Una strana storia di Natale

The action that sets this movie going is this: A woman politely turns down a gift from a man. He continues to harass her for several minutes as she keeps politely deflecting him. He then gets so far into her personal space that when she turns around, he gets knocked over. Somehow, no one has a problem with the harassment. In fact, the woman is considered a bad person because the man lives Christmas, and she prefers not to celebrate it. Her boss even has a staff meeting where, in front of co-workers, she also acts like politely preferring not to celebrate means the woman is bad. No one even thinks to defend the woman and say, "The man was harassing her-- shouldn't we do something about that?" How is this a feel-good movie? The woman has to spend the rest of the plot atoning for being harassed?

Just saw this movie and we live in North Dakota. There would be no way people would be walking around with unzipped coats or lighter clothing. The license plates were correct and the GPS map she was using was also correct, just way colder than the movie portrayed. Also, not all that many trees in North Dakota. I liked the story, but mostly just liked that fact that it took place in North Dakota. Wish it would have been filmed here.

When newsreader Lori Loughlin says on air that she doesn't like Christmas, she and her producer, ex-lover Colin Ferguson are shipped to Christmas-centric Hollyvale so she can "find her Christmas spirit". Can she do that when the town seems to be losing its own?

I sat down to watch this Hallmark TV Christmas movie, expecting it to be pretty much predictable, standard fare, but soon found it something entirely different. The script started in one direction and quickly veered into a mystery about the town and then into yet another one, eventually revealing itself as a meditation on what Christmas means to people in a secular age.

Although the stand-out role in these movies is usually some old-time performer in a support role, intended to please old geezers like me ("These young whippersnappers don't know how to hold your attention!"), here the laurels belong to Mr. Ferguson with his rubber-faced reaction shots. Well done all around!

There has never been any bias for or against Hallmark Christmas films. Actually think there are a mix of good, bad (and worse in some cases) and somewhere between mediocre and decent, so it's a variable output really. One just needs to know what to expect and not to expect too much. Will admit to not being crazy about the premise, it didn't sound very interesting and had potential to be cheesy and mean spirited. And how good a premise is is one of the most common main reasons for watching anything.

While not perfectly executed or great, 'Every Christmas Has a Story' was pretty decent and much more appealing story wise than how it sounded on paper, with it not being as cheesy, forced or mean spirited as feared. 2016 was an uneven year for Hallmark, but not too bad when it came to their Countdown to Christmas output. A few disappointed, 'A December Bride' being a big example, but most were above average and a few above good. 'Every Christmas Has a Story' is somewhere in the middle.

'Every Christmas Has a Story' isn't perfect. The story takes a bit of time to get going and is very formulaic, not many surprises or innovations here and that is including the secret (which didn't live up to the deep and dark promise). Some of the dialogue in the earlier stages is on the contrived and silly side, some of the more banter-ish parts a little too hostile.

Furthermore the ending is too pat and also very abrupt. The mayor is too caricaturish in an over the top way.

However, a lot is good. Visually, 'Every Christmas Has a Story' is good looking. It's beautifully photographed and the scenery is quite captivating, even if it is not the real authentic location. The music isn't as too loud or as too constant as it can be with Hallmark. The dialogue flows better and more naturally than the dialogue in most Hallmark films and doesn't fall as much into cheese and soap, it sometimes does but only in spurts. The story generally is very light-hearted and really warms the heart, despite its predictability and a couple of other things, and the characters on the whole didn't bore or irritate me.

Lori Loughlin and Colin Ferguson are very charming and easy going leads with no signs of being over taxed. They have a natural and easy to buy chemistry and their relationship isn't aimless or rushed too much. The supporting cast are more than able, being into their roles while having enough subtlety. Excepting the mayor. Did like how they featured quite heavily in the goings on.

Overall, not something to be enthused over but decent and better than it sounds. 6/10.

This was an alright movie. I picked it to add to my Christmas movie challenge.

I like it when they go to little towns and it is all christmassy.

This now helps to take my christmas movies to 35 out of 100.

Will I watch this again? Yeah maybe.