source: The Christmas Bow

With a lot of time at home during the 2020 holiday season, my wife and I have watched nearly all of this year's Hallmark Christmas movies. In our experience, the ones that involve music can be cringe-inducing, so we were tempted to skip this one. "The Christmas Bow" ended up being a terrific surprise, thanks mostly to Lucia Micarelli, whose considerable, multifaceted talents are on full display. Her character is given a believable backstory, and she plays her with quiet reserve and empathy. The director gives her some great moments to display her musical talent, and wisely frames the shots to show us that yes, she really is playing that amazing music! All of the main cast is great in this, playing relatable characters whose motivations make sense. One scene in particular, with the main character's grandmother suffering from dementia, stands out for its sensitivity. It's a scene that ties the plot together and gives it much more weight than the usual Hallmark fare. With this one, you can just tell that the creative team cared about the story. It almost feels like they wanted to give Lucia Micarelli a film worthy of her talent.

Loved the music, story, acting. So sweet and perfectly hallmark!!!!

There are several really touching moments in this movie. The stars genuinely connect and it certainly helps that the female lead is a real violin virtuoso. It is a heartwarming movie with likable characters. The second best 2020 Hallmark movie I have seen so far this year. (The best so far is One Royal Holiday.)

BEST HALLMARK MOVIE YET! (Next to Princess for Christmas) Wow. What can I say, GREAT acting from Michael Rady (one of my favorite additions to Hallmark lineups), and Amazing talent from Lucia Micarelli! As a former violist, it was wonderful to see Lucia's skills shine through, -as opposed to watching someone fake it (painful to see....). I would LOVE to see a SEQUEL to this movie! I don't like when Hallmark tries soooo hard to be racially "inclusive". BOTH Katie's (Lucia's) parents *and grandparents were biracial couples in this, and while I have no problem at all with that, I did think in *this case it was it was overdoing it for the "inclusive" card. Other than that, you had your sappy dialog amongst the cast (with the exception of the two leads), and the Michael and Lucia MORE than made up for it!! NO NEAR-MISS KISS HERE!!!! YAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!! Just a sweet, soft, first kiss that was tastefully done, and more than family friendly (if you have kids). For Hallmark, this will now be tied for first place with A Princess for Christmas. (sorry not sorry... I Looooove young Sam Heughan). Keep bringing NEW, FRESH TALENT #Hallmark !! You CAN do it!!!

This was a lovely film, you could really see the chemistry between the two leads and their passions for what they did. As an Uncle who adores his Niece and Nephews, I could relate to his pleasure at hanging out with his. It's nice to see it done in a more standard way, rather than it being because the parents have died and the uncle is all they've got. Some of us just love having that time with them regardless. Although my sister has threatened me with the promise that if she dies I get all three, but they're 23, 21 and 15 now, so I think I'll be ok. It's a nice and uncomplicated film with an easygoing romance and lots of Christmas elements that make it cheerful too.

5/10 - romance between a violin player and a PT is perfectly pleasant

I've departed from my usual review routine. I'm reviewing The Christmas Bow with 45-minutes left in it. I loved it from the beginning when Lucia was auditioning for a spot in an orchestra. I know what she was going thru, I've auditioned numerous times for a spot much like her. Not knowing it as I listened to her play the violin, I was amazed at her technique and beautiful sound...thinking she was going thru the movements and someone else playing, then I read about her upbringing in music. BRAVO! The movie was tender and enjoyable, there was so much chemistry between everyone involved, and we were entertained by a true virtuoso. It was great to see James Saito in a Hallmark move, his additions in movies are always noticeable. OH YEA, a Hallmark movie filmed in the U.S.A., awesome.

This movie kept surprising me with how sweet it was. It starts off as a run-of-the-mill story end ends up chock full of tender moments, family bonding, and a romance full of maturity and development. Good acting is at work here, but the script is doing its job in spades too; several moments can leave you a bit teary-eyed if you let yourself get sucked into the movie. Another reviewer mentions the word "nostalgia," which feels very apt for the movie. It leaves you thinking fondly of Christmasses of the past but also looking forward to how they can impact Christmasses still to come. Particularly nice in the movie is that every character has a struggle, but at no point does the story feel crowded with too many plot points. The depth of each character adds great levels of realism to the film. At one point while watching, I commented to my friend that it was refreshing to see a mother different from Hallmark's usual brand of bubbly, happily married, magazine-ready mothers. My friend then pointed out that the entire film felt like a turning point for Hallmark (for the better) in that they're stepping out of the mold a little bit of surface level characters and cookie cutter plots (obviously this can't apply to all movies, but baby steps, and these baby steps have to be acknowledged and commended). This movie was festive, but also rooted in realism, which elevated it substantially. The characters are realistic and they're facing realistic problems. Also a plus is that Lucia Micarelli really is a violinist rather than just an actor pretending to be one. You can see the authenticity in how she plays, the concentration on her face, the expertise in her movements. The portions of the movie where she plays the violin were almost my favorites; just to watch her do so was incredibly enjoyable. It felt as if she was more comfortable in the role of violinist than actress (she struggled to develop good chemistry with not just her love interest, but her family members as well), but it didn't detract significantly from the movie.

This is now my 8th Hallmark Christmas movie of the 2020 season. Overall, it is somewhere near the middle of the list thus far. That is, it was a pretty good Hallmark movie. The movie started strong; I enjoyed the first 5 minutes (the younger version of the leads); it was quite cute. Michael Rady is one of my favourite Hallmark leads; he does a great job in such roles. Again, here, he had a strong performance. Lucia Micarelli, on the other hand, had a mixed performance, at least that is what I thought. She had some real weak acting early on in the movie. To be fair, she did have some good moments and her chemistry with Michael was decent. But, overall, regarding her acting, I was not that impressed. Her musical performances, however, were excellent; I enjoyed this element of the film. The supporting cast was, for the most part, strong, though I wasn't a fan of Kate's parent early on. I did enjoy the grandfather and doctor (he was funny). The set and scenery were very polished (i.e., looked good), very festive - I liked the shop, for example. As usual, this Hallmark film was quite festive and provided a nice Christmas atmosphere. It is worth a watch this 2020 Christmas season, especially for fans of Hallmark.