I usually love Hallmark's punny titles. They're fun to say, and they remind us not to take ourselves too seriously. I especially love it when they name a character Carol or Eve and embrace the corny with reckless abandon. I hoped that this movie was going to explore the ridiculousness of a dating app called "Mingle All The Way" with style, but it fell flat for me.
I've actually spent some time pondering the trends in this year's movies, and I think that Hallmark needs to be careful about trying to keep up with modernity. Do we really want to see a bunch of Apple products in our Christmas movies? Not really. Do we want to be reminded about the intrusion of text messages into our daily lives by watching them pop up in the lives of our Hallmark characters? Nope. And do we want to escape to a world in which we use a Christmas dating app to find a networking-savvy plus one for our business holiday functions? Certainly not. Let's stick to old-fashioned cookie decorating and door-to-door caroling, okay Hallmark?
With that said, if you are going to watch this one, please keep in mind that the first 14 minutes are truly awful. Once you get past the unfortunate opening scenes, it does get a little better. However, even as the plot and romance develop, the conflict feels forced, and the feel-good Christmas factor is seriously lacking. Furthermore, I know that Hallmark loves a good caricature, but Molly's mother and Jeff's co-worker are just insane. When Molly's mom bragged that she hired a service to decorate the tree while nagging Molly about her lack of a social life, I knew that Hallmark had overplayed their hand. By the time Jeff's coworker smirked and publicly shamed him for using "Mingle all the Way," I was annoyed. I know that Hallmark characters aren't ever that realistic, but let's at least make it plausible.
Hallmark gets an A on: Jen Lilley (great); Some fun banter; Jergens Ad placement (only because it's a new product for Hallmark movies, and I found it highly amusing that Molly just had to put on hand lotion before having a heart-to-heart with her mom. By the way, it was Jergens original scent which, according to their website, "provides dry skin with long-lasting moisture to soften and visibly improve skin's tone and texture." With this cold, winter weather, this is highly valuable information. In fact, Jergens ran an ad immediately following the scene, in case you missed the not-so-subtle close-up of the Jergens original scent pump bottle in the movie. Moisturizer is important.)
Hallmark gets a D on: Unbelievable characters; Family scenes that were just uncomfortable; Lack of Christmas spirit; Lack of chemistry; Forcing tech gadgets into Christmas
* By the way- from Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe forward, there will always be bright, white lights reflected in my TV screen photos. I have a huge tree this year, and it's amazing.
Grade: C-
* 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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