It's December and Elise is tired of eating her lunch alone in a mall and being serenaded by pesky carolers. The handsome Nick, also eating alone, sees her predicament and pretends to be her boyfriend to get rid of the carolers. Elise is founder and co-owner, with her ex-husband Dan, of a travel agency. Dan wants to cut back on the company's charitable activities as a money saving measure but also because he knows that the charity work is her thing. Nick is a divorce lawyer who is in line to be made partner, but the company custom is to only promote married people (or maybe people in relationships, it's not terribly clear). The two decide for their mutual benefit to set up a contract they call the Mistletoe Promise: they'll pose as a couple so Elise can make Dan jealous and Nick can be more confident of getting promoted. They'll accompany each other on social occasions through Christmas but they agree to not actually get involved. Can you guess what happens? Yes, you can. Storywise, this is both unoriginal and sloppily plotted, especially as concerns the relationship between Elise and her ex. They’ve been apart for four years and are still acting like children? Nick has some sad back stories, including getting left at the altar by his fiancée and having some career problems, but why is he faking a relationship to get a partnership for a firm whose policies he opposes? Basically, Elise and Nick are using each other to get back at or curry favor with total douchebags. I found it hard to get past this premise—surprisingly, this is based on a book by bestselling author Richard Paul Evans and I would have expected a tighter narrative. But, sigh, Hallmark dreamboat Luke Macfarlane plays Nick so I stuck with it, even though there are virtually no surprises in the story, Jaime King (Elise) is attractive but makes too many pouty faces. However, the two of them (pictured) work OK together. I enjoyed some of the supporting performances, especially Christie Laing and Erin Boyes as employees of Elise’s and Lochlyn Munro as the slimy (Dan). But this is the kind of movie in which you notice errors. For example, every shot from inside Elise’s office building shows it snowing outside rather heavily, but the outdoor scenes show almost no snow except when it's needed for a snowman building contest. I know that predictability is a hallmark (get it?) of these movies, so you can shut off your brain and feel all gooey inside, but too often this felt a little insulting. But, Luke Macfarlane, sigh… [Hallmark Channel]
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