First, let's address the rating here on because I hate when this happens. There's no way it is legit, it has to be from people who were part of the making of it or who have friends that were. I've watched a ton of TV movies of this variety on Hallmark, Lifetime, ABC Family/Freeform, ION, etc. I never judge these movies like I do a Hollywood film, I give them a lot of room to be corny but entertaining. This one is just bad. It aired on UPtv in the US and their movies are not as watched as the others, but they do okay. And somehow, this movie that premiered on that channel in mid-November 2019 has about 3 times the number of ratings as two actually good movies and one so so one that premiered on their channel in 2018. And those other movies have familiar actors in the cast as well, actually ones that are more famous, so that can't be the difference. So, just take this rating with a serious grain of salt.
So the movie - it's just cartoonishly bad too much of the time. The uncle who is a good actor who has been in plenty of primetime shows over the years as a guest star and a few of these TV movies is forced to use an accent that is just terribly fake and completely unfortunate. It's a chore to get through his scenes and yet the overall character is one that could easily be lovable. And his is not the only bad accent here. There's overacting or flat out bad acting from almost every supporting actor here, but especially after the cooking competition begins, and is about 2/3 of the movie. They've just made entirely too many characters into caricatures for reasons unknown. I mean, I know they think they've made the competitions portion into a comedy, it just isn't being pulled off well by everyone involved. Not to mention, the attempt to go comedic came out of left field.
The only reason I didn't give it one star is because of the cast. While I'm not the biggest Cindy Busby fan (Hallmark movie regular), she's really not the problem here, the material and direction are. I am a big fan of Erin Karpluk from her Being Erica days, and she deserves better. And so does Kristian Bruun from Orphan Black. There are some decent parts to the movie because of them, but not enough to make this decent.
Things that didn't affect my rating, but are good to know. This isn't a actual Christmas movie, just a convenient title for the time of year. And if you're looking for romance, opt for something else, as one barely exists here, I'd put it somewhere around the 4th storyline of the movie. That's not a knock, I don't think they ever claimed it would be a romance. This is a dramedy about two sisters trying to save their family bakery and entering a competition to get the funds to keep it open. Everything else is secondary.
If you try it and like it? Great, to each his own. But do not stick with it if you don't and keep thinking there has to be something here to have such a good rating. It's based on smoke and mirrors.
So the movie - it's just cartoonishly bad too much of the time. The uncle who is a good actor who has been in plenty of primetime shows over the years as a guest star and a few of these TV movies is forced to use an accent that is just terribly fake and completely unfortunate. It's a chore to get through his scenes and yet the overall character is one that could easily be lovable. And his is not the only bad accent here. There's overacting or flat out bad acting from almost every supporting actor here, but especially after the cooking competition begins, and is about 2/3 of the movie. They've just made entirely too many characters into caricatures for reasons unknown. I mean, I know they think they've made the competitions portion into a comedy, it just isn't being pulled off well by everyone involved. Not to mention, the attempt to go comedic came out of left field.
The only reason I didn't give it one star is because of the cast. While I'm not the biggest Cindy Busby fan (Hallmark movie regular), she's really not the problem here, the material and direction are. I am a big fan of Erin Karpluk from her Being Erica days, and she deserves better. And so does Kristian Bruun from Orphan Black. There are some decent parts to the movie because of them, but not enough to make this decent.
Things that didn't affect my rating, but are good to know. This isn't a actual Christmas movie, just a convenient title for the time of year. And if you're looking for romance, opt for something else, as one barely exists here, I'd put it somewhere around the 4th storyline of the movie. That's not a knock, I don't think they ever claimed it would be a romance. This is a dramedy about two sisters trying to save their family bakery and entering a competition to get the funds to keep it open. Everything else is secondary.
If you try it and like it? Great, to each his own. But do not stick with it if you don't and keep thinking there has to be something here to have such a good rating. It's based on smoke and mirrors.