Hallmark isn’t known for having tons of movies with people of color in leading roles. PoC are usually delegated to “best friend” or “coworker.” All Saints Christmas not only features an entirely black cast, it also takes place in a New Orleans R&B club. Now we just have to see if it’s actually a good movie…

Lisette (Ledisi) is a popular singer about to return home to New Orleans for Christmas after a two year absence. Before she can head home, she gets photographed at a Christmas market with her ex-boyfriend, Matthew (Roger Cross). It looks like he is proposing to her when he’s really picking up a ring she dropped. With the story of their engagement in the press, the two decide David will come home to New Orleans with Lisette and they will pretend the engagement is real for the publicity.

I’m a little torn on All Saints Christmas. Ledisi is a gorgeous singer. Every scene featuring her vocals is a delight. But her acting is a little wooden. Instead of seeming like a normal person, she acts as if the director has been yelling at her the entire shoot for not knowing her lines or something. Poking through her IMDb page, she has portrayed some very big names. So I’m not sure if she just needs some more training or if it was a directing problem. Either way, I would really love to see her do better. If she could get a role that features her singing and she knocked the role out of the park, it would be chef’s kiss.

Thankfully, some of the other actors do make up for Ledisi’s missteps. Lucia Walters as Lisette’s arch-nemesis, Gia, is pretty perfect. Walters is able to give Gia the shell of a mean girl with the inner core of emotionally hurt high schooler. Also, Miranda Edwards as Lisette’s sister, Taborah, brings a nice emotionally stable presence to the adult children of the family. They were probably my two favorite characters in the movie.

If you like R&B music, you will definitely like All Saints Christmas. There is enough singing that you should be able to look past the acting troubles. However, if you are looking for a great Christmas movie, this probably isn’t it. I would still recommend watching it though. The music really is that good.

Our Christmas Journey really shouldn’t be a Christmas movie. It should stand on its own without having to battle against all of the romantic Christmas movies. Especially since Christmas doesn’t play a huge part in it anyway.

Lena (Holly Robinson Peete) is a single mom trying to raise an autistic son, Marcus (Nik Sanchez), and a talented pianist daughter, Mia (Hilda Martin). When the family, along with her mother - Robin (Aloma Wright), and her ex-husband - Rick (Lyriq Bent), goes to check out a facility where Marcus can learn to live independently. Lena has a difficult time letting Marcus leave the nest, much to the aggravation of Rick. Can Lena learn to let go?

This really was a sweet movie. I’m a little sad that it got stuck in the middle of all of the other Hallmark Christmas movies. (This was on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, which doesn’t get as much traffic as the Hallmark Channel itself.) It highlighted the difficulties a mother goes through when she has a child who is different from other children. Lena wants to protect Marcus from all of the harm in the world but at what cost to Marcus? He will need to learn how to live on his own. It can be difficult to let your child do things that you know might hurt them, even though it will help them in the long run.

I don’t want to talk about the movie too much because I do think that everyone should watch it. Maybe even watch it with a loved one. And you might want to make sure you have a box of tissues nearby. Just in case….