Operation Mistletoe | 2024 Christmas Movies

Heading over to Hulu, I thought Operation Mistletoe looked a lot like a Hallmark Christmas movie. It even features Jen Lilley, who has done her fair share of Hallmark (and Great American Family) movies. How does it compare to the OG Christmas movie channel?

Grace (Lilley) is an interior designer who works with her best friend, Olivia (Melanie Leishman), and her brother/Olivia’s husband, Jack (Steve Belford). When her former classmate, Ryan (Nick Bateman), comes home to sell his grandmother’s house, Mayor Sami (Lisa Michelle Cornelius) convinces him to hold the Ribbon and Bows charity ball one more time before he lets the house go. Grace agrees to decorate the house for the ball with a little help from Ryan. Olivia, meanwhile, tries to get Grace and Ryan together by hiding mistletoe all over town for them to kiss under.

Well, this is another bland Christmas movie. There is nothing special about any of the characters or the story or any of the locations they are in. Then there are entire scenes that are completely overpowered by the background music. They might as well not even be talking. Though many of those scenes are just Grace offering to buy people hot chocolate. Girl has an addiction problem.

I would recommend staying away from this one. There are way better movies out there to spend your time on.

Rating: The hot chocolate must be laced with something

A Little Women's Christmas | 2024 Christmas Movies

Great American Family has given fans of Louisa May Alcott a present - A Little Women’s Christmas. A modern retelling of the Little Women story with a few changes.

Jo March (Jillian Murray) is a children’s book author who is trying to move into the young adult genre. When her book idea is rejected, her publisher tasks her with finding a new story while she goes to visit her family at home for Christmas. Little does Jo know that her publisher has sent Fritz (Trevor Donovan) to keep an eye on her. Meanwhile, Jo and her sisters - Meg (Jen Lilley), Beth (Laura Osnes), and Amy (Julie Reilly) - try to figure out how to have the best Christmas without their parents or Meg’s husband, John (Jesse Hutch).

I am sad to admit that I am not a Little Women fan. I don’t think I’ve ever even read the book. So there were probably a lot of references and things that simply went over my head. However, that doesn’t mean it is a bad movie. Thankfully, the women playing the March sisters are all very competent actresses. At no point was I taken out of the story by bad acting. Instead, I think this movie just wasn’t for me. There wasn’t a lot of depth to the plot and it verged on being a little too religious. I’m chalking both of those up to being unfamiliar with the source material. I think that, if you are a fan of the book, you will most likely be a fan of A Little Women’s Christmas.

Rating: A little too sweet for me

A Paris Christmas Waltz | 2023 Christmas Movies

It’s going to be difficult for me to get through A Paris Christmas Waltz. I really don’t like Matthew Morrison as an actor. He plays all of his characters with this brash egotistical slant. I’m hoping this is different.

Professional ballroom dancer Leo (Matthew Morrison) is looking for a new dance partner for an upcoming competition. He chooses Emma (Jen Lilley), an accountant that recently left her job. As the pair trains in Paris, they find a romance blooming between them.

Yeah, I didn’t like this movie all that much. Morrison is his usual annoying cardboardy self in this. Lilley, who I usually don’t mind, gets completely lost trying to act against him. The dancing is mediocre at best and there is an awful song sung by the pair tossed in. There are a lot of dance-related Christmas movies out there. Skip this one entirely.

Rating: A complete misstep

B&B Merry | 2022 Christmas Movies

In B&B Merry, they could not only solve the conflict by having a conversation, they could also solve the conflict by maybe knowing what the job of a travel blogger is. I don’t think I can eyeroll any harder.

Tracey Wise (Jen Lilley) is a luxury travel blogger. Graham (Jesse Hutch) has invited her to review his family’s bed & breakfast in Silver Peak. At the same time, she is asked to review a luxury hotel, also in Silver Peak, as a sample for a possible job. Can she review both without conflicts?

Uuugghhh. First off, Tracey is supposed to be an established travel blogger. Why she is doing any sort of sample writing for anyone? I have been approached for jobs and asked for free writing samples and I point them to this blog (among my other writing gigs). If my writing history isn’t good enough proof of my work, you can go touch grass. I’m not doing free work just because you don’t want to pay me for it. Tracey should know this by now. Especially since she’s also supposedly a lawyer.

Next, Graham invites her to town to review his B&B. But then he gets really mad when she says she has to review the competition as well. THAT IS HER JOB, GRAHAM. She goes places and reviews them. When she brings up the other job, your answer should be “Yeah, that makes sense.” ARGH.

I understand that family owned businesses frequently need word-of-mouth to help them advertise. But you really can’t be like “Only look at my place and forget the other place exists.” You need to show off your place and show her why it’s better than the other place. I mean, maybe that is why your business is failing. It has nothing to do with the other hotel and everything to do with the fact that you literally bad mouth them every chance you get.

While I can’t say that I recommend watching B&B Merry, it’s fine to watch if you can overlook the things I mentioned. The acting is fine, the script is fine. It’s the plot that is kinda annoying. Maybe just half watch it? Is that possible?

USS Christmas | 2020 Christmas Movies

A very long time ago, I lived in Wilmington, North Carolina. Parts of USS Christmas were filmed there. It’s very weird to watch a Christmas movie and recognize locations.

While on a Christmas Tiger Cruise, newspaper reporter Maddie (Jen Lilley) comes upon a love story from the ship’s very first Tiger Cruise. Lt. Billy Jenkins (Trevor Donovan) helps her to track down the couple.

The term “Tiger Cruise” is heavily used in USS Christmas. Apparently, it is a period of time when family and friends can join their deployed sailors on their ship to experience the daily operations. While I love the concept (and yes, it is a real thing), it doesn’t have a lot to do with the movie. Sure, Maddie finds out about Sam (Hardy Rawls) and Dorothy (Ginny MacColl) while on the Tiger Cruise and the ship coincidentally takes them to New York, where they find more information about the couple…but that is it. We don’t even really see any of the named military characters actually working.

So far this season, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries has brought us pretty good movies. Unfortunately, this is not one of those. Everything about it is terrible. The actors have zero chemistry, the plot is boring, the conflicts are non-existent. It’s a complete waste of time. You would be better off untangling Christmas lights all night instead.

Advent Day #2: Mingle All The Way

I admit that I don’t usually watch Hallmark Channel movies. Most of the time, I find them unbearably cheesy. Mingle All The Way had a few moments that made me roll my eyes but I, generally, enjoyed the movie.

Molly Hoffman (Jen Lilley) is the founder of an app called “Mingle All The Way.” It’s a networking app where busy singles can find someone to be their ‘plus one’ at all of their company/social events. When Molly has to prove the app’s worth to a potential investor, she signs up and matches with Jeff (Brant Daugherty), a marketing professional. Despite a rocky start, the pair end up falling in love.

There were a few low points in the movie. The awkwardly blatant product placement for Jergens lotion was one. (Seriously, it was a random close up of the bottle as Molly squirted some on her hand.) Sadly, another low point was Molly’s mother, played by Lindsay Wagner. A lot of movies have at least one parent who puts too much pressure on the main character. However, Molly’s mother goes way too far. She is pretty much verbally abusive to her daughter. And she doesn’t change her stance until a man tells her how awful she’s being. (Thanks, Jeff! Molly’s dad should have stepped up years ago.)

With that said, I did enjoy the on-screen chemistry between Jen Lilley and Brant Daugherty. They seemed to thoroughly enjoy each other’s company and I think that is really what saved the movie. I don’t think I would watch the movie a second time but I would recommend checking it out at least once.