I'd probably rate this lower without Amy Groening but she just lights up the screen. I have wanted this for years. Amy Groening has long deserved to be a lead in her own Hallmark movie and here she gets to play Jesse, who runs some sort of "global fiber optics marketing team" (consisting of 4 people with whom she has a virtual Christmas party on her laptop). For reasons that aren't clear, her family is planning to cancel a holiday tradition of family competitions unless she brings a boyfriend home for the holidays.
After a series of laughably bad dates, Jesse gets on a dating app and specifically tries to find a date for Christmas Eve. She matches with Bryan, the new heir to a development company, nicely played by Robert Buckley. He has no family and thinks spending Christmas Eve with a pretty stranger's family would be an interesting alternative to spending the day alone. They end up having plenty of chemistry but there's a somewhat tiresome big bad developer coincidence that's been played out way too many times.
I love small town charms as much as the next Hallmark fan, but a stand alone candle store? In 2024? With Amazon, supermarkets, and gift stores that sell a lot more than candles? It just seems like a very challenging business model. And yet they didn't seem to be in financial distress. But somehow the big cloud hanging over the movie is how Bryan's company plans to send the owner "an eviction letter" on Christmas Eve by email that requires them to vacate by January 1st. I'm a lawyer. That's not how commercial leases work.
But Amy Groening is adorable and her easy going interactions with everyone, especially Bryan, make this worth watching.
I hope Hallmark makes more movies with her as the lead. She is simply wonderful.
