Hallmark
Rating: 🎄🎄🎄
Description: Taylor Lewis (Penny) is a single dad and holiday display expert who relocates to the charming town of Pineway with his two children just weeks before Christmas. Despite the challenges of a new home, new school and a daughter who seems to be outgrowing their cherished holiday traditions he’s determined to make the season magical. As Taylor takes charge of the town’s beloved Christmas Market revival, he finds himself unexpectedly partnered with Sophie Shaw (Hutton), a practical accountant hoping to prove she’s ready for a new leadership role. Together, the unlikely duo brings fresh ideas, festive spirit and plenty of Christmas cheer to the community. But when Taylor’s well-intentioned efforts to help his teenage daughter backfire, he begins to realize that yuletide can’t be forced, it has to be discovered. As Taylor and Sophie grow closer, they learn that embracing change may be the key to creating new traditions and new memories. Starring Pascale Hutton and Brendan Penny.
Overall Review: Mr. & Mrs. Christmas lands securely in three-tree territory. It had some good moments, a few genuinely strong performances, and absolutely nothing that made me want to rearrange my Christmas movie rankings. Sometimes adequate is adequate, and that’s where we’re going to leave it.
Pascale Hutton, however, deserves some recognition. I’m increasingly convinced that I like her much better in movies than I do on When Calls the Heart, where her performances can occasionally feel like she’s trying to reach the audience in the back row of a very large theater. In movies, she’s a different actress entirely. Her dramatic moments are especially good, and she has a way of delivering the smallest facial reactions that communicate more than an entire speech. It’s subtle, believable, and refreshing in a genre where emotional range sometimes consists of smiling, smiling harder, and looking mildly concerned while holding a mug.
Unfortunately, even a strong performance can’t manufacture romantic chemistry. Hutton and Brendan Penny were perfectly pleasant together, but I never felt the sparks. They seemed like two nice people who would make excellent neighbors, not necessarily two people destined to spend Christmases together for the rest of their lives.
Penny’s character didn’t help matters. There were several moments when the story practically handed him an opportunity to learn his lesson, grow as a person, and move the plot forward. Instead, he decided personal growth was something to put off until his job was on the line. Watching someone make the same mistake repeatedly doesn’t deliver quite the journey Hallmark seems to think it does.
Visually, the movie checked the usual Hallmark boxes. The decorations were respectable, the Christmas atmosphere was present and accounted for, and the fictional town of Pineway was geographically mysterious enough that I had no idea whether snow should have been falling or palm trees should have been swaying. Honestly, that may have been a smart production decision. Can’t complain about the weather being wrong if you have absolutely no idea where you are.
In the end, Mr. & Mrs. Christmas is a perfectly serviceable addition to the holiday lineup. There are some worthwhile moments, but the lack of romantic chemistry and a male lead who takes the scenic route to character development keep it firmly in the middle of the pack.
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