Cute, Fun and Engaging...

toddsgraham

I really enjoyed this movie. It is a warm, fun and entertaining Christmas romance, one of Lifetime's better movies this year, I thought. The story centers around Mandy (played by Jonna Walsh) and Lucas (played by Jesse Hutch), former high school classmates, who are both back in their hometown for the holidays and, more importantly for the plot, both competing to buy the same local Inn. The story is fun and cute with some entertaining dialogue, especially between Mandy and Lucas. It was quite a predictable story, of course, but it kept me engaged thru-out (i.e., it pulled me in from the start). What made this work on screen was the acting. Overall, it was brilliant. Walsh had this warm and happy vibe to her performance as Mandy, which was great. It was easy to connect with her character as a result. Hutch had a convincing performance too. Similarly, he had a sort of happy and kind (and a bit flirtatious) vibe to his performance. Together, it made for great chemistry on screen. It was one of the strengths of the film, I thought. The supporting cast too was outstanding. Jayne Eastwood (playing Gram) and Art Hindle (playing Ernie) were quite the cute couple, and Elena Juatco's performance (playing Jackie, Mandy's hometown friend) was fun to watch. The scenery, props and sets were charming and festive. The red dress Mandy wore to the Christmas party was stunning; it had a great cut, I thought. The performance (singing and dancing) at the Christmas party was great (a fun scene). It instilled a bit of festive spirit. All in all, this is a cute, fun and, more importantly, engaging Christmas movie. It is a nice new addition to Lifetime's 2020 lineup.

score 7/10

toddsgraham 13 December 2020

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw6363085/