Wow. This is a wonderful Hallmark Christmas movie. I am impressed. I mean, I like Hallmark films, but this is above and beyond what I have seen thus far during the 2020 Christmas movie season. It is a fun, warm and heartfelt story. The script is great. It is tough developing a story in 80 minutes. But the writers here have done an excellent job. The sub-plots were all engaging: Mike and Andi's romance, the development of Mike and Noah's relationship (teaching magic), the mother and father's marriage troubles, and Brandon and Jake's adoption. The writers do a good job too with the dialogue and interaction between the characters, the family members. Sure, it is a predictable plot, but it is a made-for-television Christmas movie (in a very predictable genre of film to boot). The more important element here for me is: did it pull me in, did it engage me? It did, from the start. Moreover, I found myself laughing out loud a little thru-out the film, which is a different experience for me when watching Hallmark movies; from the 'Handsom Justice' opening clip, father jokes, the competition between the sons, the advertisement Mike and Noah made, to the closing scene of the deodorant commercial, it was a rather funny/fun Christmas movie. The acting, overall, was excellent for this genre of film. Robert Buckley (as Mike) had an impressive performance. It is nice seeing him on screen again, as I liked his character in One Tree Hill. Treat Williams (as Bill), Sharon Lawrence (as Phylis), and Jonathan Bennett (as Brandon) all had strong performances. The remaining supporting cast was great, especially Noah and the magician. Finally, there was plenty of Christmas cheer; the scenery, props and sets were all very festive. Overall, a very good Christmas movie by Hallmark this year. It is well worth a watch.
Review of The Christmas House
