Esselleee

I have to admit that I am a sucker for the Hallmark Channel's holiday movies. I look forward to their annual, 2-month long "Countdown to Christmas" extravaganza with the giddiness of an excited child waiting for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Hallmark's movies are warm, inviting and comforting, and they envelop me in holiday spirit, like a cozy winter blanket or a cup of hot chocolate. The plots are good-natured, usually a bit flimsy, and always predictable -- and yet I am drawn into the stories they tell as though I think something new and unexpected is going to happen at the end of each one.

In the case of "Snow Bride," I expected a standard, lightweight, family-friendly, thinly outlined romantic comedy -- and that's precisely what I got. However, it seems surprisingly modern and fresh.

One highlight of this movie is that the two romantic leads in "Snow Bride" (the striking Katrina Law and Jordan Belfi) are impossibly attractive, and they have genuine chemistry. This is not to say that other actors in other Hallmark productions are unappealing, but many times the couplings fall flat in the absence of any true sparks. The "Snow Bride" duo, however, sparks left and right.

Also, the repartee between "Greta" and "Ben" throughout this movie is fairly snappy, witty, and clever, which had me wondering if Hallmark hired some new writers...or maybe just better actors?

I suppose the only reason I am not assigning a higher rating to "Snow Bride" is that the circumstances under which our two leads meet seem a bit implausible and preposterous, although that is generally the formula for many of the Hallmark holiday romcoms that I already love.

Overall, though, "Snow Bride" is one of the better installments in Hallmark's pantheon of reliable, feel-good Yuletide fare. It's not going to win an Emmy, and it's not going to provoke deep thought, but it is as sweet and delightful as a sugary piece of Christmas candy, and that's all I need it to be.