Sealed with a List

It's Feb 4th and I was searching for a comedy to watch. This title pops up and I check out the reviews. This looks promising and even though it's no longer Christmas season, I absolutely enjoyed this movie. The lead actors were fabulous. The only plot line I didn't quite get was the best friend that when she comes back, is only seen a few more times. My best friend that I haven't seen for a year would be with me at all times. But I get it. Carly need boy time.

This movie had heart and warmth with a little bit of humor sprinkled on top. I mean even though you knew what the ending was going to be...I still loved it.

Evan Roderick and Katie Findlay are wonderful in this romantic Hallmark Holiday film in which Katie's character Carley makes some New Year's Eve resolutions to change her life and then proceeds to not follow them until her best friend calls to say she is coming for Christmas and wants to know how many she has checked off her list. With limited time to do the items on her list, Carley enlists Wyatt...the boss's undeserving son who was given the job as Carley's boss...the job she should have been promoted too. Carley begins by quitting her job and Wyatt, who does know how to have a good time slowly gets Carley to loosen up as she gets him to wake up early to an alarm and read the analysis reports that make it on his desk.

This film was fun and not your typical Hallmark film. It was nice that both characters had something to offer the other...but what really made this a must see Hallmark Holiday film for 2023 was Katie Findlay and Evan Roderick. Somehow these two suited one another in the best way possible and their interactions were very natural, including their comic delivery. This is recommendation from me and one of the better Hallmark holiday films of 2023.

As a husband who is held hostage to Hallmark Christmas movies for the entire month (yes she even has a clipboard), I liked this movie.

A company's owner installs his spoiled slacker son Wyatt in a recently vacated executive position, and instructs Carley (who should have gotten the job) to show him the ropes. Wyatt soon screws up big time, and Carley falls on the sword and gets fired to force herself to start checking off items on her self improvement list. She then tells Wyatt she expects him to help with her list. He teaches her to take more chances, while she teaches him to survive on his own after his dad forces him to live without a trust fund.

New actors with a newer premise that didn't include a baking contest or fake royalty... Minimal voice overdubs and very few obviously empty coffee cups.

It definitely didn't follow the rulebook of cliches and details that usually drive husbands crazy. I would actually watch this one again.

This wasn't one of the cookie cutter Hallmark scripts, although in a romance there are only so many tropes.

Here we start off with an antithetical romance when a capable young woman is overlooked for promotion to put the boss's lazy son in charge of her QA department. She suffers through doing his job while he gets the credit for almost an entire year.

Then when he screws up and almost loses an important account, she decides she's had enough and takes the blame, and also takes up a list of resolutions she neglected for that (almost) entire year.

Oddly the young woman and the son wind up making a pact to each help the other one attain goals they could not face alone. Thus the antithetical relationship begins to break down and this script does something so few accomplish ... provide a steady and believable set of scenes for solid relationship building.

There is no "sudden turn", no "mistaken sighting" or "half hidden conversation", just the gradual realization that something more is happening than either had planned ... and on to an entirely believable and satisfying ending.

Well done.

This was actually really good. Not too cheesy while not taking itself too seriously. No big bad fight to have to make up from just a natural progression of a relationship. The two actors had fantastic chemistry. I am just really happy with this. It was so sweet. The supporting characters were good and the lead characters were great. It's even close to how a realistic relationship can begin and grow. I mean obviously there is TV magic and not real but it's closer to real than other Christmas movies.

The rest is just to fill the character limit Now how rich people act might not be true to life but I wouldn't know as I am not rich. But I am sure there are some pampered rich kids out there.

Anyway A fun cute movie!