If you have seen your fair share of Hallmark Christmas films, it would be safe to say that you are very likely to know what to expect generally, especially regarding the fairly samey stories, and one shouldn't expect any more. Have seen my fair share myself and have always watched them with mixed expectations. That are either met and even exceeded, or the film completely misses the mark and does little with any potential.
'With Love, Christmas' was actually, seeing as the premise didn't overly excite me but sounded cute enough, more or less what was expected. Not a bad film with things that are done well and there is nothing offensively bad about it. Also not a particularly great one either with quite a lot of the common flaws in Hallmark's Christmas films evident. If anything, 'With Love, Christmas' left me feeling rather mixed as an overall whole.
Shall begin with 'With Love, Christmas' good things. The production values are very pleasing to look at, nice use of locations slickly shot. The music captures the Christmas feel very well and is not near as over-scored or intrusive as too many of a lot of Hallmark films. There is a light-hearted charm in enough places.
Emilie Ullerup is a very engaging female lead and easy to like, which is not always said for actresses playing similar characters in Hallmark Christmas films. The supporting cast also do well with what they have, with Rebecca Davis being a scene stealer.
Aaron O'Connell on the other hand came over to me as rather stiff and not fully connected with his character, even for a character meant to be uptight. He and Ullerup didn't seem to have much chemistry together and what little there was felt cold and forced in a relationship that never felt fully developed. Excepting Melanie, the characters don't have enough to them to make me invest properly in them and development-wise they are sketchy. They did try with Donovan as well, but his type of character has been done in Hallmark Christmas films so many times and with very little different here.
The script is often excessive on the cheese and is over-sentimental in others, some of it doesn't sound natural either. The story has its moments, but generally there is far too little of it and what there is is very standard, formulaic Hallmark and feels rather stale and contrived. There is a light-hearted charm here, but the cheese and schmaltz go into overload and it never properly connected with me emotionally. The music could have been used less and could have had a quieter tone.
In summary, not bad but not great. 5/10
