A Little Christmas Charm

I wanted to shave the actors face lol. I'm used to seeing him clean cut and he was too sloppy for my taste in this. That detracted from the story a little bit because it was distracting. He did a good job though, but it's not his best. I am not an Ashley Greene fan, but I liked her in this. She won me over some in this movie. I liked it more than I thought I would.

This story reminds me of USS Christmas (also new in 2020) in that a couple are working together during the holidays to solve a mystery of sorts. Although I love the premise of these two movies I hope Hallmark doesn't produce too many like this or, while currently new and refreshing, the storyline repetition could become expected and possibly boring.

The acting was good and the scenery was beautiful. I only wish the leads had better chemistry.

I really enjoyed this Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Original Christmas movie. It is one of my favorites thus far this season. A jeweler (played by Ashley Greene) and journalist (played by Brendan Penny) team up to find the owner of a charm bracelet left in a jacket donated to charity. The mystery here is a warm and delightful journey from a steam engine train station to a scenic view of the city skyline. During their search, we watch their relationship blossom thru some charming and engaging dialogue. Indeed, one of the strengths of the story/script is the dialogue and exchanges between Holly and Greg. There were some weak elements to the story; e.g., Greg's backstory, which is used as a reason for him bailing on the search with Holly, was rather weak. That said, the story is an engaging one; I found myself pulled in from the start The acting, overall, is superb. Greene (playing Holly, the jeweler) had a warm and graceful vibe to her performance. Penny too had an impressive performance as Greg, the journalist. What stands out is their dialogue and chemistry. It was brilliant, I thought, quite convincing. The supporting cast was strong as well. All around excellent acting. The scenery, props, and sets were striking and festive (a Hallmark trademark). I especially liked the getup and atmosphere at the train station. The movie too had a nice Christmas feel to it. All in all, this is a lovely Christmas movie, a nice new edition to 2020 season lineup. Fans of Hallmark will no doubt enjoy. I highly recommend it.

Only watched it because I usually like the movies that the male lead stars in. He was a bit creepy in the beginning I must agree.

The part that just made NO SENSE was the gender reveal party. How are you carrying a baby and not know your having twins?! Was she not at the doctor appointments??

I notice a lot of this kind of foolish writing in a lot of the movies made in 2020 for some reason. If they couldn't get the usual writers due to the pandemic, they should've just shelved this one and waited til next year!

It seems like the last couple of years that the new formula Christmas story is the quest to return something, possibly a keepsake, one of the leads found by accident. This story follows that formula pretty closely. The attempt to frame a conflict near the end was very weak on both sides of the relationship. I think Greg's excuse wasn't laid out well enough emotionally, and Holly overreacted to the situation. I'd like to expand on that but then it really is a spoiler.

All theses movies start with friction between the leads and in this case it was fairly mild, but Holly resisted Greg's persistent charm firmly, until she didn't. After that Brendan Penny and Ashley Greene developed a quiet chemistry. Other actors filled their roles well.

All of these quest stories give the viewer a mystery, but unlike some crime mysteries, the viewer doesn't know enough to jump ahead to the solution. However, the viewer can watch while the characters sleuth out new leads. In this case, many of the leads were related in a technical way to fine jewelry in the form of charms for bracelets. The mystery has a nice sentimental resolution. The romance story follows the expected formula. There are no great highs or lows. There's almost no tension in the form of any threat hanging over the main characters. Any surprises are in the form of the technical clues I mentioned as Holly discovers she jumped to conclusions that weren't exactly correct. A viewer with an interest to learn about this subject will find a bit of education.

A couple of side notes. 1 - Once again this web site doesn't recognize who the real leads are in the movie, as of this writing several days after the premiere. 2- Another reviewer claims that one of Greene's facial features "ruins" the move. I think that's a bit cruel and I thought Greene was quite attractive, hopefully someone we'll see again on Hallmark. We all see people differently.