A Gingerbread Romance... you've been warned | D

Did you forget that I am an architect? Because not only have I mentioned it at least 15 times in this movie, but the word "architect" also appears on my computer screen. In addition, please notice my dual monitors and roll of trace paper.

It's another architect movie. While Hallmark's first of the season received an A-, this one did not fare so well.

The plot of this movie is as ridiculous as its execution. An architect has to design a life-size gingerbread house by teaming up with a local baker after the "best pastry chef in the state" pairs with a rival architect. The winner of the contest will impress the mayor and be given a new downtown redevelopment project. Every romanticized cliché about architects is present in this movie, so if you want to know what being an architect is most definitely not like, watch and learn. Believe it or not, there's one more architect movie to come this season (Christmas Made to Order, which premieres on 12/23), so we'll see how they handle that one. My guess is that it conforms to the following Hallmark values when it comes to architecture:

modern = bad traditional = good

brand-new condo = bad classical home = good

sleek = cold and uninviting cluttered = warm and Christmassy

cutting-edge = you lose return to tradition = you win

undecorated = shameful decorated = good really decorated = better decorated to within an inch of its life = best of all

Hallmark gets an A on: This movie was presented by Folgers, and Folgers commercials are great.

Hallmark gets a D on: Fake tree; Over-architecting; New job in another city with Christmas Eve start date (This never happens, and yet it happens in 90% of Hallmark movies); Lines such as "winning would be the icing on the cake" (Yikes), "I'm really glad you're not an architect, because that approach would not pass inspection" (ouch), "What do you say we stop the backseat baking" (wow), and, my personal favorite: "desperate times call for desperate measuring cups"(I'm not kidding). To top it all off, the theme of the movie is: "home is where you hang your stocking." Do you see what they did there?

Grade: D

* Note Grading Scale:

A = This is seriously a good movie. It will remain on my DVR for the season.

B = Totally exceeded my expectations. I'm happy to recommend.

C = This is an average Hallmark movie. Good holiday fun.

D = I'm disappointed... but I watched it. Why not?

F = I actually had a hard time getting through this one. And that says a lot.