CHRISTMAS SHORT TAKES 2

HOMETOWN CHRISTMAS (2019)

The week before Christmas, Noelle (Beverley Mitchell) moves from Chicago back to her small hometown in Louisiana to work at a medical clinic with her widowed father Pete. She is happy to be back with her brother Will (and his fiancée Jen) and pleased to meet up with old friends, but less happy to run into her high school boyfriend Nick (Stephen Colletti, pictured); they broke up ten years ago when he went off to a career in professional baseball and old wounds still fester. Before she starts working in the new year, she decides to restage the beloved nativity that her late mother used to hold every Christmas. Noelle slowly warms to Nick's presence, especially when she finds out that Nick's baseball career is on hold until he recovers from a serious shoulder injury and he's donating his time to running an after-school baseball camp for some adorable children. Just as it seems like Noelle and Nick are getting back in their old groove, she finds out that he plans on leaving town and going back to his career as soon as he's recovered, despite the fact that the local high school has offered him a coaching job. This Lifetime Christmas romance is pretty much par for the course: attractive leads, moderately interesting side characters, and lots and lots of Christmas visuals, despite being set in Louisiana which doesn't get much snow. Mitchell and Colletti have good chemistry, but so do Erin Cahill (Jen) and Donny Boaz (Will), so it's a little disappointing that their story is handled rather sloppily. Somewhat surprisingly, the plot conflicts never get too melodramatic. The word "pleasant" describes it well, and if you're looking for something edgier or more dramatic, look elsewhere. 3 Christmas trees out of 5 [Lifetime]

CHRISTMAS CRUSH (2019)

Addie and her best friend Drea work at a high-powered party-planning company. They have one week to plan a holiday party for a demanding client, the Donner Legacy Foundation--the one thing that works in this movie is the running gag of people calling it "the Donner party." Addie has been nursing a crush on Sam, the guy in the next apartment. We see her literally run into him in the hallway, and though he seems approachable, Addie gets tongue tied in his presence. Her chummy neighbor Mrs. Motley notices Addie's predicament and gets Addie to wish on a falling star, telling her all Christmas wishes come true. Addie wishes that her neighbor would fall in love with her. But she's not quite precise enough with the wish. The next day, just as Addie is starting to make some headway with Sam, she discovers that a high school friend, Pete, has moved in across the hall from her, and Pete is the one who falls head over heels in love with her. He's a sweet-natured goof but he proves to be an obsessed nuisance, messing up a date with Sam and even threatening the smoothness of her party-planning activities. Drea and Mrs. Motley try to help her, but she's convinced that only another Christmas wish can right this wrong. I appreciate the attempt at an element of magic here (the falling star wish), but that’s about all I appreciate. Cindy Sampson is fine as Addie, though her performance is part of the problem with the story--she seems way too well-adjusted not to be able to fix this problem in a hurry: tell off Pete without mincing words and be honest with Sam about her feelings. Of course, then the movie would be about 45 minutes long. Robin Dunne (Sam), normally a charming Christmas movie lead, comes off as drab and unappealing, In a different Christmas romance, Sam would be the loser boyfriend. Chris Violette (Pete) has the quirky frat boy thing down, but his performance is pretty one-note, again due as much to the writing (and direction) as to his acting. 2 Christmas trees out of 5. [Ion TV]

GINGERBREAD MIRACLE (2021)

Maya grew up in a small town in Colorado, had a high-school crush on Alex, and, unable to tell him about her feelings, wrote him a long letter, stuck it in his jacket pocket, and then left for a lengthy European vacation. He doesn't respond so when she gets back, in order to make him jealous, she exaggerates a relationship she had with a French boy. The stunt doesn't work and the two go off to separate colleges, both becoming lawyers. Now, some ten years later, Maya has gotten burned out on the fast pace of a big law firm and is in her hometown living with her parents and freelancing via Zoom. Meanwhile, Alex, with a law firm in New York City, is home for the holidays (and also working remotely) to be with Luis, the uncle who raised him, as he goes through the process of selling his Mexican bakery. Alex is a bit miffed when he finds out that Luis has hired Maya to help him with the sale, but that's because Alex is always insanely busy in New York. Of course, she warms up to him and he to her, but their unresolved past still stands between them (it turns out the letter she left in the jacket got lost for a while, but he did eventually read it). There’s a legend that the gingerbread cookies Luis bakes can cause wishes to come true--that could happen here, if these two mixed-up kids ever discover what it is they really wish for. This Hallmark Christmas movie hits all the usual beats at the usual times, including the complicating factor in the romance at the 90-minute mark and the long-delayed kiss in the fadeout (and, as in the above movie, a magical power of a wish). What puts it a slight notch above the norm is the main setting, the Mexican bakery, and the legit Latino actors--Jon Ecker as Alex and Jorge Montesi as Luis. Honestly, those two have as good if not better chemistry as nephew and uncle than Ecker and Merritt Patterson (Maya) have as romantic leads. Ecker is kinda smolderingly handsome but also a little too broody throughout. Patterson is fine as are Patch May as Jacques, the French baker who wants to buy Luis's bakery (and maybe play kissy-face with Maya), and Preston Vanderslice as a subplot boyfriend of a subplot character. Likeable and harmless. 4 Christmas trees out of 5. [Hallmark]