Some great actors, some not so great. Some great moments, some not so great. And far too many "trying too hard" cringe moments. Trying too hard to be modern. Trying too hard to be quirky. The real gems of the show often were over shadowed by the less than genuine attempts in other moments. Almost like those in those moments didn't buy it anymore than than the audience.

Amazingly the biggest pet peeves were the contrived problems like the car repair (no it does not take days to replace a standard windshield especially for a shop that advertises glass repair) and getting locked in the room just felt too dumb in the initial execution. Even Kristoffer Polaha who does incredible work in my opinion couldn't make the getting locked in moment not weird.

Sadly I'm constantly reminded these days of why after decades of wishing to get and having Hallmark Channel access, I don't really miss it now.

I've got half a movie to go but I've already fast forwarded through several too cringe moments. Who knows. I've long believed a great ending can save even a bad movie. Maybe this will be one of those.

Edit: okay finished. I'm not changing my rating though it had more sweet moments and a good ending except for the ornament. I'm now convinced the couple who owns the inn and the car shop lady are scamming people in cahoots with the marriage counselor by intentionally dropping a giant ornament on their cars. That's a way to get repeat business but I wonder what kind of kickback the therapist is getting. Another reviewer called it "cute Christmas magic." No it's vandalism and fraud, both severe crimes.

I liked that they had Pascale Hutton as the therapist but I kinda expected a simple tie to her other movie. No such luck.

I may watch it again since I bought it off Amazon digital but I'll skip to just the good parts.

'We Wish You a Married Christmas' (2022)

Opening thoughts: My frequent Christmas film viewings (or at least those from Hallmark and Lifetime) have been something of a mixed bag over the past four or five years, with plenty of good films, many average ones and many bad ones. The premise was one of those could have gone either way ones, but still watched 'We Wish You a Married Christmas' anyway because of liking Kristoffer Polaha.

While he doesn't come over shabbily at all, 'We Wish You a Married Christmas' didn't work for me. The 2022 Countdown to Christmas batcb actually did start off promisingly, but with this film comes the first misfire of the batch. It is not terrible or one of the worst Countdown to Christmas films from 2022, but pretty lacklustre.

Good things: Of course there are a few good things. Marisol Nicholls and especially Polaha give very game and committed performances.

Also found the dog absolutely adorable and the decor and scenery are colourful and nostalgic.

Bad things: Sadly there are a number of drawbacks. Would not have minded the excessive predictability, as a result of exexuting the premise too conventionally, if the film was still at least interesting and had some charm. The story however was very thin with a very dull and over-stretched middle act. Too much of the conflict felt forced. The script is too often stilted and has toi much emphasis on the hostility and everybody being annoyed with each other and it came over as mean spirited and took away any possible charm. Meaning that the film felt pedestrian, too heavy and with very little emotion.

Didn't care for any of the characters. None of the supporting cast stand out and inject very little passion or enthusiasm, a big part of why the humour fell flat. The characters are too much like typical Hallmark cliches with nothing new and there is nothing really likeable or rootable. The two leads did lack chemistry and the constant getting annoyed and hostily meant that the love never convinced. The music is forgettable at best and there is an over reliance on unfocused close ups that cheapens the film's look.

Closing thoughts: Overall, didn't do much for me.

4/10.