A Very Vermont Christmas

This is one of the odder entries in the 2024 Hallmark holiday film lineup. It is all about microbrews and instead of mocking the snobbery, they have fully embraced it. I don't drink beer at all, so all of this craft brew nonsense was lost on me. In fact I think I might really dislike this film with its clear jealous villain, if it were not for its main leads.

This is about the rivalry of a big beer company and a small ma and pop craft brewery. The Ma and pop, now run by the ma and daughter is struggling until they enter a competition and come up with a holiday aka seasonal craft brew that the jealous ex-boyfriend steels and sells to the big beer company (in a totally ugly and unseasonable move).

This might be a good holiday film for someone, but it wasn't my cup of tea...which keeps me from recommending it.

6.3 stars.

This is one of a thousand Hallmark films that sits neatly on the shelf never to return to again. I enjoyed the acting somewhat, the actors did their part. Even the music and the cinematography were decent. But all in all this is a very slow and dead end of a film.

Dead parent: check. Interrupted kiss: check. Stolen ingredients to a recipe: check. Secondary character hinting at lead character about a handsome stranger: check. Inept secondary character: check. Another inept secondary character: check. Mild gaslighting: check. Wealthy businessman squeezing out the poor good people: check. A food/drink contest: check. Lead character has to keep secret from other lead in order to keep their job: check. Secret gets out, lead blames other lead for lying, even though they had to withhold the truth to save hurt feelings: check.

It's about a small family, trying to compete in the microbrew market. They have a pub near a ski resort in Vermont. The lead female's Father passed away a year prior, so now she must keep the brewery business alive with her mother. This story is worn out.

There is a "bad" guy who is creepy. He's her ex boyfriend. To imagine the lead female character ever dated a guy like that already reflects negatively on her.

There is another character who's somewhat of a buffoon who tends bar for them in their brewery, he made a few mistakes that were actually quite irritating.

I was turned off by this film after about 30 minutes. The acting becomes melodramatic for a Hallmark, no more light and fun after midway, which casts a shadow on the story. It had potential but lost momentum, and the dialogue and script were quite lifeless after 30 minutes.

Hallmark lost an opportunity to represent the deaf or hearing impaired community by not only not addressed the lead actresses hearing loss but by covering her hearing aids in every single scene. Shame on you Hallmark. This move makes you no better than those who left because they disagreed with certain storylines you were showing. I will no longer be watching Hallmark movies.

That being said the same old storylines are getting really boring. It's seriously time to light a fire under your writers and get some new content where not everything works out perfectly or the female lead doesn't give up everything for the "man of her dreams".

Hallmark Channel's Christmas in July continues with a craft beer and skiing in A Very Vermont Christmas. The plot unfolds in a Vermont ski town during the holiday season, where Joy (Katie Leclerc), a young brew master and local champion skier, manages her family's traditional ski pub, Mogul Joe's, alongside her mother, Mary (Joanna Herrington). Facing financial difficulties since Joy's father's passing, she worries about covering their expenses this Christmas.

Unexpectedly, Joy's ex-boyfriend Greg (John Forest) shows up and informs them about the Brew-Ski competition he's organizing at his rival venue, Frosty's. Intrigued by the opportunity, Joy and Mary see winning the competition as a potential Christmas miracle. Meanwhile, Joy crosses paths with Zac (Ryan McPartlin), a charming yet inexperienced skier, on the slopes after a lift mishap.

Lightweight, sweet, family oriented romantic comedy ... nothing special but enjoyable.

YET ANOTHER LET'S SAVE THE BUSINESS PLOT---hoo hum! Local champion skier and Vermont brew master team up as an unlikely match to create a seasonal microbrew, in order to save her family's business . First of all I didn't like how Katie Lynn Leclerc portrayed the main character, I found her cold, arrogant, and bossy, absolutely no warmth which created problems with chemistry with her and male star, Ryan McPartlin. The plot went into so much detail on the microbrew business I felt like I was applying for the job! Perhaps the writer did this because the plot is so simplestic which centers around a microbrew recipe. This whole movie is just too predicable and boring. Viewer beware this is 2 hours you will never get back!