Last year, I watched Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy. That was the third movie in Hallmark’s Christmas in Evergreen series. This year, we get the fourth movie - Christmas in Evergreen: Bells are Ringing.
While Michelle (Holly Robinson Peete) is getting ready for her wedding, Hannah (Rukiya Bernard) takes over getting the new Evergreen Christmas museum ready to open. Meanwhile, Hannah’s boyfriend, Elliot (Antonio Cayonne), is planning to open a Boston flagship store for his tinker shop.
Like A Christmas Tree Grows in Colorado, Bells are Ringing also features a main cast filled with people of color. The cast is also filled with people from the previous Evergreen movies. From what I can tell, there are only three new characters. (Well, the writers did mess up some of the names of the old characters. You would think they would re-watch the old movies so they could remember what they did. I didn’t count those as new characters.) I am glad that the twin sisters got more action this time around. They are adorable!
Despite liking the characters and the interactions between them, Bells are Ringing was lacking consistency. There was a great idea hidden in the plot but the story kept getting sidetracked. Sometimes it was by snowball fights and candy canes in hot chocolate, sometimes it was a conflict that only got resolved with an “oh well!” For example, Michelle’s fiancé is stuck in Maine due to a snowstorm and won’t make it to Evergreen (in Vermont) for the wedding. Most movies would have Michelle melt down. Instead, she just shrugs it off saying that she can stop planning now and they’ll just get married in July. She doesn’t cry, she doesn’t try on the dress one last time before giving in…it seems like she never actually planned the wedding. We don’t see any signs of a wedding - no invitations, no dresses, no flowers. It was weird.
Is this movie worth watching? I would say it is. It’s not a great movie but it does have some cute moments. The Cooper twins (Jacqueline Robbins and Joyce Robbins) are my favorite part. They are almost like the town Christmas elves. I think the movie is worth watching just for them.