La Surprise de Noël

8.0 stars.

Another good one! My initial feeling as the credits roll is there should have been a sequel. This story, the actors, the whole production demanded another installment, alas it didn't happen and I'm sad about that.

'Road to Christmas' is comprised of an abundance of goodness all in one package. Two driven and very professional young TV producers are assigned to travel the country to create a Christmas TV special, and they have one week. Both are very driven individuals and precise with their work, but also opinionated - two peas in a pod. At first they butt heads, but per usual Hallmark, they will end up together.

There is nothing particularly amazing about this movie except that all the actors gel and are so likable. The comradery oozes off the screen. I can't imagine any story would fail with this combination of actors performing it together. They could have read out of the phone book and entertained our butts off. Where is the sequel? Why no sequel?

7/10 - fun Hallmark movie that helped get me into the holiday spirit

Maggie (Jessy Schram) is producer for a cooking Christmas special by Julie Wise. She is forced by the network to work with a former producer, one of Julie's son (Chad Michael Murray) and record Christmas segments for the show all across the country, during which she gets to know Danny and makes it her mission to reunite all three siblings.

It was a pretty good one! Both leads were great, Jessy is becoming one of my favorites HM ladies, amazing storyline, good chemistry and a road trip! What else can you ask for? It contains only a few of the typical cliches we know.

It shows us what Christmas and that time of the year should be: about being next to your loved ones. Definitely watch this one.

Hallmark's Christmas output is very variable and 2018 was a mixed year for them. Some though are above average level and there are some surprisingly very enjoyable ones amongst the average and less films that there is a good deal of in their output. Along with my love of Christmas and that it was one of the films in my Christmas Hallmark/Lifetime film completest quest, my main reasons for seeing 'Road to Christmas' were because of liking the concept and having liked the cast in other things.

'Road to Christmas' may not be an exceptional film and has shortcomings. Yet it managed to be to me a quite charming and enjoyable film and in the surprisingly good category of Hallmark's Christmas output. Of a very mixed bunch, 'Road to Christmas' is towards being one of the better Hallmark Christmas films overall and one of the better ones of 2018. A festive cracker it may not quite be, but it's not a humbug either and overall this is a road worth taking.

It is predictable story-wise with a lot of familiar Hallmark tropes with not much fresh done with it. It does get treacly in spots, a common problem with Hallmark well before 'Road to Christmas' and just as bad and perhaps even worse now.

Do agree that it maybe could have had fewer characters, which would have helped give development to the characters that were actually crucial to the story.

On the other hand, 'Road to Christmas' is very professionally filmed and the locations are simply beautiful. A lot of Hallmark's Christmas films suffer from being over-scored, meaning being too constantly used and too loud. That isn't so big a problem here. While the characters are not meaty or original, none of them annoyed me and nor did they bore me. They also had personality traits that appealed and any negative traits were not exaggerated, which can be a common problem with female lead characters in Hallmark's Christmas output.

The acting is well above average, with charming performances from Jessy Schram and Chad Michael Murray. Their chemistry always looks natural and is easy to get behind. Teryl Rothery steals the show in my view as the most interesting character. The dialogue can be treacly, but it did generally make me smile and didn't take itself too seriously (while not treating things as too much of a joke either). The story is light-hearted and heart-warming, even if originality pretty much goes out the window. It isn't sluggish and it is not as contrived as other Hallmark Christmas films. The messaging is sweet and didn't find myself being beaten around the head with it.

Summing up, nice film as long as not too much is expected from it. 7/10

This movie was very well done and I was tempted to rate it a Perfect 10. The ending was so good (eyes got moist) that if I rated it right after watching, it would have gotten a 10. I loved Teryl Rothery in Cedar Cove and she was a delight here as the Cooking show host Julia Wise. Her producer Maggie and son Danny are working on the live Christmas show from Vermont. In doing so they fly/drive from Los Angeles and have some great adventures. I loved how they showed their journey on a map of the USA and this made the title "Road to Christmas" fit the movie. There is also a 2006 movie by the same title which is also excellent, but much different story. Here we get a Christmas tree farm, snow man making contest, white elephant gift exchange, cute dog looks, train ride, sleigh ride, and a Christmas song sung by the actors at the end. Maggie is high energy and Danny is a bit opposite. This was very enjoyable. Since they are making a Christmas special, some of the story is revealed in the video clips. Teryl Rothery as Julia Wise helped make the movie.