A Christmas Together with You

I can't think of another story like this. It's just crazy enough. There are plenty of quest stories in Christmas movies, but not like this one. And there are actually two romance stories going on in parallel.

Megan and Steve's story is a by-product of Frank and Claire's but it is a nice romance with chemistry between Laura Vandervoort and Niall Matter. Meanwhile Frank and Claire's story has some mystery and sentiment. And the stories aren't just parallel, they intersect.

Megan is a wonderful character with a heart that keeps on giving.

Maybe the ending(s) is(are) predictable. But there were a couple surprises. The movie held my interest. The stories pulled me in. Good acting. Good storytelling.

Maybe, I should not review this film. I may be biased, as I am a sucker when it comes to Laura Vandervoort. She has that ethereal quality that attracts even in the worst moments. Yet, in this movie, Niall Matter, Harry Lennix and the rest of the cast work fine. Could be that the story is fairly original and embraces the spirit of Christmas, rather than happening around Christmas, as in other productions. The results are heart-warming. This is a movie that will be enjoyed by all people who still expect Yuletide to bring kindness an joy.

With nothing to do during the Christmas holidays, a coffee shop owner who was left at the alter goes on a road trip with her widower customer in search of his long lost love from 50 years ago. Both characters eventually find their happily ever after with some bumps along the way.

I love Hallmark films. They're so positive in a world of Covid, political conflict and racism but at times I have to tolerate the mediocre acting and saccharine sweet writing. This film was a JOY not because of the plot but because of competent acting in a Hallmark film--an oxymoron! The female lead (Laura Vandervoot) and the supporting male lead (Harry Lennix) can really ACT and even everyday dialogue sounds believable coming from them. They ground the film in reality and provide touches of drama with uplifting notes. I would enjoy an entire film with just these two actors.

The rest of the cast as well as the male lead (Niall Matter) provide background. They are your typical goofy, grinning Hallmark support elves that are interchangeable between Hallmark films. They're all recognizable by their toothy grin and their slapstick style of acting.

Hallmark has upped their game this year with some very good Christmas movies. A Christmas Together With You is no exception. It has an excellent cast and a very warm and charming story. That said, someone please, for the love of God, give Megan (Laura Vandervoort) a sandwich!

Did I blink and they built a romance between Megan and Steve? Seems like we got very little work on their romance...Megan's pain, yes...romance? No. I felt like they did a nice job on the relationship from the past between Frank and Claire.

This is the story of a coffee shop co-owner Megan who is left be her fiancé and is melancholy with no plans over the holidays...oh! And she is also now an orphan. She sees an old photo from her loyal customer Frank and decides to help him hunt down an old flame. This takes them to a sweet Christmas-y town where Megan gets her flirt on with the inn owner Steve and Frank has some things to work out with Claire.

The acting was great. I love all four of our leads and I appreciated having an older love story. I do think that they either needed more time to tell the story or a tighter script.

Otherwise a nice story...and I appreciate the age gap between the friends Frank and Megan!