Christmas Everlasting

Review Date 7/14/2019

I have Reviewed OVER 500 "Christmas Films, & Christmas Television Movies , & Television Specials". Please BEWARE Of films and specials with just one review! For instance When "It's a POSITIVE" chances are that the reviewer was involved with the production. "If its Negative" then they may have a grudge against the film for whatever reason. I am fare. I am on a mission to watch every Christmas Movie ever produced. Since 2014 I average 100 a year.

I am not sure who is picking the material for Tatyana Ali but this is the 2nd Christmas theme film I have seen her in and both were way above average.

In this story Tatyana Ali plays a big city new York lawyer who must return to her home town for her sisters funeral. In order for her to inherit the family home she must live in it for a week.

This film is better than you expect. I don't want to give anything more away but trust me its a winner!

This is a story that in many ways can't miss hit you in the heart. The prodigal sister, Lucy, returns home after her sister's death to find out that Alice was a person who qualified for Sainthood. Lucy is on a road of discovery as she not only learns who her sister was, but begins to become part of the life she left behind. There is even a little mystery to be solved.

I could have done without big city lawyer flexing her muscles and Tatyani Ali needs to work on her angry crying technique. Dondre Whitfield never showed a lot of warmth nor was the chemistry great with Ali.

The movie was full of sentiment, but Christmas, though prominent, seemed to be almost secondary to the story. Likewise for the romance.

Hallmark has some black characters in lead roles. And the music is much better than every other Hallmark movie I have seen this season. Why in the world would I want to subscribe to the new Hallmark station and listen to it all of the time.? However, it is still a story for and about rich people. Hallmark use to do Hall of Fame movies about regular people. They were much better movies. What happened?

Great movie!!! Really enjoyed it. Nice to see that Hallmark is making movies with people of color.

Rarely does a Hallmark Christmas movie involve a death that occurs during the course of the movie. Usually, the viewer is told that grandma or dad died last month or last year or whenever. But here, the death is an intricate part of the plot line and it is done in a manner that is quite interesting. The actors play their roles intelligently and realistically, particularly Ali who delivers a sincere, emotive, and multi-faceted performance.The only distraction is Patti LaBelle, but that doesn't happen until the last half hour of the movie. In a small role with only a couple of scenes, the part was obviously given to her because of her name value and not any acting talent. She adds nothing to the story and, when she walks into the dining room carrying the big Christmas ham, you think, "Oh look - there's the ham carrying the ham !" Otherwise, the dialogue is well-written, the story is rather unique for Hallmark, the sets are attractive, and the main cast carries the movie off very effectively.