A Perfect Christmas Pairing

A Perfect Christmas/Pairing (2023) -

This was yet another tale of a small town girl returning home from the big city to save a restaurant/cafe/vineyard? It was unclear to start with.

Chris Connell was a bit smarmy in his role of Asher and a big head character to boot. His dodgy hair didn't help either.

Ansley Gordon, as Grace, was fine and with a more convincing story and opposite lead might have done well, but she really wasn't supported by the production values the lacklustre script and less abled supporting actors.

The Uncle (Carlos Harrison) and Aunty (Kelly Ryan) were a bit much, but not as over the top as the realtor Rita (Gowrie Hayden) who was a vile character anyway.

I couldn't understand how Felicity (Meg Biddle Smith) was a friend of Grace's, but she didn't know her brother Asher or about their family. And there were other bits that just didn't connect as well.

As such it was all just a bit lame, so after a while I had to give up on it. Another time I might have given it more of an opportunity and wrapped some presents whilst watching it, so it wasn't a complete waste of time, but on this occasion I had a mass of other films requiring my attention that might bring me more joy, so it went off after about 30 minutes.

Unscored as Unfinished.

I don't know what I just watched. I'm positive the two leads didn't have any sort of chemistry test before they were cast. The male lead looks like a guy who you'd keep your drink covered around at a bar. Throughout the "film", I kept checking to make sure I wasn't accidentally watching at 0.75x speed. At about the halfway mark, despite being by myself, I said "wait, is this Mormon?" out loud because that's the only thing that would make any sense. The two best things about this "movie": 1) the completely OTT realtor (? Is that what she was?) who alludes to her lactose-induced flatulence with a guy she just met at a coffee shop, and; 2) the aunt and uncle who I'm positive slammed back at least 3 shots of tequila a few minutes prior to filming each of their scenes. I genuinely laughed out loud multiple times because it felt like I was having a waking stress dream. The fact that multiple people watched this and went "yep! Looks good! Print!" is just amazing. The cherry on top was that this contains what is definitely the #1 most awkward, stiffest, driest kiss in the history of Hallmark movies.

This was terrible. Poor story, with bad actors and no chemistry between cast. Most of the story didn't make sense. Many parts of the story I am unsure what they had to do with the story and the issues that arose were resolved in matters of minutes. Nothing pressed the story forward. Worst of all, the a story about finding oneself in the old family traditions and the family traditions were glossed over and really lame. Like tossing corks in a bucket to bingo. Tradition says you get to do something first but they never showed them doing any of those prizes. It was just flat out bad. I do not recommend.

It could have been a watchable Christmas rom-com had the script been revised a few more times -- we got the most laughs from the huge plot holes and nonsensical leaps from scene to scene. The second most laughs were from the poorly done props. The cookbook with the title "Fondue" at the top of the page and then recipies for swan's down gingerbread and a cake was hilarious, especially with the exact same recipes on the facing page. Then the letters to Father Christmas were clearly already written -- and it is so clear that these actors have no idea how to handle cookie dough or how to cut out cookies.

The two leads were okay with acceptable chemistry, but the giggles and extra smiles got old. The aunt and uncle were sweet, but the land-grabbing realtor was ridiculously over the top. Overall it is watchable, but had potential to be more.

Another reviewer (that I agreed with) asked what is going on at Hallmark ? I would ask the same. The quality of acting, storyline and scripting has been really dire in their recent offerings. Since lockdown actually - is their a connection ? The stories are lame with just a lot of piano playing background noise. This particular one has a storyline all over the place, and the acting was amateurish. I know actors need to get ecperience, but please bring back some of the old stalwarts who made Hallmark a joy to watch. Huge gaps in conversation were filled with a lot of ridiculous false laughing. The woman playing the part of the OTT potential buyer needs to go back to drama school.

No, this was a definite Christmas turkey.