Miss Christmas

I don't really like the story of Miss Christmas, but I keep coming back to it every year because of the acting. Brooke D'Orsay and Marc Blucas manage to inject drama into the cheesy Hallmark plot and turn it into one of the great ones. If you blew this one off last year because the one-sentence synopsis sounded silly, take my advice and watch it this year when you see it on the Hallmark schedule.

Brooke D'Orsay plays a beautiful peppy career woman in charge of finding the perfect (and gigantic) Christmas tree every year for the annual Chicago lighting ceremony. Because of her festive television appearances, she's acquired the nickname "Miss Christmas". A little boy writes her a letter enclosing a photograph of a perfect (and gigantic) Christmas tree on his family farm, and she travels to the small town to talk his family into donating it. Most people are thrilled to donate their tree and see it on television, but the boy's father, Marc Blucas, adamantly refuses. He explains that the tree is a family heirloom, and while I'm completely on his side, Brooke stays in town a few days to continue the argument. I know the conflict in this story seems a little petty, but trust me and stick with it.

Brooke has an infectious charm that goes beyond the normal Hallmark "Christmas cavity". Even though it's her job to convince them to donate the tree, she's still very sympathetic to their feelings and treats them as real people, rather than sounding boards bouncing off her script. As the movie progresses, you can actually see her breaking down Marc's guard. He's very believable as a divorcée who doesn't want to get hurt again. Falling in love with a businesswoman in town for only a few days is risky, but he just can't help himself. When he describes his feelings, that his new fondness for the holidays is her natural glow rather than just Christmas cheer, he actually gets tears in his eyes. It's a cheesy Hallmark scene on paper, but they make it romantic and moving on the screen. If this type of Hallmark appeals to you, rent Miss Christmas. If this sounds like too much realism, stick with the silly ones like The Sweetest Christmas instead.

I really liked the story of the McNary family and Holly was a sweetheart who fit right in. The tree was so special to the family and it was a tough decision that turned out perfectly. Holly and Sam clicked immediately and had great chemistry. It was great to see Marc Blucas in another Christmas movie, he always plays a wonderful romantic hero.

Run of the mill production from Hallmark. In this film a woman who is in charge of a towns Christmas Tree Festival must look for a new tree when the one she wanted is no longer available.

The tree finder is Chicago's renowned Radcliffe Tree lighting is left desperate to find the perfect tree. A letter from a boy promising his tree is perfect sends her to a small town where she learns his dad isn't willing to part with the tree.

When she arrives in town she finds out the owner of the tree doesn't want her to have it.

Heart warming feature. Give it a shot! Now there is someone here attacking another reviewer. I trust his/hers views. They have been on IMDb for years.

I looked at what the reviewer has "Claimed". There are many films that have reviews and the reviewer has only reviewed that film!

I looked at his/her reviews and they are never "rude". I think someone on this board got called out on their behavior!

GENERALLY.....these movies are "feel good" movies and in this spirit, I would say that it came across very well.....story line was good and of course....girl meets boy......all in all ,good movie to watch with ypur boo.

I like Brooke as Holly and Marc as Sam, although they are not compatible in this movie. Not believable that they would fall for each other in one week.

One main thing that bothered me throughout is the idea that killing a 35 year old tree brings joy to city folks for 2 weeks each year. I'm not against tree farms and cut Christmas trees, but really, all Holly's arguments for how important the tree is to be cut down and transported, only to be covered with ornaments and lights, oohed and aahed, viewed for a week or so, cut into boards for homes for veterans, as if that makes killing it justifiable, then next year they have to find Another "Perfect" old 30 foot tall tree.

The acting was fine and the actors are pleasant enough to watch.

The Hallmark tropes are there, however, as in most of their movies: the interrupted kiss, and the overheard half of a conversation resulting in anger and pouting, until they finally realize they were wrong.

This was the second viewing of Miss Christmas to see if I might be mistaken on my rating. No, still a 6, which is an okay movie that I would not watch again.