Un cadeau de Noël inattendu

I grade Hallmark movies on a curve, but I really loved this movie, and I love the trope where 2 people try to track something (or someone) down and become close during the search. It's a great way to see whether the leads have good chemistry or not- and there was lots of great chemistry in this movie. Tyler Hynes, who plays Josh, has become one of Hallmark's biggest stars- with good reason (he was part of the All Star cast in this year's big hit "Three Wise Men and a Baby").

But Hallmark rookie Holland Roden, who plays Elizabeth, was unknown to me. She was in Teen Wolf which I've never seen (but which my daughter assures me was very good). There's usually a greater range of acting required in these HMM movies and she effectively conveyed all sorts of different emotions. She was also very appealing, as was her character.

The movie reminded me of a Hallmark movie called "A Little Christmas Charm" with jewelry designer Ashley Greene and reporter Brendon Penny trying to to track down the owner of a charm bracelet. It also reminded me of "A Christmas Ring" with Nazneen Contractor as a reporter trying to locate the owner of an antique engagement ring with David Alpay. I loved both of those movies but this one was much more powerful and unique.

Equally powerful was a Christmas Eve classic called "The Christmas Secret" and a really good new Hallmark movie called "Long Lost Christmas" (both of which involve trying to track down a lost sibling). Anyone who liked those movies is sure to love this movie.

A good test for whether one is a Romantic at Heart is how one reacts to the effort that Elizabeth (and Josh) put into tracking down Madelyn. Some may regard the effort to be a waste of time. Hallmark addicts like me will be impressed.

This is the latest movie in the Blake Shelton produced "Time To Come Home For Christmas" franchise that Sheldon's mother, Dorothy Shackleford, helped write. But this 5th installment was written by Marcy Holland and it's a gem (she also wrote the far more breezy "Sailing Into Love"). The dialogue rang true and some of the lines really stuck out for me:

"I think it's romantic; one last grand gesture to the one who got away."

"I don't believe in signs. I believe we notice things because they're important to us."

Nice Guy: "Is there someone else?" Wishful Woman: "A memory." Nice Guy: "Those can be real hard to let go of."

I like all the other franchise movies, but this one may be the best. Although some things in the movie are easy to predict (like the details of a "misunderstanding" of an overheard conversation), others are not, which is refreshing given the inherent limitations of Hallmark's hugely successful formula. This was crisply and warmly directed by David Winning, who also directed Falling For Vermont, my favorite Hallmark amnesia movie. And the other actors were also quite good including Hallmark vet Steve Bacic (who has been in over 30 Hallmark movies). He played the guy who dialed the wrong number. I also like fellow Hallmark vets Karen Kruger and Iris Quinn, who played the mothers, and Dion Karas who played the "nudge nudge, tell her you love her" sister.

I knew and liked Tenille Townes before this movie but, as another reviewer noted, her anticlimactic performance of the franchise song "Time For Me To Come Home" seemed out of place.

But that's a minor complaint. This was classic Hallmark.

'Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas' (2022)

Opening thoughts: Have said more than once in previous reviews that Hallmark's 2022 Christmas output was extremely hit and miss, especially the Movies and Mysteries block. There were some good ones in the block, but when the block missed it failed very, very poorly. Part of me had a good idea that 'Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas' would be decent at least, it sounded interesting, had the always worth watching Tyler Hynes as the male lead and Hallmark have been responsible for a good number of good and more serious-themed films.

'Time for Him to Come Home for Christmas' is one of those Hallmark films with a more serious tone and is an example of one done well. Excellently actually in this case. It is for me the joint best 2022 Hallmark Movies and Mysteries film (not just Christmas but overall) along with 'Colour My World with Love', the best Hallmark film since that and one of the best 2022 Hallmark films. Also one of the best they ever did.

Bad things: Did feel that the ending was on the sappy and anti-climactic side, but for me that was it for the faults.

Good things: Everything else worked really well. Can't wait to see more of Holland Roden, judging from her sincere and poignant performance as a character who is true to life and easy to get behind. She has a sympathetic Hynes as her partner, who is typically down to earth and understated while never being dull.

Their chemistry is subtle and sweet, never looking awkward or cold. Their relationship develops realistically and their characters are well defined and relatable, not too perfect and any flaws are not exaggerated. This is also applicable to the supporting characters, all strongly played. Steve Bacic particularly excels against type.

It is a beautifully filmed film, complementing the picturesque scenery beautifully. The music didn't feel intrusive or overly low key, the placement never questionable or distracting. The non-cheesy and non-over sentimental script rarely sounds awkward or melodramatic, apart from some sappiness at the end. The story is gently but not dully paced, very soothingly gentle, very moving and also very heart-warming. Never found it difficult to relate to and found the family relationships and themes handled tactfully. The more mysterious parts don't feel too predictable either.

Closing thoughts: Overall, great.

9/10 (a rare rating for a Hallmark film, my usual highest rating for their films is either a 7 or 8)

Unquestionably, Tyler Hynes holds down this second chance holiday romance which is the latest in Blake Shelton and his mom's Time to come home for Christmas series (2022). It started with a song and then a book written by his mom and has lead to a mother-son annual Christmas movie collaboration, which is sweet and everything Christmas should be.

This may be my favorite in the series, in large part thanks to the two leads Tyler Hynes and Holland Rolland (it was great to see Teen Wolf's Lydia in a new project). The story was very tightly written and intertwines two overlapping second chance romances. Also, it reminded me why I like Tyler Hynes so much. He is fantastic and was an excellent choice for this film. He and Holland Roland have excellent chemistry together and really make the romance and misunderstanding work in this film.

Elizabeth Athens (Holland Roland) receives a voicemail by mistake. The caller's voice is filled with regret and is clearly desperate to reconnect with a woman named Madeline. Unfortunately, the call was placed from a local hotel and without even a name to go by...Elizabeth embarks on a very interesting search for a mystery woman named Madeline or for the caller who left the message. Having wanted to be an investigative reporter in the past, Elizabeth is joined by her friend Josh Hart (Tyler Hynes) who is back in town for the holidays and who has a secret regret of his own. The story is filled with loss, regret, forgiveness, second chances and most importantly with love. Unlike some of the other holiday films that Hallmark rolled out this year...this film is able to navigate the tricky landscape of being about a sad topic and yet still filling the story with enough hope and love that it does not turn into a maudlin and morose story. Instead it is a beautiful holiday love story that I can highly recommend to all those romantics like me out there!

Now for my one rant...skip if you are uninterested: As a native Seattle girl, I was excited to hear that this year's film would be set in Seattle...but I was once again utterly disappointed that it contained nothing but a couple of aerial shots of Seattle and was filmed somewhere else with ZERO local flavor. I would never presume to set a story in Oklahoma and then proceed to not do ANY research or include ANY local detail in my story. Believe it or not, Seattle is gorgeous at Christmas (in fact it is a beautiful winter wonderland right now in my backyard...with big snowflakes drifting down all amongst the evergreens giving our world the appearance of being inside a snow globe) and it is rich with lots and lots of holiday traditions...Pike Place Market, Figgy Pudding Caroling Contest, the glorious Bon Marche Star, and yes, we have some gorgeous hotels and some great and famous confectioners old and new. Frankly, like most true northwesterners, I am happy to keep our treasures a secret...I just wish film makers, particularly those in the Hallmark stable, would stop fake-setting their films in Seattle. Stick with what you know. (And that is clearly not Seattle.)

I've been blown away by so many of this year's Hallmark Christmas movies. In a good way. I think I've only misses one of these (ie in the series for lack of a better word), and this one by far is my favorite. When I watched this tonight, I was so moved that I had to review. I was crying by the end, and I very rarely cry at these. The story, the characters, I loved it all. And as much smaltz is one would expect from a hallmark movie, this had the perfect amount - for the romantics and the ones who just want to see a decent movie. THIS IS DEFINITELY A RE-WATCHABLE MOVIE! I plan to make my brother watch it; i have a feeling he'll agree (he's agreed with the two other movies I made him watch from this year's lineup, and he's commented to me they're different and better.)

This past year, Hallmark movies have been very disappointing. The writers just have not been able to get out of their own way, continually falling back on tired stories and too often used tropes. There were two different stories that were intertwined, both revolving around lost love. Tyler Hynes, a longtime Hallmark leading actor was paired with Holland Roden, an excellent addition to the Hallmark family. Elizabeth (Roden) receives a voicemail that was intended for Madelyn (Meghan Gardiner), which was from Madelyn's former boyfriend, Carter (Steve Bacic). Elizabeth teams up with longtime friend Josh (Hynes) to try to find Madelyn. The acting was excellent and the way the writers tied together the two stories kept my interest throughout.