A Veteran's Christmas

Eloise Mumford should be one of the Hallmark Queens by now. My initial reaction was that she was too beautiful to play a 6 year Marine vet, but she really captured the angst and confusion of her character.

Sean Faris' judge, on the other hand, was wildly unrealistic both in and out of the courtroom. I'm a lawyer and I've never seen a judge smile so much or behave so oddly in court. And, as other reviewers have noted, the townsfolk (and the staging) had a creepy Stepford/Body Snatchers feel.

There was also a line about how a local tree farm donates 1,000 trees to vets every year. That also seemed wildly unrealistic.

Still, there are some sweet moments and a great ending.

And Eloise Mumford.

I'm a Hallmark junkie, and there have been some movies this year that 10 minutes in I was bored. Not this one. It totally grabbed me and kept me entertained. EXCEPT....the lead male. Throughout the whole movie I felt like I was watching him impersonating Tom Cruise acting in this movie. His mannerisms, the way he would angle his head and most of all the big grin and the laugh. It was comical at first, but got annoying as it went on. Am I the only one who saw this? LOL, anyway, it was a good movie. Predictable, of course...they all are. But I love them anyway!

Animal lovers, take your first step in the military Christmas genre with A Veteran's Christmas. It stars a woman who was honorably discharged and misses her K9 dog, who was not discharged along with her. It just breaks your heart when she looks at pictures of them together on her phone. She may get a healthy dose of the Christmas spirit when she gets stranded in a small town (yes, this is a Hallmark movie), but she still misses her dog terribly.

I loved Eloise Mumford's performance. She really seemed like a veteran. Her eyes were never fully happy, and it was very clear she'd seen the horrors of war. Her mannerisms were masculine and sometimes stilted, successfully putting across her awkwardness at civilian life. But besides Eloise's convincing performance, the rest of the cast isn't much to write home about. It feels like a movie that was made by a church group - which is fine, but it doesn't have the best production values or most interesting screenplay out there. There's also a heavy religious theme to the movie, which will appeal to some and not to others. For a simple movie with an unexpected tug on your heart (yes, I teared up at the end), check this one out. Grab your hankies for a double-feature with Holiday for Heroes.

What and amazing story. Even my hubby sat for over an hr to watch. Now this is a miracle! ;)

Grace, after her Honorable discharge is at lost when having to reajust to civilian life in a town she doesn't know. Luckily, after an accident near his house Joe welcomes her into his house. Not only do they get to know and like each other but also his whole family.

IT INVOLVES DOGS! And that was enough for me.

Both leads were great, as well as the supporting cast. The chemistry was amazing. My only complain is that there were a few of loose moments, and I was actually expecting a little more since this is a HM movies and mysteries one, which tend to be more complex.

I enjoyed it a lot. I will probably watch it again someday. This one is a keeper.