Noël sous le gui

So many similarities to Coming Home for Christmas except it lacked the great performance by Paula Shaw. Still this movie was OK.

To be honest, I have a lot of mixed feelings about this movie, so I apologize for what will be a jumble.

My first impression was how scattered Abbey seemed through the interview into her early days at the mansion. This is opposite of how I normally visualize Jill Wagner and it distracted me. And it was inherently self-contradictory because Abbey projected an air of complete confidence and yet that was not how she performed at first. After she and Nick went shopping, she seemed to settle down.

I wasn't impressed with the chemistry between Nick and Abbey, but there was obviously a growing attraction. The kid did a very nice job, especially for his age.

As always with Hallmark, you have a pretty good idea about broad strokes of where the story will go and in that regard it has been done before. There were a couple minor surprises. Abbey makes a promise early on that I expected to turn out differently than it did. The competition surprised also, although I'm sure some viewers guessed correctly on this. So while the end of the journey was to be expected, I was pleased that it wasn't all predictable.

A combination of home renovation and a Christmas movie is a good idea but there isn't much of a decor reveal here. Good to see Matt Davis out of the Vampire Diaries universe. He's convincing as the big CEO. Jill Wagner is a pleasant and an intelligent looking actress. A nice change from the over perkiness of some Hallmark Christmas movies. Donna Mills looks science fiction young. Didn't quite see them falling in love before the end.

Okay watch.

Abby is a designer who hasn't designed in a while and Nick is a business man who needs a decorator. His mother suggests Abby for the job, and she gets it. Now, all Abby needs is Nick's help: to know what he likes, what he doesn't, what budget she has to work with, etc. And you know who this thing goes, this ice-cold successful man starts spending time with the cheery female lead and turns his world upside down.

I liked it. Jill Wagner is becoming one of my favorite Hallmark ladies, she shines in every movie. I wasn't sure about watching this at first because the title sounded SO corny but I'm glad I did. The child is adorable. I wasn't convinced at first by Matthew but he grew on me by the end. Chemistry? Yes. Not the best in my opinion, but Jill somehow always makes it work.

The plot made sense. Not major plot holes to complain about. There were cute scenes between the leads, not maybe as much as I'd like it to...

Anyway (I'm writing this in a rush, honestly) watch it. Jill Wagner is great. Maybe not THE Christmas movie of the year, but definitely worth it.

This movie wasn't cheesy, and had me engrossed throughout! I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't the typical HM .... The acting was very good, of course Jill Wagner was superb, as was the rest of the cast. The movie about a single mom, trying to balance family, work and a love triangle. I became so engrossed with the story and trying to guess how it would achieve a happy ending, as HM have. I loved the decorations and the storyline, as well as the acting.

Love this movie and love all the acting - very believable and enjoyable !