User reviews

I liked this Hallmark Christmas movie. It was a pleasant surprise, as I didn't know what to expect going into this one. The story revolves around Lucy (played by Amanda Schull), who has been granting wishes for her community for years, and who 'believes in the power of a wish'. This year's Project Christmas Wish of the season is from a little girl named Max who simply wants Christmas to 'be like it used to be' for her and her father Lucas (our other protagonist in this story, played by Travis Van Winkle). As Lucy goes about granting Max's Christmas wish(es), she and Lucas begin to develop a connection, a relationship, which gets Lucy thinking about her wishes in life. As another reviewer here has pointed out, the storyline in this one is like another of this year's Hallmark premieres, The Angel Tree. Likewise, this movie had a sweet and warm feel to it. Moreover, the story is an engaging one and pulls on all the right strings from Max's touching wish to Lucy's heartwarming nature. I found myself pulled in from the start. The script also has some pretty good dialogue between Lucy and Lucas, though it never goes too deep, which I thought worked well here. There is also some appealing banter between the two early in the film, which I enjoyed. I even had a couple of chuckles to boot. What makes all this work, of course, is the acting, which was, overall, brilliant. Schull had a very convincing performance, which I found easy to connect with from the start. Van Winkle too had a great performance. I did not know what to expect, as the last time I saw him on screen was in the Friday the 13th reboot 10 years ago. As others here have pointed out, the chemistry between the two was great; it was quite convincing on screen, I felt. The supporting cast was strong. For example, Averie Peters makes her debut in this one with a lovely performance as Max (a very cute speech at the end, e.g.). Finally, the scenery, props, and sets were charming and festive. The movie too had a nice Christmas atmosphere to it with the usual Christmas activities. This included the building of a very large gingerbread house for Max, while we got to listen to a song from Love Actually (the one Bill Nighy sang as Billy Mack, the former rock star trying to make a comeback in his old age). All in all, it was a wonderful way to end Hallmark's Movies & Mysteries 2020 Christmas season. I highly recommend it.

Amanda Schull, Travis Van Winkle, and the daughter, played by the adorable Averie Peters do an excellent job, they have great chemistry together. It's a well written, funny and interesting Christmas romance that's well worth watching

Have said many times about my love of Christmas and getting a lot of pleasure out of in particular watching films, cartoons and specials during this period, something that most years has been much needed. Wanted to see some more festive films that were more recent, lower in budget and were not childhood favourites, so in a way to broaden my horizons and have been doing so since November 2019. The idea of the film did sound predictable and similar to other hotel etc-set Lifetime/Hallmark films.

The 2020 output from Hallmark did vary in quality but was not near as bad or wildly uneven as it could have been. None of the films from the batch were really terrible, and a small handful of them were actually very good. One of the best, maybe a strong contender for the best, was 'Project Christmas Wish'. The setting and basic scenario sounded quite familiar, but 'Project Christmas Wish' actually managed to be one of the few Christmas films in recent years to do something different to the usual.

'Project Christmas Wish' for my tastes did drag a little in the final quarter and was a little sugary sweet in spots.

Did also find Lucy on the manipulative side on occasions.

However, there is a lot to like here. It looks lovely, have nearly always loved the scenery in Hallmark films (especially their Christmas output) and it is beautiful here and filmed very lovingly. The music is appropriately festive and doesn't come over as intrusive or overdone, which is not the case with many other Hallmark films.

Was very surprised at how good the script was. It was not cheesy. It was not too sentimental or over-schmaltzy, while having touching well intended moments. It also doesn't sound forced, with the conflict being much better written than most conflicts for Hallmark. What surprised me was the comedy, it was a big surprise that there was any but it was even more of a surprise that the comedy was actually funny and at its best hilarious. As far as Hallmark films go, 'Project Christmas Wish' is one of the funniest and in a way that always feels natural and not strained.

Also liked that the story was a lot less predictable or formulaic than most Hallmark Christmas films, especially the conflict which is not forced or easily telegraphed too much. There is a good deal going on, but it doesn't feel too much, almost all the subplots work and the chemistry (especially the central romance) is genuine all round. It is also very heart-warming and never comes over as too heavy, with plenty of light heart. Great to see characters that were interesting and worth caring for. It's well acted all round, Amanda Schull being immensely appealing.

In summary, very well done. 8/10.

I have never seen Amanda Schull in anything before and Travis Van Winkle isn't really my favourite actor, but the chemistry flowed easily between them and Amanda Schull had a flirtatious personality which came through really well. The dialogue flowed naturally and didn't seem contrived, one of the better movies of the genre.

Hallmark movies are pleasant and entertaining because they all have similar themes. In this one two attractive and single 40-ish people, a lady and a man, meet when the man's 10-yr-old daughter gets involved in the "Christmas Wish" festivities. They get attracted to each other, something gets in the way, but before the movie ends they work to achieve a resolution. And everyone lives happily ever after.

My wife and I enjoyed it at home on DVD from our public library, just a basic DVD, no previews, no language selections, no subtitles, no extras. Which is fine for this type of movie, not much different from watching it on broadcast TV except with no commercials.

My curious observation, in movies years ago the parents of adults were mostly depicted as older people, sometimes older than they needed to be. In this movie the parents of the 40-ish characters don't seem much older, more like 15 years or so older. Curious casting.

This was overall a cute holiday movie with wonderful performances from Amanda and the lead guy

I thought this was one of their best this season. The acting was great. There was great banter and chemistry between the leads. The supporting cast was pretty good too; Averie Peters had a very cute performance as Max. All around good Christmas movie. I highly recommend.

This one starts out with a Meet Cute that is anything but. In what Hallmark seems to insist, the Hero is a jerk to the Heroine the first time they meet, for no apparent reason. But of course, they wind up having to spend an inordinate amount of time together, and she realizes his cranky veneer is merely masking the pain he feels from a great personal tragedy. Inevitably, they fall in love and everything works out for everyone. A little predictable, but Amanda Schull's performance in particular was enjoyable and lifted this above many of the others in the Hallmark library.

This one surprised me because the two leads haven't been on my radar, at least not positively, until now. Amanda Schull and Travis Van Winkle had great chemistry. Averie Peters, as Max, also clicked with the two romantic leads.

The premise is similar to movies with themes of Christmas miracles or Angel Tree. In this case, the prime mover for the wishes is front and center, not anonymous. We get a lot of the usual Christmas tropes like baking cookies or picking and decorating a tree. Like one other movie, the gingerbread house was giant. A cute little girl almost always pulls me in.

But there was also something totally different about this movie. For one thing, I laughed out loud several times. This is not a silly comedy. The laughs come from clever lines or situations. I especially liked Max's last line followed by Lucy's. I could just see what they were thinking.

This movie is a little like another favorite of mine - Two Turtle Doves. It deals with grief and sadness at Christmas but it doesn't go quite as deep.

The outcome is inevitable as always with Hallmark but I thought there were a couple of surprises getting there. Surprises and predictable things mixed together. The important thing is that it was put together nicely.

I can see how a number of User Reviewers would have really liked this movie, as it was largely cheerful on the one hand and yet dealt meaningfully with loss on the other. However, I was put off by how manipulative the lead female character was, even if for a good cause. Ditto for the sugary sweet lead child, as well. That spoiled for me any potential charm from this movie.

I like the initial concept. The wishing system should be adopted worldwide, it is such a great idea and would help to rebuild the communities that have long since been lost all over.

The young girl is quite cute, not one of the sickly brats that usually appear and I like the fact that she won't let her Dad ruin her Christmas. The cast in general give a good performance too and the story and production are not too old hat to pass off as new.

I do like Travis, the leading man, but his hair needs a wash and he's a bit too much of a Grinch, who struggles to mellow all the way through. It didn't make him that endearing, but his pectorals looked great in that denim shirt.

I don't understand how people can give up on Christmas purely because they've lost someone. For me it's the perfect time to remember them and enjoy those who remain. Especially when there's a kid involved. If it makes you cry that there gone, just let the tears flow, you're a human, we're supposed to feel emotions and why spoil your own pleasure?

There is a subtle moment where they touch on Hanukkah, which is nice. I think it is important to remember that other people celebrate in different ways.

What I would like to see though is a younger cast where they haven't gone through a bitter divorce or been widowed and they're just ready for love. A lot of this style of film are based on those that have been through a lot and I'm probably guilty of doing the same with my own writing, but there are other ways to show who they are as the film 'Let It Snow' (2019) proves, although it was also aimed at a slightly younger audience too.

4ish?/10.

I saw the trailer for this on Hallmark and it just looked like a cookie-cutter version of so many of their films. I do enjoy Hallmark movies very much but I save them for when I just need to watch some thing that is not going to be upsetting if I'm in a bad mood, since they are a usually sugary and safe. I DVRed it anyway and pretty much forgot about it until last night. I was completely surprised at how very warm and realistic it was right from the start. I really wanted to see how things would turn out, and was most thrilled that unlike any hallmark movie I've seen, the first kiss didn't end with rolling credits!! I'm not going to add a spoiler and say what did happen, but it was such a pleasant surprise to see the movie continue for about 20 or 30 minutes after that first kiss. It made me become even more invested in the characters, and I look forward to watching it again if they repeat it next year!

5/10 - maybe I'm just experiencing some honest Hallmark holiday movie fatigue, but this one felt half-baked

I've seen all of the Hallmark movies this year and this one is great. Acting was good and the chemistry was evident. It didn't have a lot of the contrived controversy and lame dialog that most do. The little girl is adorable.

Omg! This has got to be one of the sweetest Hallmark Christmas movies I have ever seen. Lucy is the head of the small town of Elmherst's Project Christmas Wish. I love the motivation behind her wanting to be behind Project Christmas Wish...someone in the town when her and her widowed mom were down on their luck at Christmas made her childhood wish come true. Lucy's dream is to do that for others.

Lucy is sweet, beautiful and selflessly helps others achieve happiness...enter a little girl who lost her mom and her wish was about having a Christmas like they used to have when her mom was alive. She reallly just wants her widowed dad to be happy.

"What you have to give is you and that is very special."-Christmas Dad Lucas

""The infamous Elmhurst Christmas horse, I mean I still don't understand it based on my logic based brain, but I understand the sentiment."-Lucas

"I was going for strong independent elf ready to get back out there."-Lucy's mom

The witty interchanges between Lucy and Lucas are what roped me in...but the humor, generosity, chemistry and love are what kept me watching. These two are both attractive in their own right and together Lucy and Lucas are magical.

I don't know if I have drunk the Christmas nog or not, but I loved this film. I laughed, I cried...I was filled with love and the Christmas spirit. I feel like whipping up a batch of egg nog and decking the halls right now.

Thanks for the warm fuzzy, Hallmark!

The first temptation is to define it as bizarre. Because nothing real new. But it is a seductive film. Because the motif of generous young lady, the smart child interested by new love story for her father and the single father not so easy to seduce are old and used in so many manners. But the things work and the result is not bad. Sure,it is a manipulative story , giving nice image to not moral gestures and proposing the imixtion in the life of other as normal. As always, the grandparents are just precious spice for story and the friends are just desired support . The slice of Hanuka , not realistic , has the good role to remind the multicultural message . But, ignoring the holes, all works well. And manipulative with grace and fake innocence. In fact, this is just the significant thing.

Poor Lucy. It seems that the Christmas Wish project is more about her than granting wishes for everyone else.

First, she cons the guy who asked for help with his proposal to give away a free tree off his lot.

Then, she decides that his proposal should be public with a snow machine, even while knowing that it's not the way he wants it. He is clearly uncomfortable with it, but feels snowballed into following her plans because, after all, she's the Christmas Wish granter.

He says it doesn't feel right for either him or his girlfriend, and she tells him it's memorable. He tells her right out, "Not for me and my girlfriend."

Does that stop her? No.

How is that a good thing?

Why is it all about her when she's told to her face that she's going too far? Why is the granting of Christmas Wishes all about her wishes?

Then there's Lucas.

He walks right up to them when it's clearly a personal moment between them as he proposes, his way, thankfully, minus the public viewing and the snow machine.

He butts in, saying, "Oh, was I interrupting?"

They say, "Yes, kind of..."

Did that stop him? No.

He ignores that these two people need the privacy of their special moment and promptly asks for their help.

These two selfish people, Lucy and Lucas, are perfect for each other.

She can spend all her time with him thinking about doing everything her way and he can spend his time with her thinking about doing everything his way.

So much for granting wishes for other people.

Their obvious selfishness kind of clouded the rest of the movie for me.

It should be called I DID IT MY WAY. Old Blue eyes can be singing in the background of their lives.

This was probably my favorite hallmark Christmas movie of this season! (My first favorite ever being The Christmas Secret). This was so heartwarming and I just absolutely loved every minute of it. I know Lucy as the crazy girl from the series One Tree Hill. I didn't know what to expect of her in a serious role but she nailed it! Love this movie.

Lots of detailed positive reviews, so I guess I may be missing something, but this just felt incredibly flat and lacking in emotion. No real chemistry between the two leads and Travis Van Winkle was so wooden as Lucas.

It's a real nice movie and the performances are very good. It helps that it features two actors that I really like from some of my very favorite shows: Amanda Schull (12 Monkeys, Suits) and Travis Van Winkle (The Last Ship).

I don't think there has been a Hallmark movie n a while that had so many moments where I just watched with a big, dumb grin on my face.

Bravo to the writers and performers!

Makes for a very Merry Christmas.

This is one of the greats of the Hallmark movies...superb acting, especially from the stars (including the young daughter), great chemistry between the two leads, great story, great directing. This is a very special one.

I was drunk when I watched this and it still sucked.

This Hallmark holiday romance stars Amanda Schull as a small-town resident who sponsors a non-profit that attempts to grant Christmas wishes. Lucy has a regular job, but her heart belongs to her seasonal project.

This year, a girl named Max (Averie Peters) becomes the focus of Lucy's efforts. Max longs for a Christmas filled with happiness and love, like when her mother was alive. Her father, Lucas (Travis Van Winkle), is rather Grinch-like, wanting to protect both of them from sad memories of better times.

The beautiful Ms. Schull is always an asset, and here she shines as Lucy---both the nucleus of the story and the heart of its warmth. Miss Peters, though absent for some sections of the film, is also a standout; her character's bond with Lucy drives the narrative.

A good script keeps things interesting. This is a rewarding watch for viewers who like romance and feel-good stories.

I rarely, if ever, score a film a ten but this one really deserves it!

Not finding the title nor the logline particularly eye-catching or appealing I began watching this flick with a prejudice that it would turn into mediocrity - in other words another forgettable piece of crud, in a genre that attracts too many average scores on here.

But this one took me completely by surprise...

Probably just as rare for me, is to refer to the acting, but on this occasion, it would be amiss not to mention the superlative performance at the HEART (how many TV films have a heart?) of this story proffered by the very gifted Amanda Schull - there are comedic, slightly goofy moments; and childlike banter with children and co-workers; romantic and melancholic moments that Ms Schull performs to perfection. It is rare indeed to see a fully drawn three-dimensional character in a TV film, so this is worth remarking upon here.

Her role is matched admirably by Travis Van Winkle (unrecognisable from that other festive gem 'Christmas Getaway' (2017) - there's a double-bill for the Christmas stocking this year, figuratively speaking as 'Getaway' is very good indeed! Clearly Mr. Van Winkle has an eagle-eye for above average scripts, and he is very good match for Ms. Schull.

He plays a prickly widower/father who is still recovering from the the loss of his late wife and mother of his young daughter, who (both) are struggling during the Yuletide - specifically Christmas festivities (which he banned for both of them because of painful memories).

This is where Ms Schull's character steps in and blows away the cobwebs and the 'bah humbug' from the lives of father & daughter. And of course romance ensues...but's it's a slippery path, surprisingly here, strewn with a few broken paving stones.

A Christmas-themed romance that's not afraid to look at the dark pits in the human soul - there is no cheap sentimentality here, but a strong air of authenticity, which is the hen's teeth of cheesy romantic dramas in general.

This film, as I've already mentioned has a big heart, and fortunately the cheese and the sugar are in short-supply, which gives this drama a very superior finish - despite the very starry and festive backdrop. - if there was one tree, one candle, one Christmas ornament this film would still work - the overly festive jazzy background not needed, but of course this must be included because of the genre for which it was made.

To reveal more would be to spoil; but do watch out for magic moments in the Gingerbread House (I didn't know they actually existed!) - a dreamy private household that a child (of any age) would want to dream in during the season of child-like escapism.

If you love the Christmas romance genre accompanied by a little bit of dreamy escapism then this movie is a must-see!

8.2 stars.

My new favorite out of about 25 I've seen this week, this one now moves into position #1. To be clear this is not a mediocre list of films. To get to the top 3 at this point means quality dreamy delicious romantic delight.

If you want to know exactly what this movie represents, how it makes you feel, and how top notch it is, please refer to the review done by toddsgraham on 25 December 2020. I couldn't have written a description more befitting.

I still have a required 183 characters to write before it lets me post this review. You have to see this. If you need to spark the desire to love again, maybe you have lost that true love in your life, or lost hope for love, do yourself a favor and watch.

Best ending ever.