Sometimes I wonder what writers are thinking of when they write these scripts. A Dash of Christmas is one of those times.

Megan (Laura Osnes) is a marketing executive who has recently lost her job. Luckily, another job prospect pops up but she needs to film a video of her baking in order to land it. Aaron (Christopher Russell), a local bakery owner, helps her learn how to bake so she can land her dream job.

So. Megan is in marketing. Why do these movies think that marketing people need to be able to do the thing they are trying to market? They don’t. They need to know how to get people to click on the link or get into the shop or read the article or whatever. They don’t have to actually DO the thing. This movie should have gone with Megan being sad because she lost her job so she takes a baking class to try to make herself feel better. In the class, she meets Aaron and they find out that, with her marketing skills, they can take his bakery to the next level and find love along the way. That is so much more interesting.

Rating: Leave the fruitcake alone

I think my least favorite Christmas movie titles are ones using the main character’s name. Once in awhile there is a witty title with a character’s name in it, ‘Tis The Season To Be Merry is not one of them.

Merry (Rachael Leigh Cook) writes books giving romantic advice. In her recent book, she lies and says she is engaged. When her publisher, Sonia (Karen Malina White), gushes about how authentic Merry’s relationship is, Merry freaks out and runs away to her co-worker/friend Darlene’s (Amy Groening) family’s house in Vermont. Little did Merry know that Darlene’s brother, Adam (Travis Van Winkle), has returned from a 2-year trip to Guatemala. Can Merry figure out how to fix both her love life and her professional life?

There were pieces of Tis The Season that I thought were really cute. At the big Christmas tree auction, when Adam had Merry co-host with him and he would keep handing her cards when she had no idea to say. If there is one thing Cook is good at, it’s playing an awkward women who trips over her words. I’m glad Hallmark played into that strength.

In addition to the main Adam/Merry couple, there are two other couples introduced. I would have liked to have seen a little more of their interactions. We do see Sonia’s budding relationship with Joe (Paul Essimbre) but we really only see them when Merry happens to see them around town. It would have been nice to jump over to them to see how they were doing. There’s also a late romance between Joe’s son, James (Adam Hurtig), and Darlene. Even though they were childhood friends, we don’t see a lot of interaction between them until James confesses his feelings about Darlene to Merry. I would have liked to have seen more of James pining after Darlene instead of it appearing that James has a thing for Merry.

Tis The Season isn’t a terrible movie. It’s not boring, which is a step up from most movies, but it wasn’t particularly interesting either. If you watch it, watch it for the acting not for the story. Maybe one day Cook will get put into one of the really good Christmas movies. Until then, this will scratch the itch to see her on screen.