source: Marry Me at Christmas

I usually don't rate the holiday movies as they all follow the exact same formula, just the background changes slightly. I want to say the lead actress in this movie is adorable. Not only is she extremely expressive and emotive, anyone who can overcome that terrible hairstyle (seriously, why not just sit a poodle on her head?) and still get an audience rooting for her has to be pretty amazing. She could honestly make us believe she fell in love with a mannequin and that they'd live happily ever after. Come to think of it, that's exactly what she did. ...I may be a little harsh. Let's go with wax figure instead of mannequin. I'd watch this again. I rate this 7/10 because the lead actress is actually quite good.

Rachel Skarsten is not your typical blonde. Quirky, emotive and super cute, you can't take your eyes off her. Emily Tennant plays her usual second banana role very well. The real show stealer, Signed, Sealed and Delivered's Crystal Lowe is funny and amazingly beautiful. She should be starring in her own movie. The male lead, Trevor Donovan is as emotive as a two by four. But these movies are never about the man anyway.

After reading the reviews here I'm guessing someone from hair & makeup got fired from this job now they're obsessed.with bashing it. Aaaaaanyway, I like this movie a lot. Rachel Skarsten and Trevor Donovan did a great job, they have good chemistry, they're very likeable, the movie has a good pace and an interesting story. What's not to like? Emily Tennant sort of steals the show here, she plays her character to PERFECTION and you will fall in love with her and her fiance Blair Penner. This is well worth a watch

Decent run of the mill RomCom with a new kind of story, I think! There's not much to write home about with this one, but I'm already home and I don't have too much to say about it. So I'm going to write just enough to get this review in. It is enjoyable! And it hasn't got the usual actors/actresses in it. I like it when they switch up the people who play in these hallmark movies. We get to see different faces, which can be refreshing. I watched this movie on the night of its premiere and again, I'm the first to review it. Give it a go! It's worthy for a Hallmark chick flick!

I and my daughter just watched this movie. So I am reflecting our opinions. They don't really jive very well with some of the very negative reviews I am reading here, and I am wondering if we watched the same movie. We have been watching the Hallmark Christmas movies for a few years now, along with offerings we are seeing from some of the other stations. I have even posted a couple of other reviews last year. In the grand scheme of specialty channel Christmas movies, we felt this was one of the better offerings. We found the leads charming and believable. Rachel in particular we thought was very good - she is able to convey a lot with her eyes, facial expression and slight body movement - she can actually act. She is a very attractive woman (that's me talking on that observation! LOL). The male star is also handsome, and we thought he did a good job. The supporting cast was fine. These movies are made in a very short period of time and a very tight budget, sometimes filming is only 7-10 days! I am aware of this when I watch these movies, and sometimes its evident when you see a scene end a bit abruptly. And you can't blame an actor for the sometimes banal dialog - they have to work with what they get, and sometimes its only one take and then they have to move onto the next scene. I thought the conclusion was a bit rushed and underwhelming, if only as I would like to have savored how it played out in a bit more depth. But all-in-all we enjoyed the movie. We sat through a real stinker the other day (Sweet Home Carolina with Heather McComb) and Marry Me at Christmas was superior in every respect. You just have to know that all the Hallmark movies follow a very similar script - even when the concept is potentially somewhat original they always play it out via a formula. You will never find romance/Christmas movies with less sexual tension in them then a Hallmark movie, many of which only have one kiss at the end. Another review noted the move Christmas Cookies with Jill Wagner. Both movies were the same - a beautiful woman trying not to find love finishes the movie with one kiss with the handsome interloper, said kiss intending to convey eternal love and happiness to the audience and the rest is up to us to fill in the blanks. If you don't like the formula, don't watch the movies....

I'm not sure this actually contains a spoiler, but I figured better safe than sorry. There are some haters on this movie and I'm not sure why. One makes it clear he/she is a full-blown legitimate reviewer who reviews every holiday movie that ever comes out, and unlike some other, she/she is always (sic) fare, then proceeds to bash it to death. From the info provided on the profile, my guess is he takes this movie review stuff very, very seriously. Another thinks Rachel's eyes are 'scary'. That's funny because her eyes are one of the reasons I was so drawn to her character. She has the ability to say more with one look than most actresses can achieve with 10 pages of script. Yes, there are flaws. There are flaws in EVERY Hallmark seasonal movie. They churn them out like cars on an assembly line. They use many of the same actors, and they re-hash many of the same plots.... There are only so many ways to make a fall-out-of-love-fall-back-in-love-happy-ending movie, and the Hallmark Channel is as expert at all of them. Many of the same producers and writers are involved as well as many Canadian actors. (There are legal reasons for that involving tax incentives and labor cost reductions when either the director or one of the main actors is Canadian). The same movie produced in Hollywood would cost 4 times what it costs to produce them in Canada. Some are shot in the US, but not many. There are some out and out bad production choices. Mainly, for me, was Johnny arriving in town driving a 4 year old Ford Explorer. His character would have been driving a Porsche Cayenne or a Land Rover. Over all, it's a typical feel-good movie that leaves you, once again, believing in some kind of Christmas magic, even if you knew it was coming. His agent was rude, condescending, selfish and completely unlikable, and not knowing any Hollywood agents, I'm assuming the character was written that way because the writer knows many like that. Everybody else was pretty true to form. I like both of the main actors and look forward to watching something from both of them again. That's not always the case with some of the actors THC uses. There is one I will not watch, no matter who else is in it. Some are shot in July in Canada and the fake snow is really evident. You can tell the real ones when the breath is visible when they are speaking. I'd watch it again. In fact, I already have. Some are pleasant juvenile fare that only require one look. Others are really, really good... Christmas Cookies for one. The Magic Stocking for another. Christmas Cookies because Jill Wagner is a really very expressive actress. I've always liked her. (Remember "You've got to put Mercury on your list?"). She just looks like the kind of person you want to have a conversation with. The Magic Stocking because of Bridget Regan. She makes any movie she's in better. I feel the same way about Rachel in Marry Me at Christmas.

This is a fairly average Hallmark Christmas movie. A movie star's sister is getting married in a small town. He swoops into town to help and falls for a local girl. There is the expected little drama before the end. Trevor Donovan looks a bit like Brad Pitt / Robert Redford so he is quite suited to play a big movie star. But the running joke about his being able to buy expensive stuff or get a person to arrange something special is kind of repetitive. It's a bit of a one joke movie. Rachel Skarsten is the small town girl he falls in love with. She is pretty in a rather Uma Thurman way but her eyes are a bit scary. She would be better for a Lifetime wacko than a Hallmark romantic comedy leading lady. Okay for one watch.

I agree with the previous review about the lead's curly hair. It is not only distracting, it is ugly. From the pictures of her, she is very pretty in real life. And isn't Ginger usually the name of a red haired girl. But I am so glad they picked Emily Tennet to play the part of the sister. I absolutely fell in love with her. Emily, you are one of very few girls that makes me wish I was young again. But none of that matters, I will watch any movie with Trevor Donovan. I wonder if he is as nice in real life. I have seen him in several movies and his character is always just so nice.

To be fair, I realized after the movie began that I had read the book it is based on, my first and last by Susan Mallery. It's probably hard to make a decent movie from a so-so genre novel, but they did try in their mediocre Hallmark way. Lots of fans love her series set in the town of Fool's Gold, so if you are a fan, go for it. After reading the book I was not a fan of this bland fare, and the romance-novel clichés clang like a tinny Christmas bell throughout the movie. Can't help but note that this is the same old Christmas cheese in a Hallmark fruitcake tin. Cheesy sets, cheesy Christmas decorations (the trees are always awful, but in this one we see cheesy Christmas wedding decorations too). Worst of all is that cheesy synthesizer music, and we're talking Velveeta here. It reminds me of the organ music they used in 1950s soap operas. This will be my only Hallmark movie this season. Last Christmas season I had time to binge on Hallmark Christmas movies, and it was a mistake. Blaugh! Too much cheese is never a good idea.