Un Noël pour deux : Retour à la maison

I am a fan of the Williams Sisters and Mark Deklin. I watched this movie but I really don't know what it was about. I could not figure out any story line and it seemed like people and the story line was all over the place. I am hoping the sequel next week will be better.

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.

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.

I loved the chemistry between the two real-life sisters, Ashley Williams and Kimberly Williams-Paisley. I had no idea that they were sisters, but I also am not typically a year-round Hallmark movie person. Christmas is the thing for me!

These movies are not meant to have massive plot-twists, nor are they rivals for the complexities of say, 'Inception', but I'm realizing how a shortcoming of development can really set movies back. (Novice movie critic here.) I don't think there is enough character development, and there is something missing in terms of relationships. Why was Dave so missed by his sister, which is an atypical 'trope'- usually movies are focused on main relationships, because they tend to reflect real-life. Siblings are always important, but there is not a connection that helps the audience understand why his passing was so devastating for his sister (the Mom).

Likewise, why don't we hear more about the loss of Jennifer's husband?

And also: why did they swap cities...what made that something that was helpful to the end goal of the plot?

And as far as grief is concerned, it seems that Meg (the younger sis who typically lives in the small town, Hazelwood) is in a phase of 'healing from grief'. Is this from her uncle passing, or...something else? If that was addressed, I missed it.

These are the questions that still remain unanswered.

I agree with the other reviewer that Jacob Buster is a star- he is so incredibly impressive, and resonates as an atypically sweet/sensitive teen. I hope that he continues his career, because he has the same charm and charisma as someone like Freddie Highmore, etc.

7 stars for beautiful scenery, natural chemistry between the two leads, and Jacob's efforts.

3 stars missing for lack of plot development, character definition/relationships, and some unanswered questions in general.

'Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday' is the first of a two-part Christmas movie. The twist is that the two storylines run parallel, each from the perspective of one of the two sisters, who are our protagonists in the two films. Adding to this, the two sisters are played by the William sisters (i.e., real-life sisters). So, it's a great concept, what could go wrong? Although there is plenty of Christmas spirit and festive cheer in this first installment of 'Sister Swap' (there is a lot of energy in this one as well), the story itself, I'm afraid, is not very good and the acting is mixed. In 'A Hometown Holiday', the story revolves around Jennifer (played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley), a successful restaurant owner in Salt Lake City who lives with her teenage son Simon (played by Jacob Buster). Her sister, Meg (played by Ashley Williams), lives in their hometown of Hazelwood where she helps run the family bakery. This Christmas Jennifer and her son head home to spend Christmas with the family, while Meg heads to Salt Lake City to help out at her sister's restaurant. Jennifer soon learns that her mother wants to sell their late Uncle Dave's movie theatre (who recently passed away, played by Kevin Nealon). And so, our story begins as we watch Jennifer and her son (re)connect with their past through their Uncle's beloved movie theatre, and maybe, just maybe, they can have one final movie night for the community during Christmas. As other reviewers have pointed out, there are several issues with the story. The writers do a terrible job of setting the scene when it comes to who the (supporting) characters are in the story. I am referring to Luke (played by Jim Byrnes) and Uncle Dave. Though minor, it is unnecessarily annoying. The story itself lacks focus, often drifting in and out of scenes, some of which become clearer in the second film. The writers could have done a better job of integrating these parallel stories in a more coherent narrative here in the first movie (to avoid such pitfalls). That said, the writers do a decent job of conveying the closeness, the friendship, the love the two sisters have for each other. But, again, some of this gets lost in this first movie, as you only get part of the story. It is not until the second movie that you start putting it all together. The acting is a bit of a let-down. I am sorry to say, but Williams-Paisley's performance is not very good or convincing. As others have pointed out, there is too much overacting in her performance that doesn't come across well on-screen. I found myself struggling to engage with her performance throughout the movie. Simply put: it turned me off. Though the romance in this one is not central to the story, as is the case in the second film, it still isn't very good. There is no real chemistry between Jennifer and Eric on-screen. I feel sorry for Mark Deklin (playing Eric). Leaving aside the chemistry, he has a strong performance. The rest of the cast is pretty good, especially Buster, who has a lovely performance as the son. All in all, although a fresh concept, this first installment of 'Sister Swap' is a disappointment, I'm afraid.