Le cadeau secret de Noël

Was the main character played by Meghan Ory contractually obligated to laugh every 10-30 seconds? Also, who did she anger in the costume department because the wardrobe was abysmal.

The concept was good, and I fully understand that this a fluffy Hallmark movie, but I really think it would have been a better movie if she had toned down the happy, happy, happy by about 100%.

Christopher Russell and Ellie Cluett as the father and daughter were good, and of course who couldn't benefit from a personal shopper, especially at Christmas!

The movie was fine, there's definitely been others this year that I've enjoyed much more.

Needless to say that I had, of course, never heard about this 2023 Christmas movie from director Christie Will Wolf before now in 2024 as part of sitting through an ungodly amount of sappy Christmas movies all through December. And this being a Hallmark movie, and having a particularly girly and pink cover/poster, I must admit that expectations weren't grand.

But since it was a movie that I was unfamiliar with, of course I opted to give writers Christie Will Wolf, Barbara Kymlicka and Lisa Alford the benefit of the doubt. After all, every now and again, one of these sappy Christmas movies actually prove to be genuinely entertaining.

The writers put together a fair script and storyline, which actually proved entertaining. And the movie was just the right amount of sappy without going overboard.

I was familiar only with leading actress Meghan Ory and leading actor Christopher Russell. In fact, I had actually just sat through another Christmas movie with Christopher Russell in the leading role prior to watching "The Secret Gift of Christmas". The acting performances in this movie were fair. I have to say that Meghan Ory really stood out in this movie with her performance, and she carried the movie quite well.

"The Secret Gift of Christmas" is a movie that definitely will sit well with fans of the sappy Christmas movie genre.

My rating of director Christie Will Wolf's 2023 movie "The Secret Gift of Christmas" lands on a six out of ten stars.

I love Christmas movies and Hallmark makes some of the best. (I want to live in that alternate universe.) Few of them are truly great but they are usually a comforting break. But this one was more annoying than anything. Primarily because they made the female lead way over the top.

This is basically a rewrite of the 2015 Lifetime movie A Gift Wrapped Christmas, but that one was able to create an overly enthusiastic lead who also managed to be charming.

An attractive cast and simple story line make this a quiet wat to pass the time if you can tolerate the lead character. But given a choice, I would strongly recommend you track down A Gift. Wrapped Christmas instead.

This movie owes five of its seven stars to our lead, Meghan Ory, who looks remarkably like Jessica Pare (Mad Men). Yet, that's not her only positive quality. Ory just shines in every scene. She's a personal shopper, because apparently that's a thing. She never talks budget with her clients that we see, but that doesn't seem to be a concern for anyone. She meets a handsome construction guy and through gift giving, falls in love. Don't ask me how it works, but it does. This is a charming movie. I saw a few negative reviews, and I just don't get it. I'm as judgy as the next person, but this was a cute movie that was helped a lot by its leads.

I gave this an 8.

I'm not sure it deserves an 8, but I'm so happy to see Meghan Ory back in a Christmas movie.

I never understood why she wasn't doing them. She's so perfect for them and after a fantastic movie in Dashing through the Snow, she vanished from the genre.

Well, she's back, here playing a bubbly personal shopper with a flamboyant style all her own, tasked with working her magic on a gruff building contractor played by Christopher Russel.

It seems like every other movie has had Russell in it this year, but he's really shown his development as an actor as all the roles are very diverse.

This movie was probably not the greatest Hallmark movie of all time, the chemistry maybe not the best, etc., but it was fun to watch, and I would definitely recommend it.

Welcome back Meghan.