A Very Merry Mix-Up

8.2 stars.

Well alrighty then. I did not expect a movie quite like this. In a way it seems like a live action Disney. Can't explain exactly how, but I feel it's mainly due to the whimsical female character...so innocent, hopeful. If there had been a Disney classic animated film about a gullible woman who owns an antique store, this would be the watchable live action remake. It's just sooooo sappy and uber sickly sweet romantic I think I need something savory to cleanse my palate.

In a nutshell, this is about a very intelligent, yet equally as naive woman who owns an antique shop that her father passed onto her after he died. She is dating a main of questionable tastes, a real "winner" of a salesman. He disdains her personality and life choices while constantly belittling her.

They are supposed to fly to his home so she can meet his parents over the holidays, but he has an important deal to close and takes a later flight. At the airport there is a mix-up with her luggage and a chance encounter with her boyfriend's brother. She ends up riding home with him and they hit it off, but she is faithful and pure in heart and won't betray the trust of her unworthy boyfriend.

A strange turn of events makes the rest of the story quite entertaining, so you gotta see this. 'A Very Merry Mix-Up' is very charming. I loved it!

Alicia appears in several of our favorite Hallmark Christmas films, and some of them are among our favorites specifically because of her. There are only a couple we consider duds (like the snow globe film). Her quirky style works for us.

This story sidesteps many of the Christmas romance cliches, but does retain one which becomes central to the film ... the bad boyfriend trope. However, it's handled somewhat differently and the plot moves past it with a couple of intentionally awkward scenes which reveal to Witt's character just how wrong her fiancé is for her and how right the new man she discovered by accident.

The movie is funny with lots of warm moments and the awkward scenes with her fiancé's family sell her changing idea of what she wants in a relationship and in her life.

181212: Why am I so susceptible to love stories? I liked this film from the moment it started. Most of the credit can be given to Alice (Alicia Witt) who captured my attention and kept me intrigued. Slow paced but I never lost interest. A predicatable yet pleasant Christmas film. Well worth watching; at least once.

I love movies like this, based on pure belief that there's no such thing as coincidence and everything happens as it should. Alicia Witt plays a perfectly innocent wise young woman, whose want to hold on to her father's memory by keeping his store is more about following your heart than your pocketbook. Her current (and wrong-for-her) fiancé, who is in real estate, encourages her to sell her memories (the store) and become a multi-millionaire because of the store's location. She realizes this man has no sensitivity or understanding of her feelings and who she really is. Of course, there's more to the story.....she had met another man in the most peculiar and humorous way, a way that probably really could happen. As it is said so beautifully in this movie, "Life is about Timing, and Timing is Everything in Life and Love.".

Hallmark Christmas films vary in quality. Some good ones (a reaction not always expected), some mediocre at best and even very bad ones and plenty that fall somewhere in between. The concept for 'A Very Merry Mix Up' sounded nice, though hardly innovative. Am not always a fan of Alicia Witt, a Hallmark regular. Sometimes she is charming and has characters easy to like, at other times her acting to me is too affected and it makes me struggle to root for her or the film.

'A Very Merry Mix Up' is one of those solid/high-in between Hallmark festive efforts, certainly out of the ones seen by me recently. Not great (some major flaws here) or a complete Christmas cracker, but merry enough and far from the equivalent of a lump of coal at the bottom of a stocking. It also contains one of Witt's better and more endearing Hallmark festive performances, something that would have made or broken the film depending on whether she would be good or not considering she's the lead.

There are flaws in 'A Very Merry Mix Up'. As others have said, it is a very typical Hallmark Christmas film, with plot tropes that can be spotted a mile away from being used frequently. So it felt very predictable and in need of freshness throughout. The film can fall into ridiculous territory, especially towards the end, and is too reliant on coincidence.

Do agree that the music is distractingly overbearing. Not only does it dominate the film too much and is used too much, sometimes it doesn't even fit either and other festive films seen recently did much better at capturing the spirit of Christmas (some of what is heard here can be heard anywhere regardless of the occasion). More understated scoring was needed. Too many of the supporting characters are underdeveloped.

On the other hand, 'A Very Merry Mix Up' does have a lot of things that work in its favour. Witt plays her role with a lot of charm and doesn't take things too seriously. She is very comitted here while not getting too forced like some of her other Hallmark performances. Mark Wiebe is very down to earth and their chemistry has a good deal of spark. Their characters, while very familiar for Hallmark, are also actually interesting and are not annoying. All the acting is well above average, regardless of the flimsy character development in support.

Script has less of the corn, cheese, overdone sentiment and awkwardness that can be heard in other Hallmark efforts. Yeah, some of the dialogue still isn't great and can get contrived, but it flows well, is heart-warming and it doesn't get sugary. The story is very flawed, but it has a lot of charm and heart and some parts are quite poignant. The ending is foreseeable and a bit too tidy, but is very sweet nonetheless. The pace doesn't feel too rushed or too dull.

Concluding, has major flaws but has a lot of things that work well. Worthwhile. 6/10