Christmas She Wrote

New record for most romances in a single movie. If your character didn't end up with a significant other you must have annoyed the producers.

Suspend disbelief for 2 hours and you will have a good time.

Absolutely adore Christmas and Hallmark have done some above decent and more Christmas films over the years. As well as a fair share of misfires. 2020 was a typically inconsistent year for Hallmark in all their seasonal blockings, but considering the circumstances it turned out quite a lot better than expected. Part of me was expecting all the 2020 films of theirs to be mediocre or below but quite a lot were the opposite, some were surprisingly very well done.

'Christmas She Wrote' sadly is not one of those very well done efforts. Actually thought it pretty lacklustre, with one good performance surrounded by pretty much almost everybody else being pretty bad to put it lightly. As far as the 2020 Christmas Hallmark films go, 'Christmas She Wrote' is down there with the weakest. It is a case of me really liking the premise, which is a relevant one, but really not caring for the execution of most of the elements, the worst affected being the most crucial ones.

Starting with the good, Danica McKellar gives a charming lead performance, that isn't affected or dull. The role itself is very similar to those she plays a lot but it doesn't feel tired this time. Andrew Francis, the only other good performance, is strong and their chemistry is far more believable than the central one.

It is a very attractive film visually, very nicely photographed with beautiful scenery and festive decorations. The music is well placed and isn't too loud or constant, it appeals on the ears on its own too.

Dylan Neal however does not work at all. Far too uptight and with so little charm or charisma. Disliked his character too, who is a complete jerk and often for no reason, and his chemistry with McKellar is non-existent and completely mismatched due to being at a loss constantly as to what anybody would see in him. The personalities also contrast too much. The rest of the cast make little impression in stock roles, some hamminess going on too.

Too much of the dialogue is too cheesy and schmaltzy, and the flow in the first half is not natural. The interplay between McKellar and Neal is really contrived throughout. A lot of the story badly drags, and it is also very slight and predictable for most of the length. Some of the later plot developments like the underwritten and forced conflict is rushed and not developed enough. The ending is too easy.

Concluding, lacklustre. 4/10.

We love Danica Mckellar. She is likeable and a fine actress. But the casting was bad. The guy was totally wrong for her. Its hard to watch mismatched couples. Zero chemistry. And they fell for each other WAY too early. Her "sister" is a ham actress. Canada must train actors to overact, most do. These movies are ALL made in Canada and pretend to be America. These movies offer; Over emoting, over eyes darting, over smiling. Teeth galore. Ugh. Its Hallmark that peeves us off. Every movie they just cast anyone with no concern about reality......sisters with 4 or 5 inches difference in height. One has natural red hair, the other brown. One has dark brown eyes, the other bright blue. Every movie has empty cups. They have no weight and their first sip has the cup tilted 3/4 of the way back. Like viewers are stupid or something. Take a couple minutes and actually care about the viewers. Make things believable. Its bad enough that Hallmak has their token gay, token black assistant and token Asian in every movie, just to shut up critics and complaining groups. Sickening. Life in a make believe world.

Let me start by saying the acting here was good, and it should be, because most of these actors have probably done these same scenes over and over. It played like a checklist of predictable, rushed scenes, that all seemed forced, especially with the reappearing ex. Not only was the chemistry bad between the leads it bordered being creepy. Recycling scripts is expected with Hallmark movies, even still they can still be enjoyable, this one was not for me

Danica did her best and so did Dan Payne, whom I love. He should have been the lead. Dylan Neal was so cold, stoic, and hard to like. Always dressed to the nines, even during a winter carnival. lol. Put some boots on that guy! This was not a good match personality wise for the leads but I did like the story in general.