I haven't really been a big fan of Hallmark movies that feature angels trying to manipulate the lead characters' lives. I like when people fall in love all by themselves. The big exception to that is this year's gem, Ghosts of Christmas Always (sooooo good). Another exception that comes to mind is Angels and Ornaments (from 2014). The angel in that movie seemed a lot more passionate about his assignment, and I actually shared his frustration that it was taking too long for the two lead characters in that movie to realize they belonged together.
The predecessor to this movie, Christmas in Angel Falls, had two solid Hallmark stars in Paul Greene and Rachel Boston. Beau Bridges played the angel. I liked that love story a bit better, even though I'm not a big Beau Bridges fan.
But here, I had a hard time with Jen Lilley. Again. She's attractive and can be occasionally endearing (I liked her in USS Christmas), but she starred in 2 of the worst Hallmark movies that I've ever seen (Snowkissed & Where Your Heart Belongs) and I really enjoy most Hallmark movies. Even though Hallmark has increasingly featured strong, independent female characters over the years, Lilley often plays insecure, whiny characters that are really off putting, which she was again in this movie. Her character, Hannah Pressman, who works at the Printed Press (get it?), just seemed to be whining all the time. And the writers did her no favors by giving her a character that held a weird 10 year old grudge that she never bothered to discuss with Ryan, played by a far more likable Carlo Marks (he was great in Christmas with the Darlings and Chesapeake Shores).
And the story just seemed...off. That's when the little things can really annoy a viewer. For example, in one scene, she walked into the Printed Press, answered the phone (which was for someone else), and told the caller to hold on "a moment". And then she put the caller on hold, proceeded to walk to the back, and sat down to talk to her mother. There was no one else in the office. Who was the call for? And why just leave the caller on hold?
There were other things that were off. The Printed Press seemed a bit sketchy, and not just because it seemed like only four people worked there. It's a challenging market for big publishing companies, one can only imagine how difficult it must be for a small publishing company to survive. And so it made sense that Ryan, who worked for a big publishing company, wanted to talk about "the numbers". But Hannah only wanted to talk about books that "inspired" her (like cookbooks??).
And why was Ryan's uncle "handling the estate" so long after his parents passed away? It's not like he was some adolescent minor. And, as a lawyer, I can confirm that the process of having Ryan take over as trustee would be relatively simple (unless that trust owned a Fortune 500 company). The only apparent asset was the family home, and so all the trustee had to do was rent out the house.
I also didn't like the self-serving approach to Tina, the grieving author who somehow had an old Christmas book on top of the best seller list. If I were Tina, I would wonder whether the intense interest being focused on her was to get her to sign with The Printed Press. It always seemed like they had an agenda which, in fact, they did.
In short, there were just a lot of problems with this movie. Watch Ghosts of Christmas Always instead. Or Carlo Marks in the heartwarming Christmas with the Darlings.
The predecessor to this movie, Christmas in Angel Falls, had two solid Hallmark stars in Paul Greene and Rachel Boston. Beau Bridges played the angel. I liked that love story a bit better, even though I'm not a big Beau Bridges fan.
But here, I had a hard time with Jen Lilley. Again. She's attractive and can be occasionally endearing (I liked her in USS Christmas), but she starred in 2 of the worst Hallmark movies that I've ever seen (Snowkissed & Where Your Heart Belongs) and I really enjoy most Hallmark movies. Even though Hallmark has increasingly featured strong, independent female characters over the years, Lilley often plays insecure, whiny characters that are really off putting, which she was again in this movie. Her character, Hannah Pressman, who works at the Printed Press (get it?), just seemed to be whining all the time. And the writers did her no favors by giving her a character that held a weird 10 year old grudge that she never bothered to discuss with Ryan, played by a far more likable Carlo Marks (he was great in Christmas with the Darlings and Chesapeake Shores).
And the story just seemed...off. That's when the little things can really annoy a viewer. For example, in one scene, she walked into the Printed Press, answered the phone (which was for someone else), and told the caller to hold on "a moment". And then she put the caller on hold, proceeded to walk to the back, and sat down to talk to her mother. There was no one else in the office. Who was the call for? And why just leave the caller on hold?
There were other things that were off. The Printed Press seemed a bit sketchy, and not just because it seemed like only four people worked there. It's a challenging market for big publishing companies, one can only imagine how difficult it must be for a small publishing company to survive. And so it made sense that Ryan, who worked for a big publishing company, wanted to talk about "the numbers". But Hannah only wanted to talk about books that "inspired" her (like cookbooks??).
And why was Ryan's uncle "handling the estate" so long after his parents passed away? It's not like he was some adolescent minor. And, as a lawyer, I can confirm that the process of having Ryan take over as trustee would be relatively simple (unless that trust owned a Fortune 500 company). The only apparent asset was the family home, and so all the trustee had to do was rent out the house.
I also didn't like the self-serving approach to Tina, the grieving author who somehow had an old Christmas book on top of the best seller list. If I were Tina, I would wonder whether the intense interest being focused on her was to get her to sign with The Printed Press. It always seemed like they had an agenda which, in fact, they did.
In short, there were just a lot of problems with this movie. Watch Ghosts of Christmas Always instead. Or Carlo Marks in the heartwarming Christmas with the Darlings.