Love at the Christmas Table

I must admit, I was looking to dislike this movie, but with each passing minute, I grew to like it and learn about movies in the process.

Movies do not need a budget, or be sex, sex, sex. A lot of crappy female driven movies rely on sex to sell. This relies on values and a crisp, clean dialogue. It(MOVIES) can be good natured and having meaning, if the characters are interesting, the plot is easy to follow, and the dialogue is engaging.

This movie is good fun and it does pull at your heart, but it is a Christmas movie and you do get an innocent, engaging story with a nice shad of vibrant Christmas colors thrown in.

It's a man and a woman, a girl and a boy and typical life gets in the way. This is simply about life getting in the way of love and how really easy it is to make the wrong choice.

Without giving anything away, it is a Christmas move and it is engaging and must see. I give it a 9 out of 10 and I think it is one to see, during Christmas.

I can see the complaints about this being boring, but I find the uniqueness of this movie to be worth it. Basically via flashback we see Kat and Sam who have known each other since childhood. Their fathers went into business together so, every Christmas their families get together for a party and typically Kat and Sam gather around the table. Just about every year it is our time to check in with them and we see how their lives were going via conversation at the party. Mostly because of this we are spared from the Christmas movie with no plot. Unfortunately about 30 minutes of this move is stall and is boring. Also I like Danica but she is out acted here by her co star and it shows. There were some pretty good zags at the end but it just made me wish they had cut significant parts and extended those scenes. But it is definitely a good flick that will keep you happy but just watch with the remote handy to fast forward.

This is one of the most unique Christmas romance stories I have seen. Things happen near and at the end that I sure didn't see coming. The entire movie is refreshing. The entire movie is a continuing flashback that takes place on several Christmas eves spanning most of the main characters' lives.

Sometimes the story doesn't advance a lot, but it is still entertaining with witty dialogue and other things. One of those is a beautiful dance sequence that is not so much about talented dancers as it is about the beauty and the romance of the dance which includes many of the cast.

Danica McKellar is known for Wonder Years but also for Christmas movies. This is possibly her best. The romance between her character, Kat, and Dustin Milligan's Sam is tangible. Supporting performances are also good.

I had a hard time with the timeline because I couldn't understand why two people so in love would have gone so long. I especially can't see how 5 years could have elapsed (as mentioned when Kat first sees Sam) and still led to what follows. An attempt is made to explain at least the former about 3/4ths of the way through the movie but I think the movie would have made a lot more sense if that had been plainer earlier on. Nevertheless, I don't deduct for that because the story is otherwise so charming and unique.

While I don't see Hallmark's signature on this, it fits their nature perfectly. For some people this will be too sappy and idealistic, but that's what these movies are and this one is done so well.

I'm not actually writing a review. I love this movie. It's like a better version of a Hallmark holiday movie.

But someone in a review from 2019 said it wasn't believable that Sam quit his newspaper job to become a logger. That's because it's not. He quit to become a BLOGGER, with a B. He decided to get a remote writing job. (My last job was as a remote blogger - often now referred to as a content marketer - ghost writing blogs for SaaS companies.) Anyway I find that part very believable because I worked in journalism and left to do marketing writing in 2013 because journalism pays terribly and marketing pays pretty well in comparison.

I am a fan of Danica McKellar (Winnie on Wonder Years) but this movie has problems. She is 37 years old in this movie and she is first seen playing a part of an 18 year old. The movie shows the pair at the Christmas Table since they were about 4 and it ends when they are supposed to be about 30.

The movie story was fairly engaging but the story was a bit strange.