With Love, Christmas (2017)

I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 ( C H R I S T M A S ) MOVIES AND SPECIALS.PLEASE BEWARE OF SOME REVIEWERS THAT ONLY HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I REVIEW MOVIES & SPECIALS AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN! I HAVE DISCOVERED MANY GEMS IN MY QUEST TO SEE AS MANY " C H R I S T M A S " MOVIES AS I CAN. Someone keeps reporting my reviews. I guess they are jealous because I do tell the truth. I want to point out that I never make snide remarks about actors weight or real life sexual orientation. If there acting is terrible or limited "I talk about that". If a story is bad "I will mention that" So why am I being "picked on"? IMDB will not even tell me what someone found offensive. Well on to the review : When the office assignments are distributed for Secret Santa, Melanie is excited that she was given her crush, Donovan. Donovan however doesn't celebrate Christmas. He is not close to his family and so Christmas to him is just another day. He is not a Scrooge. However he doesn't understand what the big deal is. Melanie however is now his secret Santa. She wants to find a perfect gift. After she finds she herself working side by side with him her feelings for him continue to grow. His eyes and heart also begin to grow. Now my gripe with this film is that "A Christmas Campaign" kicks off way before "Christmas". Here this project kicks off 2 days before. Also I think Donovan however has been working for years at his job. He would have known how big of a deal his office made about Christmas. Now it seems to me Hallmark loves casting AARON O'CONNELL as a stuffy business man. I think he is capable of doing more. I hope Hallmark cast him again and let him have a "Fun Role". In all this film is enjoyable. Above Average

Why is it that every actress in this film seem to have gone under the knife too many times. From foreheads that can't move to over inflated cheeks/ All of them are wax looking and unwatchable. In any scene they are in you can't not tell if the actress is happy. "Nothing Moves"! Sad because these women are under 40 and have had more needles in their face than candles on a cake. For a Christmas movie showing emotional happiness is important! In this movie the office assignments are distributed for Secret Santa, Melanie is excited that she was given her crush, Donovan. Donovan is so taken by the thoughtful gifts and notes, he starts to fall in love. But someone else is stealing Melanie's credit. Everyone in this film also lives way beyond what their paychecks. One of the worse.

For one thing, the lead characters had no chemistry that I could discern. Aaron O'Connell had much better rapport with Katrina Law in last year's "The 12 Gifts of Christmas." And Emilie Ullerup was much more believable as the already-confident Nurse Jenny Miller in last year's "Hearts of Christmas!"Unfortunately, the casting of these two, together, to repeat those individual successes is an experiment that I'm afraid did not pay off. Then, there's the plot gimmick. Secret Santas are mandatory?! Puh-lease! It's bad enough when that custom is voluntary. It's not that I Scroogily _hate_ the giving part. Just the opposite! It's the receiving part I mind. I, personally, have never received anything fun _or_ useful from a "Secret Santa" at any place I've worked. So, I have stopped putting my name in the grab bag.Christmas Reviewer (and others) will no doubt vote my review as useless. But, that is how I sincerely feel about this particular movie.

I'm the first to review this movie? Very cool! I'm becoming a regular with 'firsts' on the reviews. I like this movie's script because it's different. It's got some good humor in it as well. Well, I'm just a sucker for Hallmark Christmas movies and this one is quite cute and clever! The seasonal settings and decorations are just exquisite, so there's lots of great holiday eye candy. And this kind of movie could open some minds about social activities and getting involved more, during the holidays and beyond. I'm sure we all could use a bit more skills in the teamwork department. And I'm certain a lot of small towns could use a big horse-drawn sleigh ride as well. I've been on one and they are so cool. But about this movie, it is definitely worthy of a viewing!