Hallmark Channel Premiere | October 23, 2021
Subtlety is not Hallmark's strong suit. To let us know that best friend Nate is the perfect man, the first fifteen minutes of this movie feature him joking with Lauren, knowing all of her favorite things, sending her coffee and gingerbread cookies while she works late, and running a successful enrichment program for foster kids. This is a fun concept that we have seen before and will happily watch again, yet Hallmark upped the ante with a Dickens-inspired series of visits from Lauren's ex-boyfriends. While I expected to hate this, it actually worked for me. Our two leads, Catherine Haena Kim and Raymond Ablack, are fantastic, and I enjoyed their banter and chemistry. The boyfriends were only slightly ridiculous (except for Tyler, who was completely Ridiculous), and our third boyfriend was the first architect of the season, so there's that.
The grade on this one might be inflated simply because I expected to hate it and didn't. In the world of Hallmark movies, outperforming expectations is sometimes all it takes!
Hallmark gets an A on: the two leads (Catherine Haena Kim & Raymond Ablack); Lauren's dad (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee); the banter; the extremely likable cast
Hallmark gets an F on: the Christmas Eve deadline at work (this just doesn't happen); Tyler; the four ex-boyfriends showing up at the end; the annoying "ding" that comes with Hallmark's "All New" candy cane graphic
Grade: B
* 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.
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