Debbie Macomber's Joyful Mrs. Miracle

I like Rachel Boston in almost everything I've seen her in. I'm not sure she is right for Mrs. Merkle. She is too young and pretty. I was almost waiting for one of the brothers to fall for her. Or maybe it's just because Doris Roberts was perfect. Also, in the previous Mrs Miracle movies there was a logical reason for her to be there. In this one she is an "estate planner" who no one questions. She produces a piece of paper that was supposedly signed by the deceased grandmother but no one checks to see if the signature is real or if it was notarized. The granddaughter is a lawyer but does no checking. Neither brother does either so they give her free rein of the estate.

Also, what woman who runs a successful company would not plan her successor to ensure that the family company would be well run and leave it up to the three grandchildren to decide among themselves? They all are in competition for the board seat but what about the property and other assets. There is plenty to go around so even the black sheep brother wouldn't have to worry.

I know it's a movie but those plot points were distracting.

I thought the acting was fine. It is nice to see some new faces at Hallmark. The little boy was so natural. I'm sure we will see more of him. Rachel Boston's portrayal grew on me by the end but I still would have liked to see a more mature actress in the part. Beverly Elliott who plays the housekeeper would have been a better fit.

All in all it was a pleasant movie if you can ignore the plot holes.

For 2024 Hallmark gives us one more installment in the saga of Mrs. Miracle. The original two, with Doris Roberts, did, indeed, have some magic. The choice of the actress for the role, Rachel Boston, seems well justified. In the 2017 movie "Christmas in Angel Falls", she convincingly played an angel, projecting the feeling of inner mirth and wholesomeness with levity and restraint. I am not sure whether seven years have changed her so much, or the script and movie direction have made the difference. In this movie, her performance appears uneven and somewhat hollow. She wanders between acting frantically silly ( again, the recent Hallmark penchant for making a farce of everything), rather than joyous, and somberly serious. She gets involved in other people's lives almost forcefully, rather than nudging, and talks too much, leading people rather than hinting. She seems in command of the action, rather than in a gentle advisory capacity. In essence, the angel has lost her joy and Mrs. Miracle has lost her magic. The rest of the story is bland, with characters that sound superficial, with no psychological consistency, and predictable outcomes, though not well constructed by the action.. Is it a bad movie? Not really. It is watchable, with some values and Christmas spirit, but it is half-baked and poorly inspired. Once more, I feel that somebody at Hallmark has lost the ability to really feel the Christmas spirit and just goes through the motions, probably pressed by the need to produce volumes of movies, rather than caring for quality and substance.

It's Thanksgiving weekend, and you may have heard from friends or family at your feast (when inevitably discussing your Hallmark habit) that all Hallmark movies have the same plot, so why bother! Well, do they all have an advice-dealing, perpetually smiling, ever-perky, angel-like character like Mrs. Miracle? I think not.

She's a unique one. Except for the other movies or novels she has appeared in, but I digress.

DMJMM (movies with titles this long should have an acronym), is an evenly paced drama about three siblings deciding the fate of their grandmother's company and estate. They're going to screw it up, so an angel . . . Sorry, Mrs. Miracle appears at just the right time to guide them through the final stages of estate planning and life advice.

This is a wonderful character created for novels by Debbie Macomber. She has appeared in several other movies - and even played by Everybody Loves Raymond icon Doris Roberts. In DMJMM, she's played to perfection by Rachel Boston. Her happiness isn't over the top or sappy, but rather a spark that guides the decisions of people in need of help. Think Mary Poppins without the singing.

Our love story is between Charlotte (Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes) and Austin (Tanner Novlan), who both have real dreams and wishes and need to work it out.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Yeah, in bunches. Mrs Miracle is all Christmas magic.

Cast Kudos: Rachel Boston as our title character. But also a nod to Logan Carriere, who plays young Cody. He's got a bright future.

Alternative movie titles: Anything shorter than the current title of DMJMM; Mrs. Miracle and the Battle for the Board Seat. OK, that's longer, but also more accurate.

I love Rachel Boston, she is one of my favorite Hallmark Actresses. I knew from the commercial that Hallmark made the right choice casting Rachel as Mrs. Miracle. But I had no idea how right she was until I saw the movie. This movie was so heartwarming and fun. Yes Mrs. Miracle might be a bit over the top and silly but that's how she should be. She was sent to help the family heal and have fun together and apart. And that couldn't be achieved if Mrs. Miracle was boring. Just watch the scene with Cody meeting the horses, and you can see Mrs. Miracle's Christmas magic at work. Christmas is magical and Mrs Miracle brought magic, love, forgiveness and friendship to a family in desperate need of all of those things. Well done!

I like Rachel Boston in other Hallmark movies, but she wasn't the right fit for Mrs. Miracle. Seems like she was just being too kooky, then too serious. Maybe it was the writing for her character. I like the story with the three brothers, not so much the love story with the sister, that one didn't feel developed at all. I liked the fact Mrs. Miracle was an older lady, not sure why they went this direction. I never read any of the books so maybe I'm off. This one didn't make my cut for 2024 Christmas Hallmark, but so far only one other one has. Each year I have fewer and fewer favorites that I add to my yearly watch list.