A Carpenter Christmas Romance

I didn't like the fact that the leads were childhood exes. I prefer to watch a relationship develop in front of me, not 10-20 years before the story picks up.

The lead woman spent the first half of the movie gawking at the lead man. It started early with a shirtless scene, and the movie really never let it go. Physical attraction is a key part of relationships, but it isn't the most interesting storyline to follow.

The lead man is portrayed as some sort of perfect man. He has a perfect body, perfect hair, he is calm, he is a physically strong carpenter, he was a great athlete, he was a military man, he cured Ebola, he solved racism, and he refuses payment from all of his customers because he is just that amazing. Mary Sue characters like this are completely uninteresting!

The setting is nice, and the movie is a decent background option. Just make sure you have something else to do so you don't spend 90 minutes rolling your eyes.

Writer Sarah Drew is back with a Christmas movie that features - shock-horror - the two main characters getting it on. Well, you don't see the whole thing, just before and after, but, like "A Cowboy Christmas Romance" last year, I'm sure it's fanning the flames of controversy in America, even though the scene is incredibly tame by most standards.

Setting that aside, "A Carpenter Christmas Romance" is one of the best movies Lifetime has made in years. Sarah Drew knows what she is doing, and the casting of Sasha Pieterse as author Andrea Metcalf and Mitchell Slaggert as her high school flame, Seth, is top notch. Their chemistry is apparent right from the beginning. There's a good supporting cast, and the script has some strong moments. A little tropey at times - though Andrea's hometown, where she returns for the holidays, isn't a snowy winter wonderland - but a very solid Christmas movie.

Maybe Lifetime's 2024 high point, alongside "Christmas in the Spotlight".

Andrea walks into her aunt's house she is borrowing and hears something. She grabs a fry pan as a weapon. Then she sees the rugged shirtless Seth in the kitchen. So many other movies would have some sort of antagonistic blow up, but in this one this is where it starts simmering a quiet and almost modest sensuality. The dialogue is subdued containing subtext between the two former high school sweethearts.

While the idea of a writer looking for solitude to do some editing or writing is common, the reason she is hiding is unusual. I've heard of uproar over political things, but this much uproar over killing off a character seems too much.

Another unusual element is the town disaster - a fire that took out a popular inn and several homes. The writer, Sarah Drew, takes this, Andrea's novel, and a couple of other things to tie them all together for a climax. Drew is so multi-talented.

The acting is good. I alluded to the chemistry. The dialogue, like so much else, is understated perfectly. The simmering turns into sizzling. Not so much witty sizzling as a quiet sensual sizzling.

When I saw the synopsis, I expected more of the usual unexciting stuff, but what I found caught my attention and kept it.

This movie is straight off the pages of one of those trashy romance novels adorning grocery store shelves. This is so predictable and cringey. The lead female can't act but I suppose the role doesn't really call for acting, just showing off her assets. This is like watching late night 90s Cinemax (aka Skinamax). The story and plot are non-existent. We stopped watching after about twenty minutes when we realized how bad it was. Then again there is that other actress who played the blind girl in PLL who shows up in these types of movies and she can't act either. However, she is still better than Sasha.

It is an understatement to say that Hallmark has the Christmas-themed movie genre saturated with their offerings. I have tried to watch a couple dozen such Hallmarks and have stumbled onto a few where the lead chemistry actually seems plausible and the cringe in the script/storyline is not overwhelming. However, as is evidenced by some reviews already posted, a lot of viewers want their Christmas movies to be all sugar and no spice, devoid of true drama and certainly not any actual sexual innuendo. However, for anyone pre-Medicare, the physical elements of romance are usually the drivers. Life, even in romance, is not a constant bowl of cherries. Hallmark writers like to manufacture a trite, last minute conflict to insert 3 minutes of drama, but it is usually more stupid than dramatic. In general, Hallmark is a children's book with adult casting.

I am glad Lifetime Christmas offerings don't feel similar obligations. In this movie, the storyline for the leads is mostly conflict from the get-go and the plot is fundamentally their journey to unravel their conflict. The male lead does appear shirtless twice, there is some open lip kissing and the suggestion of sex occurring under the typical movie mountain of bed coverings. The male lead is model material, the female lead not so much. However, what I assume is her attempt at stoicism in light of an earlier romantic rejection comes across as almost deadpan acting for all but the last 10 minutes. It was not the best female casting to my sensibilities. It was a poignant story though. Christmas was in the background, but did not drive the story. The uplift is there at the end. I was much more engaged in this type of "Christmas' movie from Lifetime, rather than most Hallmark offerings.