Natalie (Melissa Joan Hart) has a popular podcast called Holiday Love, and in December, she's doing a multi-part arc called "Dear Christmas," sharing stories from listeners about their Christmas romances. After a chat with her boss Penny (Robin Givens) about Natalie's distinct lack of a love life, Natalie heads to her hometown of Lake Tahoe to spend the holidays. Upon arrival, she gets a flat tire and the AAA repair guy who shows up is grizzled but hunky Chris (Jason Priestly) who remembers her from eighth grade. She doesn't remember him, but nevertheless, as Chris is omnipresent in town (handyman, fireman, but at heart a glassblowing artist), they run into each other frequently and sparks start to fly. Despite some encouragement from Natalie's bookstore-owning parents and her enthusiastic sister Emma, Natalie resists falling for Chris's charms, certain that fate and/or destiny will lead her to a grand love, but then something she finds in a high school diary makes her think that fate may be taking a hand after all. This Lifetime Christmas movie follows all the rules of the Hallmark template without finding anything new or interesting to build on, but its intended audience will like it just fine. Priestly was unrecognizable to me, as he is now a bearded daddy figure, but he and Hart (both pictured at right) are pros and fill their roles well. Robin Givens is amusing, and the movie could have used a little more of her energy. The parents are Faith Prince and Ed Begley, Jr., both fine, especially Begley giving a surprisingly naturalistic performance. The presence of little glass heart ornaments is a call-out to nurses and first responders (though the Covid pandemic is not actually mentioned), and I liked that Chris's name is Chris Massey (say it out loud). [Amazon Prime]
No comments:
Post a Comment