Un Noël pour deux : Retour à la maison

5/10 - contrary to the average IMDb score, I actually liked this movie's companion (A Christmas in the City) a bit more and felt like this one was frankly a little superfluous.

We love these two actresses. But they never stopped talking. The rest of the characters never got a word in edgewise. And the girls voices were like listening to a squeaky record. There was no balance between male and female voices. We gave it 30 minutes and just couldn't take listening to those voices another second.

This is the first of a two-parter which will conclude next Sunday with Sister Swap: Christmas in the City. Presumably we will be treated to the antics of Ashley Williams who was running her sister Kimberley's restaurant while Kimberley was having her own adventure in their hometown. It was a good idea to have the real-life sisters in the same movie as they are both very popular. They were both a little frantic and over-caffeinated in this, but at least Ashley, whose smiley perkiness is almost legendary, was off-stage through much of the story.

Kimberley, a widow and busy restaurateur with a teenage son returns to her hometown for Christmas for a short visit. The family movie theatre is being sold, and she gets involved with providing one last movie night for her family which turns out to be for the whole town. I won't go into it much, but I was initially very confused over who dead Uncle Dave was, who her parents were, was the guy in the wheelchair her father or her grandfather, Was Uncle Dave the husband of the older lady, who were Nan and Pop, etc. This was probably my fault for not paying better attention at the beginning? I did get it straight pretty quickly, but it was a distraction.

I thought this one was pretty decent with a plot that seemed to hang together pretty well, with a believable solution to the problem of saving the vintage theatre from modern renovation or worse. The resolution will provide a reasonable foundation for the story to move forward in part 2, unless part 2 will be solely contemporaneous with part 1. I appreciated that the corporate overlords were not portrayed as evil or unreasonable, and the sisters did not overdo the sacrifice the future to "save the past at all costs" mentality that is so prevalent in these things. I have always liked Kimberley Williams and the romance with her old school friend provided the main appeal for me. This was largely due to the actor who played him. He was very attractive and charismatic, I thought. He reminded me of the old time movie star, Richard Egan. I also appreciated the character of her teenaged son as well as the actor who played him. He provided some calm balance and sense.

I don't have as high hopes for the sequel because Ashley Williams, although once a favorite, has worn out her welcome with me over the years. The second part with her taking the lead, may be a little too much for me to take. Stay tuned.

Jennifer (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) and Meg Swift (Ashley Williams) are sisters and best of friends. Jennifer runs a restaurant which got a coveted spot in a contest. She comes home for Christmas and grows concerned over the sale of their beloved late uncle's theater.

I've always loved the Williams sisters. They are great at being positive which plays well against some comedians. They have been great partners to many TV male comedians. It's rare that they do stuff together. That's the intriguing twist to this Hallmark partnership. Their real-life sisterhood makes it easy for them translate it into on-screen chemistry. The problem is that the structure of the premise leaves them mostly in separate movies. It loses the power of that something new. The constant dive into the off-screen other movie just cuts down the time for their own story. It doesn't really matter anyways because the story isn't that worthwhile. Hallmark should just put the two sisters in the same movie and leave them together. They could solve murders if they want. They would probably do it with big goofy smiles.

This movie seemed to gel a lot better than Sister Swap: Christmas in the City. Maybe I watched them out of order, but this storyline made more sense. The real-life sisters were more natural together, there was less of the social agenda and more attention to the story.

Their favorite uncle and owner of the local family theatre, Dave, has passed away and this will be the first Christmas without him. The sisters' parents have decided to sell the theater and Jennifer Swift (Meg Swift's sister) convinces local handyman and town council member Eric to help her do one last Christmas at The Madison...for just the family, but then the whole town gets invited. The two single parents (and former high school debate nemesis) bond over fixing up the theater. Lots of family and town Christmas memories.

"The Madison is famously romantic."-Pops.

"What, do you just walk through town with a later?"-Jennifer.

"You know I meet the best people that way."-Eric.