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Reviews
A Maple Valley Christmas (2022)
I Recommend!
I really enjoyed this movie and will 100% watch again. I truly don't get why so many felt there was no chemistry between the leads. Perhaps having a female that is atypical is what turned them off?
The story starts with a successful (a nice change from the usual fare, to be honest) family-run maple syrup
business looking to buy the property next door when it finally goes on the market. But lo and behold, a developer from a large city arrives to outbid the heroine. Our heroine and protagonist, almost from the start, works and grows with her love interest to try to keep the deal from happening. There aren't any big misunderstandings or hidden secrets here. It's just honest communication and two people being surprised about their feelings and healing from their past broken hearts. Our female lead is guarded, but I found her relatable and likable.
The meet-cute was finally not a ridiculous over the top trope, but original, without the female lead being unnecessarily rude or snapping to judgment or having that "You" moment when they run into each other later. There weren't any eye-rolling misunderstandings to get past; everyone was fairly honest from the start. There wasn't the overdone scene of an interrupted kiss: it happens spontaneously in the first 10-15 minutes. There wasn't some widower's/divorcée's kid trying to move the plot forward with an overly sweet and far-too-old-to-be-acting-as-babyish-as-they-typically-do act. The scenery was realistic and what wasn't winter or Christmas-y was overall well-hidden. And finally, I didn't find this with any of the usual cheesy professions of love that generally make me cringe with embarrassment for the actors who have to do them. Again, I will 100% watch this in the future.
Midway to Love (2019)
More Realistic
Even though it's actually not a hallmark movie, I enjoy that they chose to show it - Midway to Love feels far more realistic in terms of conversation and interactions. Nothing feels forced and the voice intonations are normal, as are the spoken and body languages used by the actors. It's not over the top exaggerated acting like most movies they show.
The scenery is real for the time of year, the leads don't have new outfits each day but instead incorporate the same pieces in a different way, the makeup is pretty natural, and the film allows itself to stay small. The storyline does follow the typical formula, but again, it's just more believable to how most of us really are when we live our lives or start relationships.
Beyond that, it's also refreshing to see hallmark feature something without their starting lineup of regulars that they shove into every movie. I genuinely found the lead characters attractive in these roles and hope hallmark picks up more natural feeling films like this in the future.
Open by Christmas (2021)
Well Matched Cast
This is probably one of my favorite HM movies to date. I loved Allison and Erica together, and I believed them as best friends; everything felt natural and real. Honestly, the whole casting was perfect and the delivery of lines was genuine. Even the cheesiness these movies always have was easy to forgive and instead embrace.
The storyline was sweet, and follows the usual HM clichés of some kind of high school love in a smaller town, even when it is obvious the characters graduated over 20 years ago and the 'house they grew up in' is newer than that. The scenery was realistic, which often lacks in other HM planned around Christmas (where you can see leaves on trees in the background and obvious fake snow), and the subplot for Erica's character was also fun. It's about time HM starts giving some depth and love to the best friend.
As it pertains to the actual, main plot, nothing was left hanging. Nikki finds a christmas card love letter she never knew about in an old textbook and is talked into finding the author by Simone. While obvious from the start, it's still well-written and a fun story to follow along with. Every character serves an actual purpose with more depth than is usually given them.
I recommend. I enjoyed. And I will watch again. For hallmark, it's a solid 8. If comparing it to something like LOTR or Marvel, hard 4.