CHRISTMAS AT HOLLY LODGE (2017)

Stop me if you've heard this before—on the other hand, don't, because then this would be a very short review. Sophie (Allison Sweeney) runs a Colorado ski lodge that has been in her family for years. But now, thanks to a couple years of no snow, she's gotten behind in her mortgage payments and may lose the property by the first of the year, even though this year, the lodge is snowy and busy. Meanwhile, Evan (Jordan Bridges) arrives for a quick visit at the height of the Christmas season; Sophie and he click right away and she talks him into staying the whole week of Christmas, but what she doesn't know is that he is there as an emissary for a real estate company looking to buy the lodge cheap and replace it with a prefab chain lodge. But the longer Evan stays, the more he comes to appreciate the extended family experience of the people who have been coming to Holly Lodge every year, and he secretly tries to find a way to help Sophie hang on to her property. Of course, when she finds out who he really is, she is angry and upset, and certain she'll lose the lodge.

Hallmark needs a few new plot templates for their Christmas movies—this story is so well-worn and predictable (and its "twists" telegraphed so far in advance) that I almost switched it off in the first half-hour. But I stuck with it because of the two leads. Sweeney and Bridges have great chemistry and both are quite attractive (in a very vanilla way, which is not meant as an insult—Bridges in particular makes vanilla look sexy). Oddly, their chemistry falters near the end, when they actually are allowed to kiss—Hallmark doesn't let their leads kiss until the final moment. But generally, the two are among the better Hallmark players. Sheryl Lee Ralph (a Tony nominee for the original production of Dreamgirls) is fine as the chief supporting player; Toby Levins is a scruffy standout as a handyman pal of Sophie's. Both characters get their own (brief) storylines, and either one could probably carry their own TV-movie. I liked it OK, and less demanding Hallmark movies fans will love this one. Pictured are Bridges, Sweeney and Ralph. [Hallmark]