It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Commission Time!
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Starring: Julie Gonzalo as Jessica and Ronnie Rowe Jr. as Matt.
Street Cred: Julie Gonzalo (Veronica Mars, Supergirl) has a long list of Hallmark movies under her belt and always gives a solid, believable performance. Ronnie Rowe Jr. is new to the Hallmark game, but has worked consistently in Canadian film and television for years. He’s a fresh breath of air in this role.
Official Synopsis: A wedding planner ends up in a remote Alaskan town and falls in love with its Christmas pageantry, as well as the local man helping her find a rare flower.
True Story:
So first of all, in my original assessment of this movie, in a previous post, I commented that I hoped Hallmark would realize that mixed-race couples didn’t have to include white people, not knowing that Julie Gonzalo is of Spanish and Argentinian descent. To my knowledge, this is the first Hallmark film where she’s played a specified non-white character, but it’s nice to see Hallmark taking the need for diversity to heart.
Gonzalo plays Jessica, a successful wedding planner, who is about to cross the finish line with her popstar client’s Christmas Eve nuptials. And of course there’s a big promotion on the line if everything goes off without a hitch. Jessica often sacrifices family time for work, so she thinks nothing of flying to a remote village in Alaska when the bride decides she has to carry on the family tradition of having Jingle Bell Flowers in her wedding bouquet. Eight days before the wedding.
Jessica meets Matt at the airport in Tapeesa when he finds her abusing a vending machine for cookies. She shows off her Big City Noob on the drive and then asks Matt and his Aunt Mary for way more flowers than they originally agreed on. Unlike a lot of these movies, this isn’t a case of opposites attracting each other; Matt and Jessica are two nice people who get along and enjoy spending time together.
On the way back to the teensy airport, Matt forgets his truck is a 4X4 when it gets stuck in an inch of snow and he has no idea how to deal with the weather in a place he supposedly grew up in. Jessica misses her flight, of course, and since there are no hotels in the village of 112 people, Jessica stays with Matt and Aunt Mary, who tasks Matt with getting her settled. This is Hallmark speak for ‘seduce her with Christmas’.
The first stop on this falling-in-love train is the local Christmas tree lot, which is basically foreplay in this world, and then Matt takes her to the Jingle Bell Festival where Jessica is named Jingle Bell Princess because the town is clearly in need of a distraction. The next day, when they return to the airport, the plane is down for repairs and won’t be flying for at least three more days. I’m surprised Jessica isn’t smelling a town-wide conspiracy to keep her around at this point.
Matt gets her outfitted for the weather and Jessica is invited into the family circle with tree decorating. She learns Matt used to live and teach in Manhattan, while back in New York, Jessica’s colleague starts moving in on her job and clients. But Jessica is too busy trying to find cell service and helping find a new location for the Festival dance to worry. The place they find is “a diamond in the rough” aka a gorgeous venue with weird shit piled everywhere that will be easily cleared out.
During their Getting To Know You antics, Matt tells Jessica he was married, and when it didn’t work out and Aunt Mary needed help, he rushed back home to escape. He takes her to see the Aurora Borealis and more festival activities while they grow closer. On the final day of the festival, Matt asks Jessica to go with him to the dance and she borrows a boring (by Hallmark standards) dress from Matt’s cousin. In New York, the colleague finally talks the boss into letting her take over for Jessica, since she’s still not back from her little trip and they’re going to need someone hands-on for the wedding day.
Jessica is understandably upset when she finds out, and flees the dance when Matt suggests it’s a sign that it’s time she focuses on making her dreams come true, not everyone else's. Again, it’s not a fight, just a discussion. No miscommunication, no thinking the worst of each other. Just holiday adult feelings. Matt then gathers everyone together to get the airport open and Jessica on a flight that night to save her job. It works, but she turns down the promotion, promising herself she’s going to spend more time with her family.
Back in Tapeesa, Aunt Mary tells Matt to get off his ass and go back to his life in New York, and what do you know? He does! He surprises Jessica at the Popstar’s wedding and they share a magical Christmas kiss!
Teacup’s Thoughts:
Having been in villages up North like these, I have to say that this is the most diverse town I’ve ever seen. Hallmark does seem committed to this change, at least.
While I understand Jessica not bringing more than a toothbrush and one change of clothes with her since she was planning on going straight back to New York, there’s no way she wouldn’t have brought her phone charger. No way.
I really, really wanted Jessica to wear her tiara over her toque.
There’s a Christmas tree in the room Jessica is staying in. And two wreaths. And an antique wood stove with an antique copper kettle. And cedar boughs. Calm down, Hallmark.
Jessica takes a purse to the dance, which serves no purpose. All it does is hang off her shoulder and ruin the drape of her dress. Throw this pet peeve in the pile beside female detectives always needing to carry purses.
Fix It:
While I applaud Hallmark’s attempts to broaden their stories, I really feel they need to hire some new writers to do it since the ones they’ve been using don’t seem to know how to write an interesting story within the new, more diverse, non-offensive guidelines. The camp and hijinks that made these holiday offerings so fun is gone, and though I’m a fan of adult conversations and happily ever after, the new formula is boring. Honestly, they need to start hiring fanfic writers for these scripts; we’re masters of writing satisfying, fluffy stories.
Starring: Adelaide Kane as Mia, Carlos PenaVega as David
Street Cred: Adelaide (Teen Wolf, Reign) seems to be reinventing herself as a Hallmark Princess, and I’m okay with that. This is Carlos’ first foray into Hallmark without his wife, Alexis PenaVega, and he’s freaking adorable. Natural, and charming, and dimpled.
Official Synopsis: With only one week to prepare, Mia Pearson and her family of party planners are offered the biggest job in their company’s history: a New Year’s Eve party for a tech entrepreneur. But when her brother breaks his leg and her parents head off on a planned vacation, Mia must reluctantly enlist the help of her brother’s visiting college buddy, David Campos to help her pull off the event which just so happens to fall on her favorite day of the year. But what Mia didn’t plan on was falling in love in the process."
The Story:
The Pearson family is in the party planning business and everyone adores them, of course. After twenty minutes of cheesy smiles and family warmth that sets us the parent’s retirement plans and Mia and her brother Jake’s plans for the business, Mia almost takes a golf club to love interest David’s head. Turns out David is brother Jake’s bff from college and is staying with Jake and his family over Christmas so he can do an interview for a documentary grant so he can go to China for his next project in the New Year. David is charming right out of the gate with his cute haircut and his sweet as pie smile.
Mia and Jake are soon roped into planning a New Year’s eve party for Kate, a bigshot business woman who somehow pissed off a previous event planner so much that all the contract workers quit as well. They now have a week to get everything done, so of course Jake falls off a ladder and breaks his leg. His wife is six months pregnant and apparently useless, and the parents are off to Palm Springs because that’s where all retired people go to die. It’s a good thing David is there to pick up the slack/be forced into helping!
Now, New Year’s Eve is A BIG DEAL to Mia, even though they don’t really tell us why. At least not in any detail that sounded reasonable to me. So off they go, picking vendors and booking a band. Despite this being Mia’s job and a looming deadline, David has an opinion on everything and keeps questioning Mia, trying to talk her into stepping outside the box. He does, at least, wait until she asks for his input after she shuts him down the first time.
The client, Kate, starts off flirting with David, but soon realizes David only has eyes for Mia and encourages him to confess his feelings. There’s some snuggly dancing while choosing a band, but Mia thinks David was flirting with Kate and pulls away. He cooks her some eggs she doesn’t eat and offers to find her a job in film production when he discovers she has an ongoing interest in it and that maybe she’s not as happy in the family company as she pretends she is.
The day of the event, Mia and David do a bunch of “helping” they wouldn’t actually be allowed to do because of insurance reasons, and then they share a beer and almost kiss before being interrupted by a million last-minute problems. David finds out he got the grant he was after, but has mixed feelings about leaving so soon. There’s more teamwork to work out party issues and some backroom dealings with the Mayor about a permit, and when a server spills gold paint all over Mia’s chic jumpsuit, Kate steps in and loans her a sparkly number to wow David. (This is the first time I’ve seen the whole “borrow a dress” trope where it didn’t require a completely different bra than what the character is wearing, and I appreciate that.)
Kate gives Mia a pep talk about life and David, and sends her on her way. A few more problems arise so we can see that Mia and David ARE MEANT TO BE and then the whole family shows up to help out because Hallmark. Everyone praises Mia’s work and when she tells her brother she’s moving on from the company, he sends her off with well wishes. David confesses his lurve for Mia and they kiss at midnight (IT’S THE TITLE COME TO LIFE!)
Teacup’s Thoughts:
With Hallmark’s habit of telling female characters their lives are empty without a man in them, I usually cringe, so it pleased me that this flick didn’t do that! At no point is Mia asked about potential suitors or told her work life isn’t enough to make her happy.
Despite his “nice guy” opinions, David seems genuinely interested in the things that make Mia happy and jumps in with both feet to help her out
Carlos PenaVega usually dances in these movies, and I missed that because he’s quite good. (Mia and David’s dance is mostly swaying in place)
Kate is a powerful woman who demands excellence, and she’s not demonized for that. She gets snippy when things get messed up, but Mia is firm with her and reminds her she hired Mia to deal with these issues, and Kate backs off. There’s no rivalry, no jealousy, no love triangle. I hope they continue this trend!
There is one thing that bothered me about this movie though, and I think it’s down to bad writing. When David spills his feelings to Mia, he tells her, “Nothing else matters anymore. All I think about is you” and that he’s willing to give up his entire career for her. Those words seemed like huge red flags for me, but again, I think the two men who wrote this are just telling women what they think we want to hear.
Fix It:
I’m actually quite pleased with this film, though I found it a little boring without the usual tropey Hallmark shenanigans (no one talked about artificial trees being evil!), but maybe those are harder to pull off in a movie about the black hole that is the week between Christmas and New Year. Adelaide Kane and Carlos PenaVega gave solid performances (minus the scene where they drink cocoa by the fire, which seemed dubbed and awkward), and everyone got a happy ending. A solid 8/10.
Or have they just found a formula that works? Pretty sure it’s the latter, but this year’s list of holiday flicks has more than just familiar faces. The plot lines themselves seem recycled not only from previous Hallmark movies, but holiday films from other networks as well.
I vowed last year that I wouldn’t watch or review Hallmark movies after the fiasco of the company bowing down to bigots and showing their anti-LGBTQ asses, but this year’s line up feels like an olive branch and I’m willing to give them a second chance. Am I optimistic that Hallmark has embraced the LGBTQ+ community and is targeting us with its stories? No. But I’m willing to see what changes they’ve made to take this step forward.
Same goes for the whiteness of their casts. From what I’ve seen so far, the films are more diverse with black leads and even a mixed race couple. Welcome to 1967, Hallmark. But these are changes they’ve made to reflect what the public has asked for, and I’m interested to see how it goes.
If you’re still set against Hallmark movies, Amazon Prime and Netflix both have great holiday flicks (I’ll be reviewing some here later this month!) that cater to a much wider audience.
Now, onto this year’s selection!
No way do I have time to watch and review all 40 of Hallmark’s offerings, but I’m hoping to get through 20 or so. This year they’ve given us 3 movies that focus on musicians, 2 with Lacey Chabert (ugh, pass), 2 with Holly Robinson Peete, 2 with Royalty, 2 with carousels (why?), and of course, the one with the gays.
A few classic leading ladies are back, such as Alison Sweeney and Candace Cameron Bure, and the rest are a decent mix of the usual suspects and new blood. Below I’ve listed only the flicks I intend to watch. I’m in Canadaland and don’t have the Hallmark channel, so my viewings depend on the films getting picked up and rebroadcast by another station. This means I may not have access to the entire list, but here we go!
The Christmas Ring, starring Nazneen Contractor and David AlpayA reporter (Contractor) takes her latest story to heart: While telling the love story behind an antique engagement ring, she turns to the ring owner's grandson to learn more about his family's history. This just sounds really sweet and a good slow burn.
A Timeless Christmas, starring Ryan Paevey and Erin CahillCharles (Paevey) travels from 1903 to 2020 to experience a futuristic Christmas, with the help of his charming tour guide (Cahill). Ryan Paevey and time travel? Yes, please!
A Nashville Christmas Carol, starring Jessy Schram, Wes Brown, Wynonna Judd, Sara Evans, RaeLynn, Kix Brooks, and Kimberly Williams-PaisleyJust as Vivienne (Schram) is about to accept a new job across the country, she's reminded that leaving everything she built isn't necessarily the best way to move forward. The Spirit of Christmas Past (Brooks) and the Spirit of Christmas Present (Williams-Paisley) show her just that. My secret country heart won't let me skip this one.
The Angel Tree, starring Jill Wagner and Lucas Bryant. A writer (Wagner) is determined to solve the town's biggest holiday mystery: Who is the person granting all of the wishes on the angel tree? In the process, she reconnects with someone from her childhood (Bryant) who helps her find the answer. I love Lucas Bryant even more than I love Ryan Paevey and Jill Wagner is great with mystery shows.
A Godwink Christmas: First Loves, Second Chances, starring Brooke D'Orsay and Sam Page. After returning home, Sam (Page) catches himself stuck in traffic next to his high school sweetheart, Margie (D'Orsay). This is a series and I haven’t see the first one, but I like a challenge.
The Christmas House, starring Robert Buckley, Jonathan Bennett, Ana Ayora, Treat Williams, Sharon Lawrence, and Brad Harder. Phylis (Lawrence) and Bill (Williams) hope that having their two sons at home over the holidays will help them find a way to grow stronger as a family. While there, both sons reveal that they are also struggling with problems of their own. Aka, the gay one. Thing I’ll be looking for: physical affection between the husbands. They’ve already chickened out and skipped the courting of the gays, so I expect them to act like a other married Hallmark couples, dammit! I badly want this film to be better than I expect it to be.
A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado, starring Rochelle Aytes and Mark Taylor. Firefighter Kevin (Taylor) is the only thing standing in Erin's way of planning the best Christmas celebration ever. That means, it's up to her to win him over to get a celebration-worthy spruce tree from his property. Pretty sure Hallmark already made this movie in 2017. It's called Miss Christmas, starred Marc Blucas of Buffy fame, and was so boring I couldn’t finish it.
Good Morning Christmas!, starring Alison Sweeney and Marc Blucas. When two TV hosts are forced to cozy up to the competition over the holidays, they learn that they have more in common than they thought. Another familiar plot! This sounds very much like an ABC family movies called Broadcasting Christmas, with Melissa Joan Hart and Dean Cain (before his head was fully up his own ass). It was decent and who are we kidding, this has Alison Sweeney and I'm going to watch the shit out of it.
Christmas by Starlight, starring Kimberley Sustad and Paul Campbell. The days for The Starlight Café are numbered. That is, until Annie (Sustad) meets Williams (Campbell), who works for the development firm looking to demolish the restaurant. He proposes an out-of-the-box idea that forces Annie to consider how low she's willing to go to save her family's business. Hallmark leaning hard on what Hallmark does best. Depending of what she’s willing to do, this could be a very different movie!
Five Star Christmas, starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Victor Webster. Lisa (Lenz) is determined to secure a five-star rating for her dad's bed & breakfast. But when she meets (and falls in love with) a mysterious B&B guest, she's shocked to learn he's the travel critic behind the review. Another classic Hallmark trope, hopefully put to good use.
If I Only Had Christmas, starring Candace Cameron Bure and Warren Christie. A bright and cheery publicist (Bure) works with a scrooge-like business owner (Christie) and his team of The Wizards of Oz-inspired characters to help a good cause. My teeth hurt just reading the synopsis, but I'm still going to watch it.
Jingle Bell Bride, starring Julie Gonzalo and Ronnie Rowe Jr. When Jessica (Gonzalo) travels to a remote town in Alaska to track down a rare flower for her wedding client, she becomes smitten with the small town charm and one of its locals (Rowe Jr.) Julie Gonzalo is a gem and a mixed race leading couple is new for Hallmark and I’m going in with an open mind, but I hope they figure out that mixed race pairings don’t have to include white people.
One Royal Holiday, starring Laura Osnes, Aaron Tveit, Krystal Joy Brown, Victoria Clark, and Tom McGowan. Anna (Osnes) rescues a mother and son during a blizzard, only to learn that they are actually royalty — part of the Royal Family of Galwick, to be exact. She takes this opportunity to show the young prince (Tveit) how to celebrate Christmas the non-royal way. I want 'the non-royal way’ to include watching Die Hard in sweatpants and eating pie for breakfast, but I know it's going to be about decorating shit and snowball fights because this sounds a lot like another Hallmark movie called A Prince for Christmas.
Christmas She Wrote, starring Danica McKellar and Dylan Neal. Kayleigh (McKellar) is heartbroken to learn that her romance column is canceled right before the holidays. While home with her family, the person who canceled her column (Neal) shows up at her door to tie up loose ends. That title is a mighty ambitious, Hallmark, you sure you're up for it? Being laid off right before Christmas is something I have experience with, but I feel like Danica McKellar won’t be drinking her way into the New Year.
Cross Country Christmas, starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Greyson Holt. Lina (Cook) and Max (Holt) face the unexpected when a storm hits, potentially ruining their holiday plans. The two of them are forced to work together to figure out a way home — without taking it out on each other. I have watched this movie a hundred times and I’ll watch it a hundred more.
Christmas Comes Twice, starring Tamera Mowry-Housley and Michael Xavier. By the looks of it, Emily (Mowry-Housley) has it all: She's a well-respected newscaster, and loved by many. But in her eyes, she lost the thing that matters most — her first true love (Xavier). A ride on the carousel at the town's Christmas carnival brings her back in time, giving her a second chance at the love and life she deserves. Carousels seriously creep me out, but I’m a sucker for time travelling and do-overs.
A Christmas Carousel, starring Rachel Boston and Neal Bledsoe. Lila (Boston) partners up with the Prince of Marcadia (Bledsoe) to repair the Royal Family's carousel by Christmas. Goddammit, another carousel! But I can’t say no to Rachel Boston or Royal flicks.
Love, Lights, and Hanukkah!, starring Mia Kirshner, Ben Savage, and Marilu Henner. In the height of the holiday craziness, Christina gets back a DNA test and learns that she's actually Jewish. This leads her down a path of self-discovery, even finding romance along the way. I'm already cringing, but let's see if they learned anything from the train wreck Hannukkah flicks of 2019.
Christmas Tree Lane, starring Alicia Witt and Andrew Walker. Meg (Witt) is eager to save the Christmas Tree Lane shopping district from demolition, but things get complicated when she discovers that her new beau (Walker) is linked to the demolition-hungry developer. Alicia Witt is hit or miss, and the premise is very much like the subplot to A Very Merry Mix-Up, which also starred Witt. I doubt this will be as fun as that one was, though.
Deliver by Christmas, starring Alvina August and Eion Bailey. Molly (August) worries that she's falling in love with two different men: Josh (Bailey), a widower who recently moved to town, and one of her clients. But what happens when she discovers that they're actually the same guy? These are the quality tropes I’m here for!
A Glenbrooke Christmas, starring Autumn Reeser and Antonio Cupo. Jessica (Reeser) knows this may be her last normal Christmas, so she escapes to a small town for peace and quiet. Things heat up as soon as she meets the town's fireman (Cupo). Her last normal Christmas? Autumn Reeser? Fireman? Yes.
Swept Up by Christmas, starring Lindy Booth and Justin Bruening. An antique seller and cleaner can't agree on how prepare an over-the-top estate for the holiday season. They start at square one, uncovering the home's hidden treasures ... and secrets. Fingers crossed for literal skeletons in the closet!
Well, that’s it! If you have recommendations or movies you’d like me to review, drop me a message! Happy watching!
While this is a step forward, I don't believe it when they say the gay couple are the main characters of the movie. My bet is the brother and female love interest are the actual MCs.
The Hallmark Channel is continuing its efforts to tell diversified storylines as part of its popular "Countdown to Christmas" this year.
If you follow this account I’m sure you’ve heard what’s been happening in the land of Hallmark and advertising over the past week or so. If not, it boils down to Hallmark flip-flopping on whether or not anti-LGBTQ+ bigots have a say in what they promote and produce.
#boycottHallmark and #boycottHallmarkChannel have been trending and GLAAD spoke out about Hallmark’s decision to pull ads featuring a lesbian couple’s wedding from the wedding planning site Zola.
Saturday Night Live had what I thought was a nice skewering in a Hallmark dating sketch, too.
This isn’t the first time Hallmark has been accused of homophobia, either. In 2013, Hallmark sold a holiday sweater ornament that read “Don we now out FUN apparel!” Here’s an excerpt from the L.A. Times of the company defending it’s decision:
...Hallmark pointed out that the lyrics for “Deck the Halls” were translated from the Gaelic way back when. So the “gay” of the 1800s isn’t the “gay” of 2013. Such “multiple meanings,” the company said in a statement, “could leave our intent open to misinterpretation.”
Yeah, wouldn’t want to come off as a decent and progressive company! I mean, sure, they have cards celebrating gay weddings and transitioning, but that’s just because they want our queer money, not because they want us to exist. It’s the same reason they reversed their decision to remove the commercials; they want our money.
It’s for these reasons this blog will no longer be reviewing Hallmark movies. I can’t, in good conscience, provide a platform for a company that despises my community and yet seeks to profit from them.
Luckily, Netflix and other streaming services have been stepping in to fill the giant representation gaps Hallmark has left in its wake and I will move my focus to those films and welcome the diversity shown alongside the kooky plotlines!
As always, please feel free to let me know if there are specific films you’d like me to review. Have a wonderful December, keep yourselves safe, and for goodness sake, don’t read comments!
And to Hallmark and One Million Moms: Go fuck yourselves!
Just a heads up that if you see any articles talking about LGBTQA+ diversity in Hallmark movies, check the source before you click on it. I failed to today and was horrified not only by the contents of the article, but by the comments as well. Be smarter and more vigilant than me.
