User reviews

Cynthia and Steve are newlyweds and are about to spend their first Christmas together with their families. You can imagine it, it's a mess, and they encounter obstacle after obstacle while they are there.

I like it when Hallmarks offers us movies with couples who are already together or married. It was a cute movie, I enjoyed it. I got annoyed several times by Cynthia's mother in law. And I hate when the characters don't talk with one another and hide the secrets from each other. Communication is key, specially in a marriage.

This is a cute - but predictable - holiday movie from Hallmark about a couple keeping secrets during their first Christmas together.

I enjoyed the fast pace and supporting cast, but was annoying by one thing: they made the wife "a cute little idiot" in order for the story to work. At the beginning of the film, they showed us that she was a smart and competent woman with a good marriage, her own house, and a career of her own. However, the same character turns into a stupid little idiot over and over again, by leaving a suitcase behind, canceling a hotel reservation for no good reason, and burning a pan of lasagna (after specifically being told to take it out of the oven in 10 minutes).

By the end of the movie, I was completely annoyed by the "cute little idiot" messing things up, which isn't what the writers were going for. It would have been a far better movie if she hadn't been responsible for every mistake and the blame had been spread around among the other characters.

After many Hallmark Christmas films, this seems so...different. Sure, the recipe is the same, the ingredients are the usually ones but you feel and know and it is so obvious than it is not what you expect. Virtues are many, from inspired storytelling to performances and challenges for the young couple but the good point is the useful dose of realism. It is not exactly a fairy tale or the story from the dolls house. It is a film about family and love and happiness but the relation between Patricia and her daughter - in - law, the lost of job for conscience problem, the different parents of the couple, the misterious DVD "who you must see", the humor and the dialogues are a bit realistic. Each of them, all does it a special, real special Hallmark Christmas film. And that is, maybe, more than a beautiful virtue.

Can you please get a hairdresser who doesn't give every female leading character ringlets?! Jeez, I'm SO tired of adult women with ringlets like young children! Can't any of them have grownup hairstyles? This storyline was better than so many that follow "they don't get along, now they seem to be friends, oops now they're thrown apart, now they're back as friends who can share a kiss in the last five minutes, because there's no time for it to go further". This had redeeming qualities and sense honour! Well done!

This movie should have been way better. I'm not sure why. No real excitement in the writing maybe. Maybe some of the attempts at comedy just fell flat. We have attractive likable leads. The couples parents have a great actor and actress we recognize and like. The brother is witty. There were a lot of themes and good ones- daughter in law pleasing mother in law, surprise pregnancy, loss of job due to a just cause. The movie was pleasant, but it did not have any real emotion, except for a moment when the mother in law is given a locket. The story just did not have good focus and did not come together in a compelling way. I did doze about half way but rewound and re-watched those parts. I see the original title is "A Perfect Christmas" and this is a good title- they even say it in the ending. "An Unexpected Christmas" just doesn't do it. Maybe an Alicia Witt could have saved this movie. This was a missed opportunity. I am thankful for the try.

It seems that the writers have an issue with women. They mess up constantly and can't solve problems. The families are intrusive and what's meant to be funny, falls flat.

Hallmark Christmas films do have a tendency more often than not to be very predictable, cliched, very cheesy, too schmaltzy and over-scored, the worst of them also contrived and unrealistic. There have been many times where they have also been very cute, warm hearted, heartfelt, charming and appealingly acted. Really did want for 'A Perfect Christmas' to be all of those latter adjectives, as Hallmark have shown quite a number of times that they can make watchable films.

'A Perfect Christmas' is one of those watchable films, but to me it was an uneven film with a lot of good and a lot of bad. It has elements of the above mentioned positive adjectives. It also has too much of most of the negative things mentioned above. Hallmark have certainly done a lot worse, they have also done a good deal better. 'A Perfect Christmas', unfortunately not a particularly accurate title, was a middling effort of theirs, from its respective year and overall.

There are good things here. Both Susie Abromeit and Dillon Casey give their all to their material and are endearing enough, Casey especially in the much more likeable role. They do generate a sincere and never awkward chemistry and the central relationship does have a good deal of charm and heart. 'A Perfect Christmas' also looks great, beautiful scenery, charmingly festive decor and slickly shot.

One of the aspects that has always varied with Hallmark is the music, to me here in 'A Perfect Christmas' it suited the film just fine. The cast do do their best, with the only not so good performance coming from the mother in my opinion.

Conversely, 'A Perfect Christmas' really takes the idiotic aspect of the main character to extremes, to the extent that she becomes increasingly less likeable and becomes annoying. Her mess ups also become rather tiresome and the later ones are not amusing or endearing in the slightest. Really intensely disliked the mother, a character that has so negative character traits and so few redeeming merits again exaggerated to the point of being near-intolerable.

Do agree about the film stretching credibility a lot beyond breaking point, so it all feels ridiculous. Making it further difficult to connect more with a story that has good moments with the leads but overall feels far too over-familiar and contrived with a sometimes pedestrian pace. Few of the characters are interesting and nobody has much depth, the most likeable character here is easily Steve. The script has some light-hearted-ness and pathos, but it could have been tighter and can be too heavy on the sentimentality and cheesy. Everything is resolved too neatly at the end, common in Hallmark films.

In conclusion, watchable but far from perfect. 5/10

"A Perfect Christmas" follows a newlywed couple celebrating their first Christmas together. They invite their families to join them for the holidays, but when Steve (Dillon Casey) is laid off just before Christmas and Cynthia (Susie Abromeit) discovers she's pregnant, they both keep their news secret in hopes that the celebration runs smoothly.

The film is well made and is very entertaining. It also has a message about being honest and being happy. The film may not be "Original" but it is a film that is worth watching. The casting is excellent.

Made for Adults this Hallmark film is above average in every way. If you skip watching this then you are missing out.

6.7 stars.

I am running out of space on my DVR so now it's down to bare necessities and out with the garbage. This happens to be the first of 70 films I must peruse and eliminate or keep for later viewing. As I focused my undivided attention on this film for 30 minutes, I saw some redeeming qualities. The leads are favorable actors, I really like the female, she's captivating, wish to see her more. Erin Gray never fails to please, although I haven't seen her in much since Buck Rogers. As time passed and I was about an hour in, I realized this is nothing spectacular, so I guardedly fast forwarded 20 minutes, and stuck around for a bit, then fast forwarded to the last 8 minutes and waited for the credits to roll. I have been rewarded for taking a marginal risk: onward, and never look back.

Leave it to Hallmark to come up with the quintessential Christmas movie! I felt great while watching it!

The Hallmark film factory really needs to slow down and start writing something of substance and more uplifting for the season. They produce way too much of this drivel.

I'm a bit surprised at the low rating compared to other Hallmark movies. What I liked was the variation in plot (as opposed to city person without Christmas spirit is changed by country person... sometimes magically is seems), the better chemistry between the leads, and better production values. I'll forgive the smart but goofy wife. I might note that this happens at Christmas but Christmas is not the main point, the problems of life could have happened at any time. On the down side, as others have pointed out the legal ethics portrayed stretched the boundaries some. I could imaging a tough boss but the outright meanness and lack of ethics was difficult to believe. Still, the refreshing match of the leads trumped all and hence the good rating.

Honestly after years of Hallmark movies, this is one of the most heartwarming and most original stories. I wish there were more stories like this one! There's so much heart, emotion and bonding of two families. It's really sweet and a good watch!!

I've had this Hallmark Christmas movie on my DVR for ages. I finally got around to watching it. I always enjoy Susie Abromeit in her various roles, and her acting was great in this film. In fact, the cast of this film did a fine job. Erin Gray played a great foil for the daughter-in-laws.

Unfortunately, this film is one of those mediocre stories, where the film company seems to find any way to save money. Usually, that is a lack of background activity, meaning less set design and fewer extras. It makes for a "quiet" movie. And quiet Hallmark movies are often filled with mediocre music backgrounds, often during dialogue. It seems like a cheap way to add to the quietness of leaving out all the other extras. Heaven forbid the bell ringer gets a line when Susie puts money in his kettle.

This movie is pleasant, but plain. Compare this to "Snow Bride" or "A Very Merry Mix Up" and you can see where the money is saved on a film such as this. I keep a lot of Hallmark holiday movies on our DVR, but I'm afraid this one will go by the wayside to make room for something with more ummph...

This is without a doubt one of the top ten Hallmark Christmas movies of all time. What mystifies is that, with the repetitious, revolving door of talent that Hallmark insists upon year after year - the mousy, not-quite-pretty heroines drowning in their own insecurities, the mannequin males who don't think and speak remotely like men, the face-lifted women of a certain age who keep cropping up as shopkeepers and mother figures - the network has turned its back on the entire cast of this delightful entry. Everything about A PERFECT CHRISTMAS rises above the fray of the ordinary, cookie-cut Hallmark offering: a plot that thankfully abandons the cloying opposites-attract-but-can't-commit romantic boiler plate for a touching, original tale of financially strapped newlyweds trying to host their first Christmas in a starter house hopelessly unequal to the task, climaxed by a heart-rending O. Henry-inspired twist... a musical score that thankfully diverts from the charmless, paint-by-numbers Hallmark norm... a modest set that is tastefully and realistically decorated as opposed to the standard overdressed Hallmark chalet that looks as though Balsam Hill has thrown up on it... and, best of all, a cast of characters that actually appear to be familial, led by two leads who, for all of their charm and acting ability, were never heard from again on the network. Dillon Casey and Susie Abromeit generate true chemistry as opposed to the exhaustive repairings of the Hallmark stalwarts - think Kellie Martin, Lacey Chabert or any of the nameless, faceless ringleted blondes - who say their dialogue as directed and move on dutifully to their next assignment. With her confidence, winning manner and classic features, Abromeit in particular crashes through the Hallmark heroine prototype, which is typically an offbeat looking almost-attractive type-A misfit with poor self-esteem who treads in indecision until a man points the way to what she really wants. That Casey and Abromeit were never rehired says volumes about where this network lives: in a small one-hour and twenty-four minute box that repeats itself, its plots, its music and its casts to the point where the resulting films are indecipherable from one another. Add to this the blatant way that Hallmark keeps its nose clean by answering to the recent industry demand for equal-opportunity casting by populating people of color in positions of power - bosses, judges, school principals, store owners, real estate magnates - who make their appearance, exert their power over the white people in five lines of dialogue and then disappear into the background. It's jarring, uncomfortable and patently obvious. None of this exists in A PERFECT CHRISTMAS. The kicker here is that, of course, this is one of very few films Hallmark has not released on home video, which means you have to catch it each year when it airs on the channel. If you haven't seen it, check it out, and you'll see where Hallmark has gone wrong ever since. Meantime, where on earth is Susie Abromeit?

This film about a newlywed couple is happily very different from the traditional Hallmark fare, yet pleasantly traditional in every other way. Hopes and fears, idealism and reality all play a part in this story. Of course, there is a happy ending. But, would you expect anything else?

Overall this was a great film. Much better than I expected. Not the traditional Hallmark, where a girl who lost her job or boyfriend, goes home for the holidays, runs into her old boyfriend from high school, falls in love, then the boyfriend comes back after kicking her out. Then she kicks him out and falls back to the high school boyfriend, and suddenly happily ever after. Give me a break.

But this film, was not predictable, had a nice plot, not cheesy Hallmark type, and overall seemed to have some realism with jobs, family, etc. Changes that occur and holidays with a "healthy" family. Merry Christmas. It reminded me of Christmas Vacation, very different, but had a similar family-theme that affected plans.

This is a delightful Christmas movie with a wonderful cast, particularly the two leads. It is nicely written, and, as mentioned, the two leads sparkle. It would be nice to see a sequel, the further adventures of the family!