Project Christmas Wish

I thought this was one of their best this season. The acting was great. There was great banter and chemistry between the leads. The supporting cast was pretty good too; Averie Peters had a very cute performance as Max. All around good Christmas movie. I highly recommend.

I have never seen Amanda Schull in anything before and Travis Van Winkle isn't really my favourite actor, but the chemistry flowed easily between them and Amanda Schull had a flirtatious personality which came through really well. The dialogue flowed naturally and didn't seem contrived, one of the better movies of the genre.

This was overall a cute holiday movie with wonderful performances from Amanda and the lead guy

Hallmark movies are pleasant and entertaining because they all have similar themes. In this one two attractive and single 40-ish people, a lady and a man, meet when the man's 10-yr-old daughter gets involved in the "Christmas Wish" festivities. They get attracted to each other, something gets in the way, but before the movie ends they work to achieve a resolution. And everyone lives happily ever after.

My wife and I enjoyed it at home on DVD from our public library, just a basic DVD, no previews, no language selections, no subtitles, no extras. Which is fine for this type of movie, not much different from watching it on broadcast TV except with no commercials.

My curious observation, in movies years ago the parents of adults were mostly depicted as older people, sometimes older than they needed to be. In this movie the parents of the 40-ish characters don't seem much older, more like 15 years or so older. Curious casting.

This one surprised me because the two leads haven't been on my radar, at least not positively, until now. Amanda Schull and Travis Van Winkle had great chemistry. Averie Peters, as Max, also clicked with the two romantic leads.

The premise is similar to movies with themes of Christmas miracles or Angel Tree. In this case, the prime mover for the wishes is front and center, not anonymous. We get a lot of the usual Christmas tropes like baking cookies or picking and decorating a tree. Like one other movie, the gingerbread house was giant. A cute little girl almost always pulls me in.

But there was also something totally different about this movie. For one thing, I laughed out loud several times. This is not a silly comedy. The laughs come from clever lines or situations. I especially liked Max's last line followed by Lucy's. I could just see what they were thinking.

This movie is a little like another favorite of mine - Two Turtle Doves. It deals with grief and sadness at Christmas but it doesn't go quite as deep.

The outcome is inevitable as always with Hallmark but I thought there were a couple of surprises getting there. Surprises and predictable things mixed together. The important thing is that it was put together nicely.