Time for Her to Come Home for Christmas

I found this to be boring and kind of contrived. My spouse even fell asleep during it. There are some glaring plot holes here and you've seen this type of material many times in the Hallmark movies. The cast is likable and they work hard to give this story some oomph, but the script is just not that interesting. There is nothing special about the sets or the locales - it's all recycled stuff that you've seen before. Plus, as soon as the lead character says "My father left right after I was born" at the beginning of the movie, you can probably figure out how this was going to end. We did - and that was before my spouse fell asleep !

This movie is part of a series based on the song, "Time To Come Home For Christmas", Blake Shelton is the song's cowriter and movie's Executive Producer. This is the story of a woman, Carly, a Music Teacher, (Shenae Grimes-Beech) facing her first Christmas without her mother so to avoid loneliness, she takes a job as a temporary Church Choir Director in a small quaint town. Matthew (Chris Carmack), has returned to his home town, after serving in the Army, and plans to take a job with the Fire Department. He is also interested in trying establish a romantic relationship with an old friend, Jenny, (Lauren Jackson). Carly, convinces Matthew to join the choir, and she has her work cut out for her with only two weeks to shape a motley crew into a real choir. There's also a mystery brewing surrounding Carly and her family history.

The fun part of the movie is Carly's upbeat personality and special connection she has with each person she encounters, and the way she brings the town's people together. (Shenae really shines in this role). However, there are mixed signals from Matthew, is he trying to win over Jenny or Carly??? Caramack brings a cordial and sympathetic role to the Matthew character, but there really isn't enough actual romance between Matthew and either woman, he comes across more like a good friend. A really awkward and odd moment in the movie is how Carly overreacts when the mystery is revealed, but then way too quickly she does an about-face and she's suddenly very calm and returns to normal as she easily accepts what transpired (Jekyll and Hyde character moment). The ending was also a bit lackluster because of the lack of romance between the leads. It started out to be an interesting movie, but just lost something along the way. It's not a bad movie, but could have been better.

I've seen all the installments of Time to Come Home for Christmas and they are all at least better than average.

I would compare this one to the Time for You ... with Allison Sweeney, but even so it's quite different. In all the installments the secret is unveiled slowly. In this one it isn't as obvious that Carly is here for a reunion but pretty quick you start to see little things that tell you something is up. I figured it out very quickly, almost from the first clue.

As in all of them, there is a romance around the central character. I can't say I thought the chemistry was great between Shenae Grimes-Beech and Chris Carmack. His Matt seemed to be above it all.

In some, if not all of them, Destiny seems to be big. They all feature more than a couple of interesting coincidences.

Are you tired of the song yet? I don't recommend a bingathon of this series. The song is catchy but it gets repeated a lot. Last year they seemed to rewrite the history of the song and they keep that version this year. In the original Heath Sawyer wrote it from scratch, not the Blue Notes. Somehow this song didn't seem to be something you would expect from a church choir, but then this church was more of a family or feel good church than any particular religion.

Note: I think I am submitting this before the broadcast premiere because it has been available on the streaming service for a couple weeks now.

6.7 Stars.

Let me tell you about a movie that got lost in a forest of pews It's about a woman named Carly who is alone; her mother recently passed away. Her father has been absent since she was an infant. She is a musician who plays guitar and can sing like an angel. Add to these attributes, she seems like an angel. Carly gets invited by a pastor and his wife to lead their church choir over the holidays and help them prepare for the Christmas musical.

After she arrives, things become unusual and surreal. The writers send us vague hints of a supernatural happenings, or maybe Carly is an actual angel. The peculiarities mount, but the narrative becomes confusing and loses credibility.

There is too much smoke and mirrors throughout, and it feels odd, almost like cognitive dissonance. The camouflaged unveiling of something unique and magical is lost in a clumsy setup. Carly is hired to save an untrained choir from a disastrous performance, but it seems inconsequential, because it's a very small church and nobody seems to care. The choir is a cacophony of mistimed and off key voices, well beyond the hope of reviving in a just a week. It's too cheesy watching the actor pretend to make an awful noise and you can tell they are trying very hard to make it sound as bad as possible.

The lead male, Matthew, is constantly bewildered by Jenny and Carly. Jenny (pastor's daughter) is his best friend, whom he's had a crush on for years, but his sentiment seems unnatural. Furthermore, he's indifferent and too casual. Likewise, his attitude toward Carly is befuddlement. He seems puzzled, maybe curious about her and she reacts similarly toward him. But Carly senses something invisible between Matthew and Jenny and it's not believable and doesn't fit the narrative. Why would the lead male's focus be on a supporting female, with whom he doesn't even seem attracted in the first place? This alone is taboo for Hallmark. He proceeds to unenthusiastically pursue Jenny, which degrades the emotional impact of the film even further. Eventually, he and Carly share mutual attraction, but it manifests much too late. Next, why is the pastor's wife acting so strangely when Carly arrives in town? This is an immediate clue for us to be on alert, but nothing is revealed until much later, so it loses its impact. The choir has a miraculous transformation in a matter of days, which also provides no satisfaction. Not to mention, the congregation is about fifty people and there are roughly ten in the choir. Earlier in the story there is much ado about how crucial it is for Carly to revive the choir and bring purpose, so what's presumed to be monumental is nothing more than meaningless fluff.

Why so harsh with this critique? I'm left disappointed by a shoddy production. There were many brief moments I enjoyed, but they were repeatedly smothered before gaining momentum. If it was the director's and writers' intent to redirect at every turn, they succeeded, but it's too unorthodox to make for tenable entertainment.

This is a terrific Christmas movie and one that I would happily watch again. The 2 leads were sweet together. I love the nuances between them - casual interest, then more curiosity and a natural progression that not all of these Hallmark movies contain. The plot itself actually seems new-ish, an accomplishment in and of itself. Truly had me wondering if there'd be a romantic interest for her at first. Bravo.

The surprise within was done well and kept me guessing almost till it was revealed. Just enough cast members to make it work and they all worked well as an ensemble. The pastor was a shining light ( as he should be) with just the right touch of sincerity and kind truth and humanity.

Chris Cormack is amazingly likeable and perfect in his role and Shenae Grimes-Beech was great as well. Could we please get rid of the wigs, tho? There were times when the hair over- powered her face to the extreme - not everyone should wear bangs. Please. A stylist issue, I know, but ... very distracting for an otherwise great watch.