Unwrapping Christmas: Tina's Miracle

6.6 stars.

This is the simple story of a woman who is trying to save an historical building. We've seen a variation of this trope at least 50 times in Hallmark movies.... Save the manor, shop, building, landmark, etc...

In the opening scene we see not one, but four female leads. There is no mystery that this is the first of several movies in a series. I figured, since there are four leading ladies, there must be four films in this "unwrapping" franchise. I see only three listed, but that simply means it's a couple weeks too early to list the air date of the fourth. I noticed that the most notable female of the four is not starring in the three listed, so I assume she'll get the fourth installment (the currently unlisted one). If one is released each week, the fourth one will be in early December. The first week in December is usually an important week for Hallmark releases.

This particular story begins very sluggishly, but it starts to grow on you gradually until the conclusion, which was somewhat endearing. But in the end, this film is right in the middle of the pack. If I had to pick a quintessential average Hallmark movie, this one is one of a thousand that blends in to the woodwork. I don't plan on returning to watch it, but it was nice for a one time viewing. It was not a total waste of time, if you are wondering.

Did Hallmark put out an open casting call throughout Canada which read: "Actors, have you been rejected for a role in a Hallmark Christmas movie? We want you! The less talented you are, the bigger the role." I kept thinking that surely this movie was going to improve, but each scene introduced another terrible actor. The phony camaraderie of the 4 shop owners was cringeworthy. Plus, how can a little wrapping store support 4 women, enabling them to dress in upscale clothing and live in expensive places? Then the hero "hunk" looks scruffy enough to have recently jumped out of a freight train car. No, I will definitely not be watching the other three movies.

They have a great cast of female leads for the first three stories. I don't like Cindy because to me her performances always seem forced.

So far I like the stories. This one was interesting as a mystery of sorts. I already watched the second and I see that each story is cleverly woven together with the others.

I don't care for three of the four male leads though. Not everyone can pull off the haggard disheveled look and the guy in this movie is one of them. His background story was a bit muddled and I didn't get the story of his company. So I may watch it again. Overall I liked it and love the women's relationships with their families and each other.

I enjoy these movies. I really do. But I am picky about my leads. They need to have chemistry, the men need to have personality, and being able to act is a huge must. These Unwrapping movies are just awful. Where did they find these guys??

This one in particular, the male lead talks like English isn't his first language. He is not believable as a father or the owner of some huge company. Natalie Hall is fine but she needed someone way better than this guy. The writing is not good, however, and a lot of the supporting cast can't act either. Just pretty awful all around. This one is so bad I do not plan to suffer through the other three.

The story was ok and the guy didn't annoy me as much as the girl did.

She was very weepy. She also said "Michael" so many times, I was cringing. It was like in almost every sentence she spoke to him. She did the same when speaking to her "Dad". I don't know what her purpose was for doing it, but it sure was annoying.

Not sure that this is a writer thing as much as the actress inserting it herself. I couldn't bear to watch this ever again.

The idea of the wrapping business is interesting but I have no idea how a business like that can survive year round with 4 main people plus other employees.