The Christmas Charade

Loved it! A different style Christmas movie,that wasn't overly clichéd.

Was cast & acted very well,cinematography decent.. Only suggestion is toning down music,during moments of conversation.

This kept my attention throughout which is a rarity,since stories are predictable only with varied titles or actors.

Like that it didn't seem to take place in a small town,that needed help to survive a crisis.. Hope that Hallmark takes note of viewers enjoying something,that doesn't revolve around festivals & so forth.

The leads did seem to have decent chemistry,story had a few twist & turns that made it intriguing.

Like the Die Hard reference & what seemed,to be True Lies nod.

Worth checking out,during this holiday season.

I actually really enjoyed the two main characters in this Hallmark Christmas romance. I thought the serious FBI agent role of Josh was perfect for Corey Sevier, who had excellent chemistry with Rachel Skarsten. Whitney (Skarsten) is a play-it-safe librarian who stumbles into the middle of an FBI art theft operation being conducted by Josh.

Dropped down in the middle of the operation, Whitney gets read into the FBI sting by Josh and his boss. Whitney has to play Josh's fake girlfriend as they infiltrate a charity at an art museum in order to catch a thief before he steals a priceless necklace that only makes an appearance once a year.

I loved the Christmas-lite approach to this Hallmark Holiday romance...I also really liked the twist with Whitney's parents. The FBI training was fun and I really appreciated that Whitney actually had some skills that she brought to the table.

For me this was a surprise and I really enjoyed it and think fellow romantics will also.

Throughly enjoyable. Like prior roles in Hallmark Christmas movies "Royal Nanny" (MI 5 agent) and "Christmas Island" (Commercial airline pilot), Skarsten is now a character right out of Hitchcock's classic "North by Northwest": Rather than Cary Grant it is now her character that through mistaken identity becomes involved in a complicated plot to prevent a jewelry heist. With scenes that recall "Diehard" and "Mission Impossible I" from years ago "Christmas Charade" is a delightful romp in the "this is fun to watch" genre regardless of whether Karsten could really slide down a rope suspended from the overhead ceiling. If Tom Cruise can do it...push the "I believe" button and so can Rachel. I still have "Royal Nanny" and "Christmas Island" on my DVR...and "Christmas Charade" is now added to my "watch again" collection of Christmas movies.

This movie had me at the opening scene. It wasn't the typical high-falutin female lead walking thru her house or office in the boiler plate business suit yaking on her phone with her (empty) prop coffee cup in the other hand. And bonus, no Hallmark hair ringlets, Merry Christmas to us!

I liked Whitney's parents, even if they were nosy and intrusive. It's always a pleasure to see Rob Stewart.

This one is my favorite of the 2024 movies so far. If you like the more light hearted Christmas movies, please give this one a go. If for no other reason than to enjoy the absence of the Hallmark ringlet hair!

The one thing I don't forward to in these Christmas movies are the same warmed-over tropes offered again and again by writers with no imagination.

The Christmas Charade broke the mold, even if it did offer a toned-down version of the "fake boyfriend trope". That element didn't dominate the story, and that made it easy to forgive.

Cory Seiver is one of the actors in these movies who can play different roles with different personalities. Not all of the actors have that talent. Here his serious FBI agent is full of engaging and amusing moments.

Rachel Skarsten does a great job as a quirkly librarian hooked on adventure romance movies. When they meet accidentally and insert her into his case, the dialogue and situations provoked some laugh out loud moments, which we find rare in these movies, but appreciate when they show up.

The story is funny and engaging, and actually manages to touch on Christmas in a more solid way than a lot of these movies do.