Opération Noël

It was a great story that accurately captured the apprehension and stress that military families face, something that non-military families will never understand nor completely appreciate. Hats off to the writer and to Hallmark for presenting this in such a compelling manner.

That said, it was downright insulting to see the total lack of attention paid to the actual details of any and all things military. The total ignorance of anything related to military uniforms, in particular, was beyond irritating and took away from an otherwise heartwarming story. Shame on everyone involved.

I saw this one for the first time this year and wasn't sure if I would like it for some reason. But I was pleasantly surprised. Emotions are up and down but overall it's a feel good movie with a tearjerker ending. I'm not sure how it happened but these two lead actors were new to me but WOW Tricia and Marc were great together. I have since seen them each in other movies and they have both become favorites.

Army, mothers, Christmas trees,military wives, gifts, romance, kids.... A complete Hallmark, offering two good presences - Gabrielle Rose and Marc Blucas. Short, decent and charming , first for the smart use of dilemma of a career woman , attracted by military, animated by fears, desiring full happiness, heart of impressive show. So, far to be bad.

I rate it a good but not great movie. The lead actress and actor were OK in their roles but did not quite make it superb. The story especially at the beginning had some surprise in it, but then faded a little when the "Operation Christmas" got started. The issue of separation of husband and wife for these military Ranger Units was brought out and this brought about the main struggle for the lead actress. The movie did not pull off this struggle in a compelling way, but the ending was well done. The little girl in "A Heavenly Christmas" was also in this movie and pulled an emotional "I love you" which added to the drama. I would say the movie was more of a drama than romance. It passed the doze test (no one fell asleep) and I would probably not watch it again.

I'll start off with saying that I really liked this film. It was obviously shot in the summer, which made all of the snow (other than the glacier scene) a little comical. The unending sunshine is also only possible in the summer in the Pacific Northwest. It's all stuff we can overlook.

The idea of meeting someone whom puts themselves in danger for the greater good is a theme used throughout the years, and for good reason. It's an underlying theme of Christmas as well. Tricia Helfer knocked her role out of the park in this film, and I'd have never found this film had it not been for her mentioning it on Twitter.

The military stuff was entirely annoying as a veteran, but I understand that most writers have only a cursory knowledge of the military when doing their writing. Firefighters say the same thing when watching firefighting movies. Writers are rarely experts in their subject matter. I'd like to have seen active duty military there to advise on dress & appearance. I'd also wished that deployments were more accurately depicted, but this isn't a film about the military. It's a film about giving, and what it means to come together as a community for Christmas. One has to understand that distinction. I, as a veteran, understand that. They did a great job with this film once you get past nit-picking, and I'll watch it every Christmas from here on out.