Christmas On Call | 2024 Christmas Movies

When I saw the title for Christmas On Call, I thought I immediately knew what the movie would be about. I wasn’t completely wrong but I wasn’t completely right either.

Hannah (Sara Canning) is an emergency room doctor that recently moved to Philadelphia. While on-shift, she meets EMT Wes (Ser’Darius Blain) who invites to show her the town. As their romance blossoms, other first responders also try to balance their family and professional lives.

Living close to Philadelphia myself, I laughed at how often they said “Go Birds!” to each other. Oh, and the Donna Kelce cameo with the cheesesteaks? I’m not sure who wrote this but they sure did try to put all of the Philly stereotypes in there. Other people may not like it but it made me giggle.

As for the movie itself, it was fine. I liked that Hannah and Wes weren’t the only couple getting their romance on. However, it would have been nice to get a little more relationship out of police officers Danielle (Reena Jolly) and Sanjay (Erik Athavale). I know they had a relationship before the movie started but we didn’t get to see a lot of progression between them. To be honest, it felt like the writers were trying to shove as many relationships in as possible but, without making the movie longer, they just aren’t satisfying couples. They were shoved together because they happened to be in the same vicinity and had similar jobs. Sometimes more isn’t merrier.

Rating: There’s a reason medical dramas are successful tv series

Holiday Hotline | 2023 Christmas Movies

When I’m going through my list of Christmas movies, I try really hard to not learn a lot about the movies before I watch them. All I knew about Holiday Hotline was only what was shown in the commercials. I didn’t even know who the male lead was until I saw the opening credits. I’m glad I was able to keep this surprise for myself.

Abby (Emily Tennant) is a chef in London. When her chef-boyfriend takes the credit for her work, Abby quits her job and her relationship and goes to Chicago for a break. She falls into a job in Chicago answering phone calls from people needing help cooking their turkeys properly. Using an American accent and the name Peggy, she connects with single father John (Niall Matter). Soon the two become more than friends.

I was surprised to find that Holiday Hotline is a really good movie. Tennant and Matter work so well together. This may be the first couple of the season that actually shows some chemistry. Not only that, the story was interesting! I don’t think we’ve ever had a hotline worker as a career trope. For once, we were able to see Abby/Peggy and the other workers actually doing their jobs. We almost never see anyone actually working! And I really loved the way they showed the calls. This is a movie I wouldn’t mind watching again. A very pleasant surprise from Hallmark.

Rating: Let’s Talk Turkey

A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe | 2022 Christmas Movies

When I’m making my list of Christmas movies I’m going to watch in a season, I do as little research about the titles as possible. I might do a quick search to make sure that it fits “Christmas movie” but that is about it. So titles like A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe can be really confusing. I mean, how catastrophic can a cookie be?

Annie Cooper (Rachel Boston) has taken over her late grandmother’s cookie company. As Christmas creeps closer, Annie starts cutting all of the fiscally irresponsible activities in the company. During the company Christmas party, someone sneaks into the corporate headquarters and steals the recipe for the cookies. At first, Annie blames cookie competitor Sam (Victor Webster). When he is cleared of the wrongdoing, Annie teams up with Sam to try to figure out the recipe on their own before Christmas.

Hallmark movies frequently require a certain suspension of belief. Usually they fall into the “Miracles happen” category. This time around, we’re supposed to believe that Annie would be able to figure out who stole the recipe without going to the police (yes, she states numerous times they aren’t telling the police about the robbery) and that no one else in the company would notice the missing recipe and say something about it to anyone. I don’t think a “Removed For Cleaning” sign works for a recipe. Honestly, this really is the weakest part of the movie. It would have been easier and more believable to have the paper recipe get ripped or messed up or something. Then they wouldn’t have to inform the police of an actual crime. Or at least have them call the police but the police are inept. That is an actual thing!

Looking beyond the weak plot of the movie, the rest of it was pretty cute. Boston and Webster have decent chemistry together and Averie Peters as Sam’s daughter, Bella, was a good addition to the mix. Despite being “the kid” in the movie, she actually contributed to the vibe of the movie. I might have liked her better than the adults, to be honest.

A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe is a fine movie to watch, assuming you can get past the ridiculousness of the plot. As long as you tune in to appreciate the relationships, and Bella’s dancing, you should be fine. There are a lot of cookies involved so you might need to keep a snack nearby.