So no one told Vanessa Lengies she wasn't acting in a Netflix Christmas rom-com and it shows. It's also a good thing. (And it also makes sense when you discover it's the only movie Hallmark acquired for their programming slate that wasn't their own.) The Glee star is feisty and fun in a role as old as time: Hardworking girl returns to her small town from the big city and reconnects with the ex-boyfriend she left behind. Arguably Hallmark's most millennial-feeling movie and it's noticeable but not in a way that is distracting. Dare we say this, mostly because of Lengies, was the most pleasant surprise of the season thus far?
First: It's about damn time a Hallmark movie featured an LGBTQ+ lead couple. Second: No, that's it. It was about damn time. This film—actually inspired by star Robert Buckley's real-life festive home growing up, for real!—took on a lot, not just the expectations of featuring the network's first gay romance. There were virtually six leads (with Buckley and Mean Girl's Jonathan Bennett really shining as brothers), three major storylines and one underserved adoption storyline. Funny and, at times, meta, The Christmas House was a little messy but in a way that worked. Still, Bennett's character's marriage felt on the periphery of the action and a little token when their desire to start a family was more than A-plot worthy.
Paul Campbell is a curious Hallmark leading man. Why? Because he acts with an awareness that he is in a Hallmark movie. And that works totally in his favor in Christmas By Starlight, which he wrote with co-star Kimberely Sustad. Filled with more with more wit than probably half of the rest of the slate combined, the duo pushed the material as far as the network would allow. But, really, at the end of it all, it was a pretty run-of-the-mill story with just a few extra winks ands quips.
Props, however, for fully winking at Sustad's resemblance to Schitt's Creek star Annie Murphy by naming her character Annie. We love that journey for her.
Nikki DeLoach could literally knock over our Christmas Tree and we'd apologize to her, that's how much we love her. And man, does she bring it in Cranberry Christmas as an aspiring Joanna Gaines-like lifestyle personality torn between advancing her career and nurturing her struggling marriage. Yes, Hallmark actually featured a couple on the brink of separation, which is so rare it'd be like Snooki popping up in a Martin Scorsese movie. Alas, we were hoping they would've explored that dynamic even more. Baby steps!
Listen, make Aaron Tveit a prince who sings and we are going to like your movie. This is a scientific fact. One Royal Holiday enlisted Tveit and fellow Broadway stars Laura Osnes and Victoria Clark to win us over and give us a much-needed dose of the Great White Way after its shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Maybe it's the fact that this aired on the final day of 2020's C-to-C and we're, at this point, delirious, but this may just be the most hijinksy movie in Hallmark history. But it's not a bad thing and Rachael Leigh Cook (always charming!) and Greyson Holt bring a banter reminiscent of Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds in The Proposal to their misadventures.
Even though we love leading man Tyler Hines, we did not have high expectations going into this one, released early on in the Countdown. But we were pleasantly surprised by the premise (two game-makers must work together to create a romantic 12 Days of Christmas-themed scavenger hunt) and the effortless and palpable chemistry between Hines and Mallory Jansen. Also, it was refreshing to see a movie where co-workers act like adults with goals and ambitions and don't feel shamed for that? And yes, we can't believe we have to commend that but here we are!
We're probably revealing a Grinch-like quality here, but we don't exactly love when music plays a major factor in our Hallmark movies. Like eggnog-flavored anything, it just feels like too much. But The Christmas Bow proves to be an exception to that rule, thanks to the insane talent of acclaimed violinist Lucia Micarelli. Add in Michael Rady, one of our favorite leads who just exudes kindness, and you've got one of the most underrated movies in the 2020 slate.
Countdown to Christmas' sole Hanukkah movie was a total delight, with Ben Savage making his first foray into the Hallmark world. The Boy Meets World star proved to be a goofily charismatic male lead and Mia Kirshner handled A LOT of emotional storylines—losing her adoptive mother, learning she's half-Jewish, discovering Marilu Henner is her birth mother, starting a new romance, saving her restaurant and, you know, coming to terms with her identity—beautifully.
So this just may be the sleeper hit of the season as the chemistry between Steve Lund and Taylor Cole was effortless and effective—dare we say the best pairing of 2021?—and the mysterious scavenger hunt that brings them together was actually intriguing! Alas, the ending and the resolution felt a little rushed.
We may be biased because we love a good behind-the-scenes look at a morning show. And, hello, having the two hosts, who secretly can't stand each other, fall for each other while enjoying Christmas in a picturesque small town is holiday movie gold. Sure, the TV world as its portrayed in Good Morning Christmas! was absolutely ludicrous and unrealistic (we guarantee Gelman would have notes!), but darn it if Alison Sweeney (taking on a Kelly Ripa-esque worker bee with relatable charm) and Marc Blucas (tackling the old NFL star-turned-Bachelor-turned-successful host role) didn't sell the crap outta this thing! And darn it if they didn't totally nail the grand gesture at the end of the movie!
This movie is saccharin sweet. There's a young woman who grew up in the foster care system desperately trying to make her dream of becoming a librarian and building her own home come true. There's a sick single mother concerned about her two young daughters' future living next door. (You can see where that is going from a mile away.) And then there's an aspiring furniture maker trying to please his parents by settling for an unfulfilling career. Like we said: saccharin sweet. And yet, somehow, someway, it all works, due in large part to stars Janel Parrish, Marisol Nichols and Jeremy Jordan. Sure, it's sappy, but sometimes that's exactly what you need.
What a way to close out the 2020 C-to-C season! This gem of a Hallmark movie was so moving, telling a story about the loss of love and love after loss. Amanda Schull (a.k.a. Jody freakin' Sawyer from Center Stage!) needs to become a Hallmark regular ASAP and Travis Van Winkle—sporting legit the fullest beard to ever grace the network—is devastatingly good as a widowed father whose daughter goes on a radio show to wish for him to find love again. But that is not the only unsubtle reference to Sleepless in Seattle this year...
This one was just so. Much Fun. One Tree Hill fans know the power of Bethany Joy Lenz and Hallmark is quickly learning how to harness it. Lenz delivers another utterly winsome performance for the network as Lucy, a woman trying to help her father win over an anonymous travel critic after her childhood home is turned into bed and breakfast. To do so, her entire family takes on alter-egos as fellow guests, the chef and more and they all revel in their assigned roles. Hijinks, naturally ensue, as does as romance between Lucy and guest Jack (Victor Webster), who happens to have a mysterious job. We'll give you one chance to guess the twist in Five Star Christmas. Plus, the side characters' plots felt as fully fleshed out as they can be in a two-hour affair.
OK, imagine if Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail came together in the most unexpectedly delightful way for a movie. That's Deliver By Christmas, which stars Eion Bailey (in his best outing for the network yet) as a widow looking to give his son the ultimate holiday. (He's basically Sleepless in a small town.) He ends up forming a deep virtual connection with a local baker (Alvina August), who was once left at the altar. (Don't cry, Shopgirl!) Still, while their relationship blossoms over the phone blossoms, the pair unknowingly keeps running into each other IRL, one meet-cute after another. You know where this one is going, but when it gets there...we wanted it to be them, so badly.