Sometimes I don’t understand how writers, or whoever is it that comes up with these titles, comes up with these titles! This one is called Toying With The Holidays but it has nothing to do with toys. It’s about trains! It should have been called On Track For The Holidays or something like that. Well, let’s get into it.

Danielle (Cindy Busby) brings her son, Paul (Callum Shoniker), back to her hometown for the holidays. When she gets there, she finds that the holiday train her recently deceased father kept was taken out of commission because it was too costly to repair. With the help of her high school classmate, Kevin (Chad Michael Murray), Danielle is determined to get the train running again for this holiday season.

Who read this script and thought it was a good idea to make? Absolutely nothing happens for the entire movie. Even in the last 15-30 minutes, when we get the big surprise reveal (is it really a surprise though?), still nothing happens! A bunch of people get on a miniature train then the leads kiss. We don’t get to see them take a grand train ride through a Christmas display or even a montage of anyone having fun. They’re just like “Yep, the train works now. Smoochy Smoochy.”

I seriously hate the boring movies more than the bad ones. At least with the bad ones, they make me feel something. I’ll hate a character or I’ll hate the way an actor reads his lines or I’ll hate the set design or something. The boring ones just make me want to turn my TV off and go do something else. Toying With The Holidays is completely forgettable and not worth a minute of your time.

My least favorite Christmas movies are the ones where everything could be solved if someone just asked a question. Why are people so averse to talking, especially to family members?

After her grandmother passed, Gwen (Erica Durance) took over her bakery. Unfortunately, the secret ingredient on her grandmother’s recipe for the Enchanted Christmas Cake was torn. As she struggles to figure out the missing piece, a celebrity chef comes to town to film a Christmas special. Gwen is pressured by the show’s producer, Gavin (Robin Dunne), to appear on the show to talk about the cake. Will Gwen be able to perfect her grandmother’s cake or will Christmas be ruined?

There are two big conflicts in The Enchanted Christmas Cake. One is figuring out the missing ingredient but the other is whether Gwen should give out the recipe once it’s completed. Both of these could have been solved if Gwen simply asked her grandfather. She seems to be pretty close to him so I have no idea why she never thought to ask him in the first place. If I was in her position, I would have immediately asked him if he knew what the ingredient was when I saw the rip on the recipe. If he didn’t know, my second question would have been if anyone else had the recipe. Of course, then the movie would have been over before it ever began.

Looking past the stupidity of the plot, the rest of the movie wasn’t too bad. Both Durance and Dunne are decent actors. Though I think the shining star here is Kyana Teresa as Gwen’s friend, Becky. She is a delight in every scene she is in.

The Enchanted Christmas Cake is worth watching if you can look over the gaping plot hole. Sadly, there doesn’t seem to be a ton of bakery-themed Christmas movies this year. So, if bakery movies are your thing, this may be your best bet for 2021.