When it comes to Hallmark movies, we can all bet on a formula. That formula is something that isn’t to be messed with, but something that evolves with time. A Tale Of Two Christmases reminds me of another movie I have seen on the channel last year, but well… I am going to let this movie stand on its own accord.
Because if you take A Tale Of Two Christmases at face value and on its own what you’re left with is a good movie that gives you a lot of heart. It reminds you that the grass isn’t always greener and your heart will always help you find a way.
Kat Barrell (Wynonna Earp), Chandler Massey (Days of Our Lives) and Evan Roderick (Autumn in the City) star in the latest romantic comedy Christmas movie.
Emma (Barrell) is an aspiring architect living in Chicago, who plans to return home to Vermont to spend the holidays with her family. Thanks to some Christmas magic, she gets to experience two different Christmases. In one, Emma misses her flight home and stays behind in the Windy City where she celebrates with new crush, Max (Roderick), and his friends. In the other, Emma makes the trip home, and enjoys the holiday traditions of her family…and also reconnects with Drew (Massey), a longtime friend who may have feelings for her. Emma’s double holiday ultimately helps her learn a surprising lesson about will truly make her happy in life as well as in love.
Dual timelines aren’t always my thing, because very honestly, they get confusing. More often than not, that is. But in A Tale Of Two Christmases the timelines aren’t that way. The way that these timelines are you can see the difference, but you can see the similarities.
Emma is strong, but it seems that what she wants more than anything is to just find her own way. She loves her job – being an architect. She also has a big crush on the hot guy that always says hi to her in the office – Max. Now, I think that we can all agree that Eva Roderick is hot, but his character of Max is quite pretentious and annoying.
He doesn’t seem to believe in the miracle of Christmas and views it more as a reason to have a ski trip with his friends versus celebrating what it is. Christmas for Emma is about family and the love and traditions that they share. It’s about spending time with the ones that she loves and making memories. For Max it’s about a catered party with friends and a ski trip the next day.
Everything is just so different than what she’s used to.
As Emma tries to fit in, she’s shown even more how much missing the Christmas holidays with her family maybe isn’t what she wanted after all.
In the other timeline, Emma makes it home in time to spend all the moments with her family. She’s enjoying spending all of the time with her best friend Drew. Though Drew and Emma seem to want to deny all of their feelings, no matter what happens, they feed off of them.
Drew really wants to support Emma and her dreams, but he also wants to know that she loves him. That she has feelings for him. This Emma has changed from the Emma that he knew and it scares him. You can see it in his eyes. But the Emma that he loves, the Emma that he’s always known is in there.
Drew wants her to be home and to take the job remodeling the ski lodge he manages. He wants her to feel safe with him. He wants her to succeed.
The timeline that leads them to being together is everything that you are rooting for in watching the movie.
But also Emma realizing that home is where she wants and needs to be is everything too. She built her dreams off things that she loved doing, but she realizes that the person who taught her those things is her father.
And she wants to do things, to build things with him.
And she wants to love Drew.
Admitting your feelings and what you need and want out of life is never easy. But what it is – is necessary. We only have one life, we need to live it.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Max may be the dream guy or what we view as the dream guy – but sometimes we have to realize that our dreams are our own and it’s okay if they aren’t everyone elses ideals.
- Look Hallmark, I get that I need to be open about feelings, but also… let me live
- Just kidding Hallmark, I need the reminder
- Hallmark ‘Countdown To Christmas’ Interview: Jaicy Elliot & Ryan Rottman
- Hallmark ‘Countdown To Christmas’ Review: ‘My Southern Family Christmas’
- Hallmark ‘Countdown To Christmas’ Review: “A Tale of Two Christmases”
- Hallmark’s ‘Countdown to Christmas’ Review: “When I Think of Christmas”
- Hallmarks ‘Countdown To Christmas’ Review: ‘Christmas At The Golden Dragon’
