Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion

This is the story of one of the Gift Wrapping Shop co-owners, Olivia (Cindy Busby) who delivers an order of wrapped gifts and gets snowed in by a blizzard with her ex-boyfriend, Ben (Jake Epstein).

The plot is so predictable. As expected, their views of each change from a very disliking of each other to romance and seeing talents and skills in each other that they missed the first go around. Much like the characters trapped in the bluzzard, you get cabin fever as the storyline deadlines and there's little to hold your interest unless your thing is broken radiators, food supply running out, and getting firewood to try to keep the cabin warm. To add some comedy there are a series of mishaps involving the other shop co-owners taking care of Olivia's dog while she's away. The dog is cute. And to add to an already bad plot, there's also Ben's mother, who is stuck at a ski lodge, who is very curt and annoying that keeps checking in on Ben. THIS MOVIE IS HO HUM AND A WASTE OF TIME.

There is almost no story, at least not beyond the basic outline - two ex's get stranded together by accident when Olivia delivers gift-wrapped presents to Ben. Jen, the store owner who appears a couple of times, would like to date Ben, but he doesn't reciprocate. After that setup there is almost nothing but the relationship between Olivia and Ben with Jen being a third wheel. And I don't really buy into there being anything serious between Ben and Olivia. Most of the time between her arrival at the door and his parents returning there is a whole lot of awkwardness between them. With that much awkwardness how can there be any chemistry? There are no great highs or lows or surprises. The brightest high spots in the script were about the dog who had been left behind with Olivia's gift wrapping partners.

Since I already watched two of the others in this "series" I knew something for sure about the ending of this one. Perhaps something I couldn't predict was how that was accomplished. BTW, after 3 of the movies, I can't really see that there is a definite order to watch them. This might be the first, but I can't see a problem with any order.

The movie was weak on details. For example, Olivia is reading a particular book and has been for a day or two. This is in direct contradiction to when she is seen with the book open after that and she is clearly only a few pages in. Yet she is able to say how good the book is. The entire business makes no sense about they can't get to Jen's grocery store but seem to get back and forth to between houses I can understand a bridge being closed for ice, but a covered bridge? Jen has no heat, but looks warm enough in a light sweater-shirt which is short enough for her midriff to peak out. Over a foot of snow and endless blizzard is only an hour north of the city where there everything looks clear most of the time, at least in this episode.

I will eagerly watch a movie with Jake Epstein in it, but this one was a disappointment. I have never been impressed with Cindy Busby. She never feels natural in her acting. As hinted above, the two have no chemistry. The dialogue is bland. As also implied, the story is boring.

Gift-wrapping shop owner Olivia (Cindy Busby) has to make a delivery an hour away. When she arrives at the customer's residence, she is surprised to see her ex-boyfriend Ben (Jake Epstein) there. Olivia and Ben, who have not seen each other in years, argue about their break-up. Olivia starts to drive back home, only to find that a sudden snowstorm has closed the road. She is forced to return to Ben's family's cabin. The two are not happy about the situation, and Olivia is further stressed because she will not be able to help run her shop or prepare for the upcoming Christmas gala. Olivia and Ben continue to bicker. However, as the storm gets worse, they remain stuck and have to work together to make it through. Meanwhile, their old feelings for each other start to resurface.

I love the snow in this one, seems like Hallmark has found a snow filter for the camera. Actual snowing, instead of just snow (foam) on the ground makes a big difference. Added to that some great set decorations and this definitely put me in the mood.

However, I did not feel an ounce of chemistry between the two leads. Even when they kissed I felt nothing. Nevertheless it was a very formulaic film that was pleasant to watch and made me think of christmas so i that way it succeeded. I gave it a 5.

I had just sat through the 2024 movie "Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle" which proved to be a surprisingly enjoyable movie, and thus I opted to carry on and watch the 2024 movie "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion", hoping it would be as enjoyable.

However, I have to say that it wasn't. Nay, "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion" was a rather generic and bland viewing experience. Writer T. Booker James just didn't manage to pen down a particularly enjoyable script. Sure, if you gobble up all these sappy Christmas movies, you might disagree with me, but if you're looking for a movie with more than straight-out-of-the-how-to-make-a-sappy-Christmas-movie-guidebook, then "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion" just didn't cut it.

Sure, it was nice to see some of the cast from "Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle" in the movie as well, making them intertwined. The acting performances in "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion" were fair, despite the fact that the script wasn't my cup of eggnog.

This is definitely not a movie that I will be returning to watch a second time, as it was boring enough the first time around.

My rating of director Max McGuire's 2024 movie "Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia's Reunion" lands on a four out of ten stars.

7.3 stars.

Best of the four in the series as far as I'm concerned. The reason is because it's simple and homey. This is not a glitzy story about city dwellers and all the frilly Christmas stuff. This is not about selling chocolate and candy and cards. We all know it's about sales, yes, but not as obvious as the first and third in the series.

This is an actual romance for the emotion and joy of love, and not about gingerbread and tree trimming. And the co-star male actually is a real man with a personality, unlike the first three installments in the series; which have forgettable male leads. I'm glad they gave this fellow a personality and some charisma.

As the story goes, one of the four unwrapped ladies (Busby), is stranded in a vacation cabin with her ex-boyfriend for a few days over the holidays. How they got in this predicament is a long story.

The theme is about mending failed relationships and rekindling the spark. We eventually learn why they broke up years ago, why he left town and why she didn't follow him.

It's not a bad film. This is a good old-fashioned love story between two likable Hallmark characters. Sure, it's somewhat average for the genre, but compared to the other three unwrapping stories, this is a breath of fresh air.

Too much fake snow for my liking, but otherwise a good little adventure.