L'Invité de Noël

A delayed flight, a woman who's lost sight of what Christmas is all about, and a kindly Uncle all combine for this wonderful Christmas Hallmark film, that pulls you in and provides a lovely 80+ minutes of entertainment.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, and thought the cast (including Henry Winkler no less) did a great job. The story line is sweet and funny, and actually has some important messages thrown in along the way.

There are lots of films that claim to be 'Christmas classics' that really aren't, but this is a worthy contender.

Hallmark, we need more comedy like we have in this movie!

When you watch Christmas films these days, there's a certain sameness about many of them. This is NOT a criticism, as many folks KNOW what they're in for with these films and they love them...much like romance novels. So, when you see "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year", you'll notice that there are a lot of familiar story elements AND you know exactly where all this is going...but you likely won't mind.

I should also point out that "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" has many similarities and shares many plot elements with my favorite Christmas film, 1949's "A Holiday Affair"....though there's enough new stuff in this one so that it's not really a remake...more a re-imagining.

Uncle Ralph (Henry Winkler) is a nice guy who, along with his deceased wife, raised Jennifer (Brooke Burns) . And, he's on the way to her house for the holidays when he meets up with Morgan (Warren Christie) at the airport. The two end up becoming friends and Ralph invites Morgan to accompany him to Jennifer's house for at least the next day or so, as Morgan's connecting flight has been canceled due to the weather. Ralph also has an ulterior motive....as he dislikes Jennifer's all-business fiance and hopes he can play matchmaker and get Jennifer and Morgan together. He also wants to do this because Jennifer has a son...and the fiance likely would make a cold and crappy step-dad.

As I said above, the story is pretty predictable and the story is familiar. But the acting and production are so well done, you won't likely mind. Enjoyable and sweet...and a nice Christmas film for the whole family...even curmudgeons.

...And, I must admit, I do. Of course, there are few surprises in the plot. You know, as you start the movie, that the happy couple at the start of the movie is not the happy couple at the end of the movie, that the course of true love never runs smooth and so forth. So how do we get from point A to point B and is the trip worth it?

For me, this little TV movie is worth it, partly for the scenes of Brooke Burns coping in a brittle fashion with holiday stress -- negotiating for the hot Christmas gift on behalf of her son. dealing with manic Christmas-light neighbors or trying to figure out how to cook a turkey -- but mostly for Henry Winkler playing her goofy cop uncle from New York. Goofy humor is, all too often, the province of young actors. Older actors are all too often worried about their serious career and too embarrassed to play intellectually sloppy characters. Henry Winkler is still willing to take that risk and I am grateful for the chuckles. Watch this and you will likely be too.

I really love this movie. There's humor, romance, conflict, warmth and sentimentality. What's not to love about Henry Winkler? And there is real chemistry between the lead characters. A movie that even your husband may enjoy!