Christmas in Harmony is another decent Hallmark movie this 2021 Christmas season, with solid acting and some 'wow' musical performances. The story revolves around Harmony (played by Ashleigh Murray), a music exec expecting a promotion to Senior Director of Acquisitions after 10 years of paying her dues. However, to her surprise and frustration, she is let go due to the company's recent merger. Furious, she heads home to spend the Christmas holiday with her family. Her mother (played by Loretta Devine) sets her up with a gig directing the Holiday Chorus at the local church. Little does she know that her ex-boyfriend Kyle (played by Luke James) is co-directing the choir. The story follows Harmony and Luke as they rediscover their passion for music and each other, as they prepare and rehearse for their big holiday performance. The script, I thought, was decent. The writer had some very good dialogue (and banter) between Kyle and Harmony early on in the story. There was also a nice scene (and dialogue) in the living room with Harmony and her mother and sister drinking wine, having a girl's night. That said, about halfway into the movie, I did start to lose interest. The dialogue between the leads, which started strong, started to fall flat. It wasn't until the last ten minutes, at the concert, that things started to pick up again. Which leads me to the music. Wow. It is good. Indeed, the movie's strength, as other reviewers have pointed out, is the musical performances. Both Murray and James can sing; they have great voices and perform wonderfully in this one. The movie is built around these musical performances. However, I did find the pre-recorded music scenes - where they lip-sync when shooting - to be a bit of a distraction on a couple of occasions (e.g., the Christmas caroling scene). These scenes just did not feel real. Why not shoot them live? Sure, they might not sound like they were produced in a studio, but they will sound real and feel authentic. In terms of acting, both Murray and James had solid performances. The first few scenes were excellent. The back and forth between the two in the church, while they waited, was brilliant. I could feel the chemistry on the screen. However, as the movie progressed, I found their performances increasingly less impressive, though the ending was strong. Their scenes were, simply put, a bit dull at times in the second half of the film. Their performances stopped engaging me. The supporting cast was a bit mixed. I enjoyed watching Devine as Mama; she is great to watch. Michelle Williams (playing Melo D), on the other hand, was difficult to watch on screen. It felt like she was acting, especially her first scene, which is never a good sign for an actor. All in all, it is a decent Hallmark film, not one of their best, nor one of their worst this season thus far.
23 Reviews
Christmas in Harmony
JoBloTheMovieCritic27 November 2021
5/10 - the story was fine and I love Ashleigh Murray, but I was so thrown off every time her character sang because it sounded like an entirely different person did her singing which is deeply confusing given that she is a very gifted singer (why did she not get to do her own singing???)
Meh at best
Dougkellywinther6 November 2021
I don't think these characters have any chemistry and the random breaking into song is always a no for me. My least favorite so far this season. And I've already seen Christmas Sail which mediocre too. And this writing felt disjointed and, awkward. Enjoy.
Black Culture
philsigler-624011 November 2021
Previously, the Hallmark Movies my wife and I watched pigeonholed the Black performers into a White behavior mode. This script gave the Black leads more Black colloquial dialogue, which made the characters more believable.
Quite average
marietxu29 November 2021
Flat characters, no chemistry between the 2 leads and generally average actors all along the movie-specially the mom and the pastor. The story with the label's star doesn't make any sense. I love gospel music but that's not enough to make a good movie. I was quite borred and switched to my phone after 15-20 minutes.
In harmony
TheLittleSongbird5 December 2021
'Christmas in Harmony's' premise is not a new one for Hallmark, films of theirs centered around music are actually relatively common from having at least one every year. Likewise with Lifetime, except Hallmark does them better generally despite being fairly samey from a story level. Have always really appreciated gospel music, though it is not my favourite musical style, and it was lovely for Hallmark to do a music themed film with that style in alternative to country and pop.
Despite the very low rating as of now, 'Christmas in Harmony' on the whole impressed me. In no way is it a classic or one of Hallmark's very best, Christmas and overall, but it is nowhere near close to being one of the worst 2021 Hallmark Christmas films and is much better than the previous two Countdown to Christmas films from this year. That is saying a good deal, as unlike those two this was actually above average and in general even quite good.
A lot is good with 'Christmas in Harmony'. The best thing about it is the music, which is like an exuberant celebration of gospel and plays a big part in the story rather than being just background. As the film is one with music as its theme, this was more than appropriate when normally in other familiar Hallmark scenarios this would be a problem if done badly. It is also beautifully performed, Hallmark don't always score when it comes to having actors that can sing (and sometimes singers that can act) but they absolutely do. Some of the vocals here are amazing, despite the obviousness of it being pre recorded being a distraction at times, and all the numbers are performed and staged with real gusto.
Most of the acting is well above average and even good. Ashleigh Murray really endears in her role and gives the early scenes especially a lot of energy and heart. Luke James is an accomodating partner and matches what was so good about her performance adeptly. Absolutely loved them together, especially in the first half where there is a lot of charm and wit between the two, and connected with their characters mostly too. Loretta Devine steals every scene she's in and the easy standout of the mostly decent supporting cast. The script avoids being cheesy and schmaltzy and doesn't sound awkward generally. The story is light hearted and heart warming.
Not that the story is executed perfectly. It does lose its way in the final act, where the film starts to feel rather draggy and padded and there is not enough of the verve and charm that the rest of the film has. The dialogue also sounds less natural and the characters aren't as interesting.
Did feel too that while the cast were good on the whole, there is one glaring exception. That being Michelle Williams going through the motions in a rather flat role.
Summing up, nice film. 7/10.
Despite the very low rating as of now, 'Christmas in Harmony' on the whole impressed me. In no way is it a classic or one of Hallmark's very best, Christmas and overall, but it is nowhere near close to being one of the worst 2021 Hallmark Christmas films and is much better than the previous two Countdown to Christmas films from this year. That is saying a good deal, as unlike those two this was actually above average and in general even quite good.
A lot is good with 'Christmas in Harmony'. The best thing about it is the music, which is like an exuberant celebration of gospel and plays a big part in the story rather than being just background. As the film is one with music as its theme, this was more than appropriate when normally in other familiar Hallmark scenarios this would be a problem if done badly. It is also beautifully performed, Hallmark don't always score when it comes to having actors that can sing (and sometimes singers that can act) but they absolutely do. Some of the vocals here are amazing, despite the obviousness of it being pre recorded being a distraction at times, and all the numbers are performed and staged with real gusto.
Most of the acting is well above average and even good. Ashleigh Murray really endears in her role and gives the early scenes especially a lot of energy and heart. Luke James is an accomodating partner and matches what was so good about her performance adeptly. Absolutely loved them together, especially in the first half where there is a lot of charm and wit between the two, and connected with their characters mostly too. Loretta Devine steals every scene she's in and the easy standout of the mostly decent supporting cast. The script avoids being cheesy and schmaltzy and doesn't sound awkward generally. The story is light hearted and heart warming.
Not that the story is executed perfectly. It does lose its way in the final act, where the film starts to feel rather draggy and padded and there is not enough of the verve and charm that the rest of the film has. The dialogue also sounds less natural and the characters aren't as interesting.
Did feel too that while the cast were good on the whole, there is one glaring exception. That being Michelle Williams going through the motions in a rather flat role.
Summing up, nice film. 7/10.
Blah Xmas movie - poor casting
chrismacmaster31 October 2021
As much as I appreciate Hallmark for finally being more inclusive & diverse, I hated this movie & it barely held my attention. It was mostly due to casting & some story. While I was familiar with Loretta Devine & Michelle Williams work, I had to IMBD the 2 main leads. They didn't have much of an acting resume. So outside of casting & the story, I just didn't like this movie. There are very few Hallmark Xmas movies I can say that about. Sorry!!
I love the cast
aftonmp30 November 2021
I love the cast, anything Loretta Devine is in I watch! I was a little disappointed the main character Harmony played by Ashleigh Murray did not use her real voice. I was confused because she has an amazing voice and the voice they used did not match her. Other than that I really enjoyed the movie!
Another blah movie
drbreakwell30 October 2021
Hallmark has bombed again. Predictable plot. The only difference was the gospel music and almost all African american cast, which was a little bit refreshing. Hallmark has only made one or two good movies over the past year. They really need to take a good look at their writers and make some changes.
Would-be-musical, no-much-drama.
gfrasmd30 October 2021
Average Hallmark production, with a lot of music to fill the spaces of a story that could be told in a half hour. Personally, I could not find anything spectacular about the acting, nor real emotions or drama.
I gave it an extra star because of Ashleigh Murray, who is super cute and has a great voice.
I gave it an extra star because of Ashleigh Murray, who is super cute and has a great voice.
A wonderful suprise.
klashaye31 October 2021
This movie was a pleasant suprise. I'm always happy to see new faces in Hallmark movies and especially happy to see more and more diversity.
There was only one thing that was unclear to me and that was the time duration Harmony was away, but that's not anything major. The cast was stellar, acting was great and everything came across authentic and natural to the culture represented and I believe it was because of director Rusty Cundief. He just made it a little less hallmark cookie cuttery. Lol!
As mentioned above, the singing was amazing and definitely represented African American church choirs well. I was glad to see it.
Ashleigh Murray suprised me because she looks 12 years old, but she's a powerhouse and brought Harmony's character to life. Shout out to Luke James and Michelle Williams, they were great also. Bravo Hallmark.
There was only one thing that was unclear to me and that was the time duration Harmony was away, but that's not anything major. The cast was stellar, acting was great and everything came across authentic and natural to the culture represented and I believe it was because of director Rusty Cundief. He just made it a little less hallmark cookie cuttery. Lol!
As mentioned above, the singing was amazing and definitely represented African American church choirs well. I was glad to see it.
Ashleigh Murray suprised me because she looks 12 years old, but she's a powerhouse and brought Harmony's character to life. Shout out to Luke James and Michelle Williams, they were great also. Bravo Hallmark.
Cold as Ice
debfullofjoy10 November 2021
I just got around to watching this movie. I couldn't even enjoy the music because of the female lead. Whoever wrote her part made her a "witch" and very unlikeable. She is a fine actor just with a badly written part.
Uninspiring.
adamjohns-4257513 January 2023
Christmas In Harmony (2021) -
So, I might have been in a mood, it could have been my time of the month or perhaps this film just wasn't that good.
I didn't like him, I didn't like her and I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to give two hoots about them getting together or anything else that was going to happen in the film. I just couldn't believe that it would be my sort of thing if I'd let it progress, so I turned it off.
The Mother character had potential to be fun, but there also the distinct possibility that things were going to get very God bothery and I didn't want to put myself through another one like that.
Honestly, I don't think that I would even try it again in the future.
Unscored as unfinished.
So, I might have been in a mood, it could have been my time of the month or perhaps this film just wasn't that good.
I didn't like him, I didn't like her and I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to give two hoots about them getting together or anything else that was going to happen in the film. I just couldn't believe that it would be my sort of thing if I'd let it progress, so I turned it off.
The Mother character had potential to be fun, but there also the distinct possibility that things were going to get very God bothery and I didn't want to put myself through another one like that.
Honestly, I don't think that I would even try it again in the future.
Unscored as unfinished.
Great performances
Jackbv12330 October 2021
For me the musical singing performances dominated over the story. But the story was fresh for a Hallmark Christmas movie. Even so, I was hanging on my seat to hear the music, especially Ashleigh Murray. What a voice. Is it possible she outshined Michelle Williams?
An Appealing Cast
milesnorton30 October 2021
Surprise !
montgomerysue30 October 2021
When it comes to Hallmark Christmas movies involving music and singing, we are very apprehensive after that hideous Mariah Carey disaster of a few years ago. Still, we gave this a try, and it is very good. All of the acting is top notch, the singing performers really do sing and they are all quite good. It's an interesting plot, and the sets, costumes, and production values are very rich looking. The nice direction and camera work give the movie a real "feel" to it. Got a kick out of Hallmark doing a story where a mother and her two grown daughters camp down in the living room with a couple of bottles of wine and nice conversation. Don't see that type of a "real life" situation in a Hallmark movie very often! Nicely done by all involved.
A delightful Hallmark movie
susanmnorth14 November 2021
As Hallmark movies go, you know, predictable and 'light' with a happy ending, this one is worth a watch. I loved the 2 leads - and the music! This one has more than the average singing (a lot of choir) and that makes it stand out. I enjoyed it.
Enjoyable and refreshing
klw-2252819 November 2021
After reading some of the harsh reviews of this movie, I wasn't sure I wanted to see it. I'm glad I did, though, because I really liked it! I found it to be a new take on the typical offerings of a Hallmark Christmas movie. The diversity was much appreciated! That isn't always easy to find that in Hallmark movies. I liked the music and found the romantic leads easy to cheer on to their happy ending. If I catch it on again, I will watch it a second time.
Top notch!
amyhazucha31 October 2021
Great Movie
mjpatterson-200852 November 2021
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