A Season for Family

I just love Hallmark Christmas movies and can't wait to start watching them every year, from the older classic favorites to the new releases. I love them all, even the less than stellar ones BUT I just couldn't wait for this one to be over!! Every character had the weirdest, creepiest smile on their face and it was such a distraction during the entire movie. The two boys were actually the worst offenders of this permanent goofy smile thing and I'm sorry but real life boys that age just do not act like that towards each other and I agree with another person here that said maybe they should have cast two little girls for those parts?

I also didn't like how the father acted concerning telling his kid he was adopted because any child therapist would have disagreed with the way he was handling this whole situation. Definitely won't be watching this mess again.

I don't know if this one rises to the level of a Hallmark Christmas movie we like so much that we'll watch it again in coming years, but I was impressed with the job the writers did on making a Gordian knot out of the problems the male and female leads faced. They made it believable all the way and with only one of the common "romance tropes".

We do have a bit of a coincidence. Two single people have adopted sons who happen to be brothers. The woman lives in San Fran and is in the hotel business. Her father owns a ski resort in Park City, Utah, and she and her son find out the brother lives there. By coincidence they meet the brother's widowed adoptive father.

The son from San Fran knows he's adopted and the son in Utah does not. The leads both like each other and their afinity grows, but there is the problem of the two boys becoming immediate fast friend without knowing they are brothers and without the one knowing he's adopted.

That puts pressure on the man to disclose his son's adoption and the woman to reject her father's offer of a job to stay in Utah as his resort's General Manager. She and the man can't get together unless he admits the adoption, and that's a problem for him, and it's understandable it might be.

So the truth about the adoption upsets the romance and the job and the boys knowing they are brothers ... all the while the man may lose his ski shop ... when the woman could save it by becoming the GM and accepting a business proposal her father put on hold.

The tendrils of the story reach in every direction and they don't make you roll your eyes at the samey plot tropes which so infest most of these romances.

Recommended.

8.5 stars.

Maddy's (Farber) magnetism and cheerfulness caught my attention immediately. She is not an actress I've seen often. I was surprised to see that Sipos was not the lead actress, as I've seen her in shows and movies, especially 'Chesapeake Shores'. It's apparent she and Penny collaborate here, being that he's one of the main leads in Chesapeake.

'A Season for Family' is generally festive and fun, but there are some dramatic and serious moments to balance out the laughter. Paul (Penny) is a troubled father of an adopted boy. If I had to give a theme for this film it would be: A despondent father comes to terms with his fears. Paul's wife passed away a couple years back, and he's left to deal with the aftermath, but hasn't adapted well, but his son Cody is a real trooper.

Sometimes a movie just works. This one is pieced together in a way that gives us a lot of emotions all over the spectrum. Rarely is a story so versatile. I laughed a couple of times at some uncharacteristically humorous moments. I don't believe they were necessarily meant to be funny, but they were presented in just a way that was brilliant. There are some tearful moments too, and the two young boys were amazing. The grandparents fit right in place, and the plot lends itself to making every actor so likable. Wonderful production. 8.5 rounds up to 9 stars! I had to award this the coveted 9 star status, it's THAT good.

I expected this to be one of Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel's sentimental stories rather than just a rom/com. And it was, sort of. Sometimes with a sentimental story, the romance is tacked on. It's secondary. In this movie it was integrated into the adoption story of the brothers who didn't know they were brothers. The romance almost takes over. There are still some sentimental moments, but the reveal is early in the movie to everyone but the boys. The romance develops like it would in most rom/coms and the obstacle, the secret from the boys, is always hanging there part of the romance story too.

Actually, the story is very predictable once the pieces are in place. The viewer can see how the details are going to be worked out as circumstances develop just screaming to come to that predictable conclusion. That's too bad. I'm not sure how it would have worked in a more sentimental way, but it sure seems like that would have made it better.

I've only seen Stacey Farber a few times but she is appealing as Maddy from the get-go. I actually liked her in those appearances too, but at least one, Butlers in Love, the movie itself was iffy at best. She has chemistry with Brendan Penny. Maddy is always upbeat and encouraging.

A couple of other things I didn't love. The plot thread of not telling Cody because Paul and his wife had agreed was just too rigid. It was necessary to make the story come out the way it did, but it didn't make sense. The other - just before the climactic moment there was a musical montage showing the main characters being thoughtful and it just left me flat.

The question that for me has become key to how much I love a movie - will I watch it again? Answer - I don't know. I think Stacey Farber as Maddy will bring me back.

Being adopted is one of the kindest shows of selfishness a person can show, but denying that adopted child the truth and even worse family is selfish, insensitive and abominable. Trying to tie deception to a flimsy excuse of a promise to wait for some magic number 10 indicates incompetence and immaturity as a parent. Zero empathy or loyalty to his child but blind loyalty to a person who is deceased? What?!! I'm just so disappointed that Hallmark thought that this behavior would make for a charming character that we are supposed to relate to. Not at all. What if his wife was actually alive and, say, his sister knew and hid that from him because she promised to protect the secret until he turned 50. How stupid is that? Come on. Do better...