Christmas isn’t my favorite thing, but Christmas movies are. Every year, I look forward to Countdown to Christmas and it’s never ending quest to melt my grinch-ish heart. Now, I thought that no one could do it like this years Biltmore Christmas, but I was wrong. Christmas on Cherry Lane is my favorite movie of the 2023 season so far.
Quite frankly, there aren’t many movies that I feel like I can’t figure out, but this one I couldn’t. I didn’t know what was happening and yet I couldn’t look away. I paid attention to every detail in order to try and figure out how everyone was wrapped together. I needed to find every clue. I needed to know how it was that all of these character wrapped into each other.
And it wasn’t something that I could.
Christmas on Cherry Lane was one of those movies that I found touching my heart and making me feel all the feelings. It just goes to show what a small world we live in and how the decisions we make affect not only ourselves but those around us.
And that was beautiful.
Yes, there was something special about 7 Cherry Lane. The house was magic, you might say. But I’d also bank on the fact that what was really magic was the people that lived there.
And the heart that they have.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: At Christmas time on Cherry Lane, a young couple (Brotherton, Cahill) prepares to welcome their first child as they try to settle into their new home on Christmas Eve while a well-meaning family unexpectedly descends upon them; an empty-nester (Bell) and her fiancé (Denton) are ready to start a new chapter together although her grown children want to cling to the past and try to sway her to do the same; and a couple (Jonathan Bennett, Vincent Rodriguez III) is thrilled when they unexpectedly get the chance to expand their family on Christmas Eve, causing them to scramble to get the house ready in the throes of the final hours of a kitchen remodel. The three couples celebrate Christmas Eve in their special ways as they navigate these turning points in their lives, become closer in the process, and a surprising connection between them all is revealed.
WHAT IT’S GIVING: Heart
STANDOUT PERFORMANCE: Vincent Rodriguez III and Jonathan Bennett. The two just give the biggest performances, ones filled with heart and love. They make the viewer smile and root for them. Their characters want nothing more than to give a lot of love, but it’s the joy that comes off the screen from these two (as well as their nervousness, their indecision, their frustration, and their anger) as their characters that makes their performances a standout performance.
GRINCH-ISH THOUGHTS: When you go into a movie and you don’t know what to expect, you have a lot to think about. You start to think about every moment, every clue, everything that could lead you somewhere.
Because when you don’t know what’s happening, there are so many questions, but you aren’t sure if you are asking the right ones. Prior to watching Christmas on Cherry Lane, I had watched an interview with John Brotherton, where he said that this movie was like a braid, with everything weaving together.
So I was prepared to watch for the strands. I just wasn’t sure what kind of braid it would be or if it would be one that I could sit through watching. While this year’s Countdown to Christmas movies haven’t been bad, they also haven’t been amazing all around.
But it took about ten minutes before I knew that Christmas on Cherry Lane was going to destroy me. It was going to be a movie that touched my soul and it was going to bring me back to life. It’s definitely rare that something is that special, but with this one, Hallmark said, “Oh, you liked Biltmore Christmas, well… hold our egg nog.”
Told from the POV of three different time periods, three different families are all experiencing their own trials, tribulations, and paths at Christmas time at 7 Cherry Lane.
And while it’s hard to talk about this movie and not give away the intricacies of how everyone is intertwined, I am searching for a way. I am searching, because how everyone weaves together is a beautiful story that makes me want to talk about it all.
Regina and Nelson, played by Catherine Bell and James Denton are at a crossroads. Regina has lived in the house for as long as her kids can remember. When their Dad died, they were destroyed. But now, with their Mom getting married and deciding to move to Florida, they aren’t handling it well.
Her son, Conrad, isn’t dealing with it well. To him, losing this house and his mother getting remarried is dishonoring his father. He talks his sister into trying to stop the marriage and the sale, but his Mom can see right through them and what they are doing. She’s not having it.
It causes such friction between the family, but Regina isn’t losing her temper. My Mom would have slapped me into the middle of next week, but that’s neither here nor there.
Mike and Zain (Jonathan Bennett, Vincent Rodriguez III) want nothing more than to be parents. Two exact opposites, you can tell how much these two love each other. The way that they are staring at each other, the way that they know everything about each other, the way that there is nothing but love. It’s just beautiful to watch.
They are dealing with construction in the house – on Christmas Eve – and it’s not a good time. But, when they get a knock at the door, telling them that there is a little girl for them to foster, it sends them into overdrive, trying to get everything ready.
As well as their dinner party for 14 people.
Seeing how these two move together, how they solve issues, how much they love the season, and the people that they love – it just makes me smile. They exude Christmas joy.
But what got me, is when the two opened the door to the little girl that they were fostering and how they both came to life. They both had this softness and this want to give this little girl all of the love and security that she needed.
And I really think that the casting of Jonathan Bennett and Vincent Rodriguez was just one of the most special things.
But my favorite couple was the couple from the 1970s – John and Lizzie. The two were expecting a quiet Christmas with just the two of them in their new home. However, that doesn’t happen, when Lizzie’s entire family shows up.
John and Lizzie are the couple that tie all of these couples through time together. Yet, you don’t know that at the beginning. What you do know is that these two are so in love, starting their lives, excited for the upcoming birth of their little girl.
With Lizzie’s family there, they are taking over. They want to put the house together the way that they want to. They aren’t listening to John and Lizzie. They aren’t even acting like they are. TBH, if they were my family, would have kicked them out.
When John’s business gets broken into and he heads out, Lizzie goes into labor. There is a storm and the roads are getting bad. But when John finds out, he’s willing to do anything to get home and the police officer that had helped him at the station, helps him get home.
Just in time to see his baby girl born.
While I will tell you that this movie had its cheesy parts (like all movies do), Christmas on Cherry Lane, overall, is my favorite movie of the season so far. It reminds you of the love that you have, that family is sometimes chosen and not blood, and that we’re all strands of a braid that can be woven together. You don’t know the effect that people will have on you, but what you can do is leave every interaction with another human being giving them your best.
And giving them all of the love that you have in your heart.
For me, Christmas on Cherry Lane, will become a movie that I watch every year. It’s a Christmas institution for me now, because it melted my Grinch heart.
And I love that for me. I love that for all of us.
CHRISTMAS CHEER: 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
