallmark fan or wanting to see as many Christmas films as possible, expectations would understandably be higher. They are very formulaic with most of them being more of the same narratively and structurally, apart from sporadic attempts at changes of pace. There are a fair share of them though that are surprisingly above average and even good amidst the many average and less ones.

The 2020 output from Hallmark did vary in quality but was not near as bad or wildly uneven as it could have been. None of the films from the batch were really terrible, and a small handful of them were actually very good. 'The Christmas Bow' is one of the very good ones and benefits from some truly wonderful violin playing, a particularly beautifully written character and the presence of Michael Rady, one of the best and most consistent regular male leads for Hallmark even in the misfires. 'The Christmas Bow' is a fine example of why Hallmark's Christmas output or even Hallmark in general should not be immediately scorned at.

It drags a little early on where the film takes a little time to get going.

Did think too that Lucia Micarelli didn't fully settle immediately acting wise, she seemed stiff and uncertain at first which indicates inexperience.

However, 'The Christmas Bow' succeeds very well everywhere else. It is visually pleasing and has a professional look, one of the best looking Hallmark Christmas films from that year. The appropriately festive locations especially. The music is beautiful and fits seamlessly, 'The Christmas Bow' is easily one of the best scored Hallmark Christmas films from that year and the violin choices are more than appropriate and placed without problem. The direction is accomodating while not going through the motions. Rady is especially good when it comes to the acting, he doesn't overplay, any mannerisms not overdone, and neither does he hold back too much. A performance of great warmth and subtle charm.

Micarelli is not great to start off with but her acting does improve massively a third of the way in and from that point on she becomes very relatable and charming. Did like her relatable character development with a believable back story, one of the few female lead characters to have one, and her violin playing is world class. Their likeability shines through and their chemistry charms, personally actually thought it was there. The grandfather is touchingly played and the doctor and the cousin bring some welcome amusing comedy that avoid 'The Christmas Bow' from being over-serious.

Moreover, the dialogue is tighter and less stilted than a lot of Hallmark Christmas films and the cheese and sentiment isn't as much. The story raises some important relevant issues in a tactful manner, making the film heartfelt at points (the grandfather story is very tenderly done), it also engaged me and was charming and heart-warming while not taking itself too seriously. Did appreciate too that it was not too slow while still taking its time and that it wasn't thin. The characters came over to me as likeable, especially Rady's and the grandfather's, and any negative character traits didn't come over as over the top like can be the case in Hallmark Christmas films. Actually cared for these characters, not the case with a lot of recently seen Christmas films.

In conclusion, very well done and even very good. One of the best 2020 Hallmark Christmas films easily and one of the few highly recommended. 8/10.

This is now my 8th Hallmark Christmas movie of the 2020 season. Overall, it is somewhere near the middle of the list thus far. That is, it was a pretty good Hallmark movie. The movie started strong; I enjoyed the first 5 minutes (the younger version of the leads); it was quite cute. Michael Rady is one of my favourite Hallmark leads; he does a great job in such roles. Again, here, he had a strong performance. Lucia Micarelli, on the other hand, had a mixed performance, at least that is what I thought. She had some real weak acting early on in the movie. To be fair, she did have some good moments and her chemistry with Michael was decent. But, overall, regarding her acting, I was not that impressed. Her musical performances, however, were excellent; I enjoyed this element of the film. The supporting cast was, for the most part, strong, though I wasn't a fan of Kate's parent early on. I did enjoy the grandfather and doctor (he was funny). The set and scenery were very polished (i.e., looked good), very festive - I liked the shop, for example. As usual, this Hallmark film was quite festive and provided a nice Christmas atmosphere. It is worth a watch this 2020 Christmas season, especially for fans of Hallmark.