The Christmas Ring

The story didn't start out to be writer sent to do hit piece, but it turned into that. Cliché after cliché was added to the story so that by half way, any viewer could write the detail outline for the rest of the movie. And to make it all worse, the climax was even more cliché than the rest of the movie and had no emotional impact for me whatsoever. The actors in the very final scene even looked like they were almost listlessly going along just to finish it out. The story had no big highs or lows, or surprises. The dialogue was flat.

About half way through, characters kept asking, "what happened to the ring?" And I kept answering them with the as yet unrevealed, but totally obvious answer.

Nazneen Contractor and David Alpay started out with the obligatory animosity. Michael had a chip on his shoulder so big I'm surprised he could stand up. Then all of a sudden, the chip magically disappeared and the two actors started to build a little bit of chemistry. Unfortunately, I don't think that survived the conflict (which was just as predictable as the ring's fate). I already mentioned that the last scene lacked any passion.

All these movies that have the reporter-premise make the reporters out to be so idealistic, which usually means also naïve. Kendra ranks up there for naïve. And you don't scheme with your coworker by video chat (without ear buds) where everyone in the entire office can hear what you are talking about.

If you haven't watched several hundred Christmas movies, or even more than a dozen or so, the story might be worth watching.

The Good. I liked the actress Nazneen Contractor (nice to see a new face), and David Alpay was okay (not one of my faves, and used too much). The scenery and Christmas decor were beautiful. I loved the locations used, -as opposed to the overly used locations of so many other movies of theirs. The "idea" behind the plot had a lot of potential, *but the execution..... well, not so much....

The Bad. Why is it that year after year Hallmark struggles sooooo painfully bad in finding decent writers??? Everything about this movie was cliche, from overly used scenes, to painfully predictable dialog. The meet/cute was exactly the same as e v e r y other Hallmark movie... girl meets boy, words are exchanged and they butt heads to start off. Everyone's parents are always dead, -this movie is no exception. The leads boss at work is almost always a female, or a token person of another race. (Heads up Hallmark, -we're not *all feminists).

The Ugly. This is a Christmas movie. HELLO. Last time I checked, this is the Celebration of Christ's Birth. IF you want to be INCLUSIVE #Hallmark, maybe INCLUDE the ACTUAL story of Christmas in some of your movies. (rant over on that). Yes folks, this movie included another small town "Christmas shopping bazaar". In one scene, when David was pulling up to Nazneen, it was snowing, but when he got out of the car, it was not snowing. It was so distracting and laughable, I had to rewind and watch a couple times!! Everything about this (and e v e r y other Hallmark gem) was ooey-gooey, sappy, saccharine-sweet dialog. This movie had the one near-miss kiss and one to finish it off (goodness forbid there should be a display of affection, -which is perfectly natural to see without corrupting someone). Heads up Hallmark... we're NOT all 10 year olds watching.

Nazneen Contractor and David Alpay, I feel bad for you both. You didn't have much to work with, but I appreciate your efforts!

The story itself was intriguing to me. A woman searching for the history of an old ring she came across and it leads her to a small town. I liked seeing a different lead actress, but I will say I'm not quite sure she was the right fit for this role. Her acting was a bit stiff. I enjoyed finding out about the story behind the ring, but the movie itself was a tad boring at times for me. Not a bad film, but not great either.

It is the star of this film. Unfortunately, maybe the only one. Because the chemistry is missing, the story is flat, the good intentions are just support for cliches. Sure, the charme of few scenes , more as result of not the impressive artistic skills of Nazneen Contractor is just precious and David Alpay saves what can be saved. But the sketch of jewell, the hypothesis around it, the old jeweler memory, yes, each is crumb of the soul of this film , nice when you see you, rotten after some time after you viewed it.

Yes all Hallmark movies are predictable, but I like these two leads and the story was a little different than the usual. I liked David Alpay and Nazarene Contractor- I don't get the complaints. I thought they had nice chemistry, were both sensitive, thoughtful adults. Living in Los Angeles during Covid, with no snow, no Christmas pageants or tree lighting ceremony- is it all seems a little bit surreal, but I enjoyed this one.