RenT-83065

Based on the commercials, I was excited this would be the first Hallmark movie of the season I actually enjoyed. Sadly, it does leave a bit to be desired.

I have enjoyed just about every movie Tyler stars in and expected this to be no exception. Janel was fantastic in Holly and Ivy, so I was excited to see these two pair together. The beginning and end of the movie are the most notable and why I'm giving 7 stars. Lots of humor and best friend antics which made the movie quite enjoyable. The movie takes a sharp detour, however, once it is established which leading lady Chris will end up with. From there, sadly, there is about an hour of the movie spent watching the two girlfriends, whose best friendship has been built over many years, slowly start to fall apart.

Of course, being Hallmark, the two best friends come back together in the end, but the movie runs out of time to establish a real romance between Chris and Naomi, while also leaving many open ended stories. Perhaps they are setting up a part two? What's going to happen with the couple and their long distance relationship? Please don't tell me she's planning to move back to her small town in order to be with a guy. On top of that, why can't the two girls build another version of their company where they do all the things that they want to do without the funding that they need? This is typically how Hallmark solves the problem. Everything magically wraps up with a pretty bow and they magically get the best option possible.

The things I dislike most about this movie were the over the top characters who spend the entire movie having obviously peaked in high school. These are the saddest people in real life. High school is not the end all be all and if after 17 years, you are still the class clown, the party animal, most popular, and most athletic, having never left your hometown what have you actually achieved in life? Also, whoever cast the most athletic "cheerleader" who seems to have simply gained weight and "lives in Chicago" missed the mark on casting. She's a total b from beginning to end, unlikable, and someone needs to tell her she's definitely not all that.

While I deleted this from my DVR, and continue to look for any 2023 Hallmark movie to add to my collection, I don't hate this one. Overall, the new plot is refreshing, there's a lot to laugh at, and if it comes on again I would watch it. Here's to hoping Santa Summit comes through. Expectations are low.

The countdown to Christmas 2022 is off to a sad, sad start. If this is what Hallmark has in store for us we are in big trouble.

Why has Hallmark started out Countdown to Christmas with such sad and depressing movies? They should have their strongest, funniest, best movies to start... instead they are giving us broken marriages, slow storylines, and characters who don't connect on any level. I found myself not even rooting for this couple to succeed by the end.

Admittedly, I fell asleep twice the first time I attempted to watch this movie. I chalked it up to being sleepy, but upon second viewing, I simply found this to be a sad and boring movie. I think I'm more disappointed with Hallmark at the low quality movies they're cranking out. Please listen to the viewers you have left. Focus on quality not quantity.

This is a depressing "sequel" of sorts to Christmas Under Wraps. Sadly, hallmark has undone many years of what they have built by simply giving us a break up to their own happily ever after. There's no reason to even bring all these characters back if the explanation is that Andy and Lauren from Christmas Under Wraps simply broke up. Why can't we just believe in happily ever after? For crying out loud, Hallmark, it's Christmas.

Giving the movie five stars simply because I found it quite hilarious Hallmark replaced Candace with Jodi, lol. We all know CCB jumped ship and this movie puts a huge spotlight on it. They should have just kept Garland going and changed the leads. Send Andy and Lauren to San Francisco and off in our memories enjoying their happy ending. Definitely not watching again. Wishing Countdown to Christmas gets better. So far, we're off to a depressing start.

Did someone cut Hallmark's lighting budget? Why is half this movie filmed in the dark? It's the oddest thing I've ever seen where half the movie takes place at night in the dark. Important scenes where you can barely read facial reactions. It's like they were given two weeks to film so they shot late in the night after cutting the lights and thought "just roll with it".

All that aside, this is still a hard pass. The mom is truly awful from start to finish. Her character is manipulative and clueless. It's actually the main reason this movie is just bad. The rest is typical Hallmark formula. You know what you're going to get so no surprises there.

I was so excited to finally see a sequel to one of the best Hallmark movies!! Even better they brought back all of the original characters, Brandon, Kimberley and Gregory (all my favorites in this and other movies) plus they brought back most of the supporting cast. And...the Paul Campbell cameo was perfection!!!

What I didn't love was how the writers undid the entire ending of the first movie by breaking Zach and Marilee up, moving her literally across the country and throwing her in another relationship only to undo all of that in 15 minutes. I actually appreciated the new boyfriend breakup but I hated that it meant most of the movie Zach and Marilee are having to navigate their feelings and rebuild their entire relationship. Sigh. Don't get me wrong, the chemistry is still there but it takes the first hour to get us back to the couple we waited so long to see. Also...how did Marilee's sister Jaclyn go from 4 dogs in Nine Lives to no pets and an 8/9 year old?

That said, I loved how they developed Marilee and her sisters relationship. This time Jaclyn really steps up with great advice throughout. My favorite line was when she tells Marilee "just because someone doesn't like change, doesn't mean they not capable of it". Loved the father/son relationship of Captain Sam and Zach and of course loved seeing Marilee and Zach finally come back together. Marilee has grow in her own confidence in that she initiated every kiss in the movie, except one, you go girl! But love that she and Zach were still awkwardly bantering to themselves and their cats.

There's a lot to love, especially the ending! I think the writes left the door open for the 3rd movie, fingers crossed.

In all honesty, this should have been the premier kickoff movie for Countdown to Christmas! This movie was brilliantly written with so much humor and moments of sentimental love during the holidays.

Paul Campbell is by far one of my favorite male leads Hallmark casts. He had me laughing the entire movie and from about 15 mins in I was rooting for Ryan and Tanya to end up together...obviously they do. Tamara was a great leading lady, too.

...and omg, the robber?!?!? Did not see that coming! The ending really got me crying. Well done Hallmark.

Watching many more times and adding to my DVR collection.

I was so excited for Countdown to Christmas to kickoff this year. I'm definitely the Christmas 365 kind of girl and couldn't wait for the premiere movie this year. 🎄🍿🎥 Unfortunately, this one fell flat and leaves much to be desired. A little disappointed this is the movie Hallmark chose for the big kickoff. I really hope it's not a sign of things to come for the season.

You me and the Christmas trees isn't bad but it's certainly not good. It's a long, tedious 2 hours to get through what you kind of suspect from the ending. Danika and Benjamin are great leads but their characters leave much to be desired. Olivia is beyond socially awkward, she's whiny and not really likable. Jack, along with Olivia and her mom all have deep personality flaws that magically change at the end after a few conversations?

Overall, not planning to watch again and hoping for better things to come with the remaining Countdown to Christmas movies.

Hallmark truly stepped their game up with this movie! 10 out of 10 out of 10! Thank you for delivering a movie that above and beyond breaks the formula.

Katie Findley brilliantly plays Maggie. She delivers her lines flawlessly with a sharp tongue and quick wit.

...and the ending is so good.

It pains me to give such a low rating but I was so excited for "one perfect wedding" - previously titled "one winter wedding". I get it, Covid messed up a lot of things in the world of movie making, but this is more than that. Sadly, so disappointed from start to finish.

Even if you remove the barriers that seemingly were stacked against this film from the beginning, you're still left with a many letdowns of the writing and Hallmarks own doing.

For starters, a simple Google search shows you Hallmark intended to release the trilogy each year in their lineup of winter-themed movies but this was released a year later and in spring. Jack Turner got Covid, and thankfully is ok, but that doesn't stop many viewers from being put off by him being bald. I actually didn't care either way about his appearance once I figured out what happened. Dewshane is literally a virtual talking head the entire movie! Why?! Sean is such an important character and for some reason he's dialed in and never physically present. I kept wishing and hoping Sean would show up at the 11th hour but no. Instead of taking time to really refine this movie, someone decided to just get it out.

What really disappointments me is that after all this time in the world of Ben, Cara, Sean and Megan, we still see the same behaviors from the first and second movies. Ben is still keeping secrets, Cara is still suspicious, Sean is still off somewhere unavailable, and Megan is still a self-inflicted workaholic and unaware of taking on too much. The writing and character development is lazy and uninspired. The characters grow wildly successful in their careers yet they remain the same and immature in their behaviors?

If Hallmark plans to do a 4th installment with Sean and Megan as the leads, I'll probably watch but I really hope they do this series justice and write a better movie. That said, if the plot will continue to see our leads as too busy, too suspicious, too secretive and too distanced, I'll pass.

This movie is so bad it's almost not worth writing the review. Hallmark, what's happening? You are choosing quantity over quality. Focus on finally embracing diversity, inclusion and challenging the norm. Stop trying to crank out one bad movie after another.

This movie pains me so deep in my heart. Why would Rachel Boston and Neal Bledsoe sign on to such an atrocious movie? So poorly written. And the accents are so bad I had to stop about 15 mins in so I could stand to watch the leads again in other movies. I came back for the ending only to find it gets worse.

Don't waste your time on this unless maybe you're deaf and don't have to actually listen to it. Sorry.

I have to give credit to Hallmark for all the new, refreshing things they're finally trying in their movies. Great leads, new-ish storylines, and an ending where the female lead doesn't have to give up her life and move to a small town to be with the guy. The "formula" is finally changing and I'm really pleased with how this one turned out.

I have really been frustrated with Hallmark and thought (based on the previews) this was actually going to be a cute movie. Lord was I wrong! Hallmark keeps playing this movie as though it's new and original but it's from 2018 and should have stayed there.

An hour into the movie was soooooo slow and boring. I just kept waiting for anything interesting to happen. It's just one boring scene after another slowly put together.

I liked the actors so I won't say anything negative about them but the characters?!? Where to even start? Jillian is such a horrible wife, let alone a therapist! I was actually rooting for Justin to leave her. From the first interaction they shared you could tell she was a piece of work. Probably gets it from her mom who delivered one negative line after another. I didn't enjoy her character at all. Bitter mom, party of one.

With all the sadness happening in the world right now I'm just surprised Hallmark would purchase the rights and release a movie with such a negative view of marriage and a Debby Downer outlook :(

Please just focus on making better Christmas movies because this is a fail.

What is this movie? Who wrote this atrocious movie? A Christmas Coach?!? UGH...Hallmark PLEASE focus on QUALITY NOT QUANTITY. This movie is just unacceptable on so many levels.

I can't even pinpoint why it's so bad. The acting is bad, the storyline is bad. There's a ton of mistakes and clearly no one was paying attention. When they cut down the tree the next scene decorating is clearly a fake tree. Really? After the painful acting scene when the lead meets the parents she walks out with her scarf hanging down to her knees and then cut to outside, her scarf is neatly wrapped around her neck. Such little attention to detail. To that point, who styled the lead? Her clothes are sloppy and she looks a mess the whole movie. The puffy coat...REALLY?

Maybe it's just the writers are to blame for the typical cliche stuff that's been there done that 100 times. Stop having women trip and fall into a mans arms. That clumsy stuff is so played out now.

Ugh, Hallmark desperately needs a new formula. They clearly focused on cranking out sub-par movies for their 10 year anniversary. This takes the cake and not in a good way.

I really don't understand of all the previous Hallmark movies why A Gift to Remember needed a sequel and why there was so much hype around this particular one. Hallmark is cranking out so many sub-par movies why not revisit the ones that were made a few years ago and were really good? I'm not trying to be overly critical but for a sequel this really didn't live up to the original.

For starters, Darcy and Aiden lack so much passion for a couple one year into their relationship. They barely touch or hug and they share one little kiss that feels forced. Most of the movie they walk with distance between themselves and act more like friends. After Darcy bakes Aiden his late moms bread they just smile at each other. Shouldn't he be grabbing her for a hug at least??? You would think they would have a little more chemistry for such a new relationship.

Then there's the long, drawn out boring community center shutting down. Zzzzzzz.

If you can struggle through, the ending is good but even with (MAJOR SPOILER) the proposal, Darcy and Aiden share such a lackluster kiss I'm not sure why all the build up for such a passionless ending.

PLEASE don't make a 3rd movie.

I can't decide if I love or hate this movie. I find myself watching it when it's on but I'm irritated the entire time. I like the actors but so many things are written in such an annoying way.

1. Why is Ben such an a-hole to Joy the minute they run into each other and throughout? He's almost un-likeable. His digs at Joy being a city girl, and taking offense because she offers to pay for his services are just rude. Plus, how he arrogantly rattles off all the cookies needed for the cookie crawl (we'll get to that later...) How she sees past this to find him attractive are beyond me. 2. How does the aunt, a 4-year winner, not have a plan for this cookie crawl weeks, if not months, in advance? If it means so much to her where was all the pre-planning vs waiting a week before Christmas 🤔 3. Why doesn't Joy just ask the aunt what theme to use? She's got blueprints of previous years. She can't just tell Joy what to do? Again 🤔 4. I think the words "cookie crawl" are WAY overused in this movie. It's sooooo annoying after about 30 minutes. 5. Why are there so, so, SO many digs at working/living in the city? Doesn't Hallmark ever get tired of (insert reason) someone has to return to their small town, ho-hum life, said someone runs into old flame then must give up everything they worked hard for so they can conveniently uproot their life and move back to the place they avoided for years? Ugh....I love Hallmark but it's time for new story lines that don't shame women for being successful!!

I'm typing this while watching the movie. Overall, feels like a batch of cookies that aren't quite right but you eat them anyway.

The acting in this movie is atrocious! Everyone speaks as if they're painfully trying to remember their lines. The other reviewers are spot on about Nash's hair. I couldn't stop laughing at what a hot mess it was 😂 I didn't make it past the first 30 minutes.

First off, the "accents" in this movie are atrocious! To think this family of father and twin children are cut from the same cloth is laughable. Prince Gus speaks painfully slow. Not believable because he's royalty but as if he's concentrating simply on his accent. The only good thing is that he manages to keep the same fake accent throughout. The actress that plays Princess Carlotta often forgets which accent she's chosen and it comes and goes in every scene. I found it to be distracting to the point I couldn't concentrate on what anyone was saying.

I found it highly annoying how much focus Jesse puts on her life as a princess. What are these two possibly going to talk about after they kiss and ride off in the beautiful winter scenery? I don't care that the movie is obviously predictable in ending but definitely not planning to watch again.

I'm honestly shocked this movie managed to squeeze two hours on this ridiculous plot and complete lack of chemistry? After the town Santa (who really isn't Santa but it's the family business???) breaks his arm Christmas-crazed Jessica makes it her mission to spend the rest of the movie trying to force Santa's son, Ben, to take his place. I agree with another reviewer, all of this plot is based on Ben not being able to give up 2 hours of his life to help out?

I had so many moments in between being completely bored when I was left scratching my head. Like why is Jessica texting Ben's dad the entire drive from Boston and when they arrive he asks if HIS PARENTS know if he's there? He can't call his own parents? Ok. On the unnecessary drive back to Boston (to waste...I mean fill more time) they just happen to need to get out of the storm near Jessica's "friends" house? More questions...this friend doesn't care that they're just crashing in and spending the night? Or that Jessica just helps herself to the kitchen to make eggnog?

Fast forward more boring stuff like Ben forcing Jessica to own up to not really being happy she took over her grandparents/parents year-round Christmas shop. Somehow, these two fall in love, or in like given the lack of chemistry. He ends up playing Santa, although he's 30-ish? No, the glasses don't make him look any older. They kiss, it's boring, the end.

Hallmark do me a favor and pull this out of rotation.

I tried and failed to get through this movie several times. I genuinely wanted to see the ending but I am not a fan of Alicia Witt. Her acting is fine but her voice it just hard to handle. When she's calm it's great but this movie had way too much over the top "OOOOH'" and "AHHHH" every 5 minutes I had to keep changing the channel.

Honestly, I started questioning if this woman ever experienced a Christmas in her entire life. For crying out loud, she literally freaks out over every single Christmas experience as if she's never heard of such things as decorating or baking.

And her mother is completely oblivious to the fact that her OCD caused her daughter to obsess over being perfect. Really? You just don't understand why she strives for perfection to please you?

If you can stand rolling your eyes every few minutes you will enjoy this movie.

I really enjoyed this Christmas movie. I fell in love with all the characters from the start. A few I started to loathe by the end, however.

I loved Meredith as the character Cynthia. She's so bubbly and fun to watch throughout the movie as she searches for her true love. Despite being adorable, it really started to bother me how she treats Liam after she thinks she's found her true love/the mystery man sending gifts. A true friend wouldn't be THAT blind to her best friend obviously pining over them. Nor would a true friend uninvite them to a wedding after dragging that friend to town to be their date.

I was so happy when Cynthia runs to Liam after she's all out of options he calls her on her BS, telling her he doesn't want to be her "leftovers". GOOD FOR YOU LIAM! Of course it's a Hallmark movie so you know there will be a happy ending in their future.

As much as I liked Janet (Cynthia's sister) in the beginning of the movie she seriously started to bother me the way she treats her fiancé, Roger. She's HORRIBLE to him for giving a crap about their wedding. She berates him for having bridal magazines and completely goes off on him for trying to plan a surprise honeymoon! I get he's a total accounting nerd and maybe he has no other options but neither of them actually appear in love and have zero chemistry. Janet buys the ugliest wedding dress ever and whines she's not a princess and just wants a simple, quiet marriage. Then why bother having a wedding in the first place? Go to the courthouse and stop being a total **curse word**.

Overall, I really loved this movie and have watched it several times.

PS - I love, love, love Gregory Harrison in every Hallmark movie. He's great in My Christmas Love and I loved him in Nine Lives of Christmas too!

I honestly wish I could give negative stars. This movie makes no sense and I don't understand how there are so many 10 star reviews.

I will never get my two hours back. I painfully sat through this entire moving thinking at some point it had to get better. It does not for several reasons.

1. The entire movie Layla's family bullies and pushes her to forgive her terrible cousin who has stolen her fiancé. This is after the first 10 minutes of the movie where she attends said cousins wedding with Seth, the guy responsible for her breakup. For absolutely no reason whatsoever he announces their "fake" engagement. Naturally, the ex-fiancé grills them about being a couple as if it's his business what she does with her life. Her cousin, meanwhile, seems pleased as if she's now off the hook for stealing her fiancé. Her overbearing aunt is thrilled and doesn't ever seem concerned with acknowledging her daughter did something horrible because "they're family". This continues throughout the movie with everyone insisting Layla get over her pain, embarrassment, etc. telling her they want forgiveness. Why don't they try asking for or earning it?

2. Fast forward over an hour of random filler nonsense of decorating a house, Layla's annoying ex-boss decorating the house next door, and some random encounters along the way. Get a backbone Layla, she's your ex-boss WHO CARES what she thinks of you or you "fake" engagement anymore?

3. Seth cares WAY too much about this fake engagement. No guy cares this much about a fake relationship to give a woman his grandmother's ring!

4. The entire movie they go to or are asked to attend dinners where they clearly look like they're lying. I get it's a movie but after 1 or 2 times is it really that hard to lie without making a face?

5. Finally, although I could add more to the list, at the end of the movie after Layla secures a new, dream job (thanks to Seth...how convenient) they decide it's time to break up. Seth is clearly in love, saying several times how she's made his house a home, and Layla also has feelings. So, there's literally NOTHING keeping them from just being a real couple. Literally NOTHING! No brat kids, crazy ex's, no one that matters knows this is all fake and threatens to expose them. Instead, they attend their engagement party so they can embarrass themselves by staging a fake fight?? WHY??? Then Seth finally confesses his love, Layla also decides she's in love (although really not believable in my opinion) and 2 minutes later they're getting married (in December to make this ridiculous title make sense) and movie ends.

I guess it's a feel good movie if you only watch the last 5 minutes.