wwaigl
I can see reading other reviews that some love the movie, and others where kinda "mehh" about it. I am a single dad and usually watch these movies with my teen daughter. I have also reviewed several other Hallmark Christmas movies since I started getting hooked on them in 2016. Others in their reviews have outlined the plot so I shall not touch on that in my comments and instead focus on our impressions of the movie. Speaking for both of us, we really enjoyed this movie. We found it more realistic and relatable then many of the other hallmark holiday season themed movies and we thought the chemistry between the leads was great. I have never been a Rachel Cook fan, and even in this movie it took a bit of time to warm up to her, although at the end of the movie I thought she looked very pretty. On the other hand I have always really liked Niall Matter in these types of movies - he fits into the characters they have him portray very well and we thought he hit a home run in this movie. My daughter is reminding me we saw him as the lead in another Hallmark holiday movie last year which we also enjoyed.There were many occasions during the movie where we laughed, and otherwise we always had a smile on our faces. It was an enjoyable movie. I think most Hallmark fans would be charmed by this movie. We felt this movie deserved a very good rating. Please note we rate relative to the genre. For a Hallmark movie this was a home run, and so it gets a 9 in that context.
ronbokirk
Rachael Leigh Cook was wonderful, as usual. She developed her character and actually gave her emotions that you could feel.
The story was original, The writing was good, even most of the casting was good.
Niall Matter is another story. He could be well cast as a best friend, cousin, brother, but NEVER EVER the male lead in a romance movie. He has played opposite several really good actresses always the same result. Absolutely no chemistry between them. He can skate, and read lines but his portrayal is
flat and without feeling. The necessary chemistry is missing. Maybe Hallmark can use him in a mystery, but his performance in this one ruined what could have been a good movie. my score...1
Miss M
Hallmark has made clear two things: that Niall Matter can indeed skate on ice and that Rachel Leigh Cook remains as a strong leading lady.While I was excited to watch this movie, I finished it a little disappointed. I thought the storyline was great -kudos to Rachel who was part of the creation of the story- I mean, there was a bookstore involved! Mary was an extremely relatable character and Adam was different to all the sweet/charming guys Niall Matter plays. However, I read in social media that the chemistry was crazy good. I'm sorry to say I didn't see it that way. They obviously got along great but it was not the same chemistry Rachel has with Brendan Penny of Niall with Erin Krakow. Yet, their job portraying their characters was good. My favorite part about the movie was definitely the storyline/plot, which was pretty original compared to others, and Rachel's performance. You do want to watch this.
Victor Jordan
Mary Cartwright (Rachel Leigh Cook) a book-store owner struggling financially, and suspended hockey player Adam Clayborn (Niall Matter) needing to clean up his bad boy/hot temper attitude are paired together to achieve their objectives. The story is solid and the supporting cast is entertaining, especially Mary's brother Tyler Cartwright (Niall Matter).While I am a fan of Rachael Leigh Cook and Niall Matter I don't feel that their chemistry was very convincing. I still give it a solid 6 but it isn't anything that I will look forward to seeing again.1/13/2018 --- Victor J.
AD
