Hallmark (no matter the channel) has taken on a new approach to movies these days – the more relatable the better. The idea of discussing marital problems – yes we know that it is important – but the reality is that This Time Each Year, depressed me.
Genuinely made me sad.
This Time Each Year is Hallmarks 30th film with Alison Sweeney and that is definitely a milestone. It’s one that is important and one to be celebrated. I do appreciate the fact that Hallmark took a chance on a movie that is extremely different.
More Countdown to Christmas Review: Holiday Crashers
Though some may make the assumption that I don’t understand the meaning of making a house a home and working through issues, as well as the magic of Christmas, they would be wrong. It’s not that I don’t see that – I do. I think that it’s just – for me – that I watch movies at Christmas to escape the loneliness and the heartbreak of Christmas (because for some of us, myself included that is what we feel).
And This Time Each Year made me feel sadder and more alone.
Is it a bad movie? No. It’s not. But was it my cup of tea? Also, no. Well it wasn’t my cup of tea for Christmas time.
But maybe what it was supposed to do was remind us that love is hard work, but when you try, it is worth it.
Lauren and Kevin separated for over a year. She’s living at home with their son and he’s living with his parents. The two had stopped communicating. He had resentment and so did she from this. Neither one of them knew what to do with that feeling of a lack of trust.
Kevin wants his family back, but doesn’t necessarily know how to go about it. His wife seems to want big gestures of showing change, but doesn’t seem to know how to hear what he is saying. Granted she doesn’t trust what he says because of his lies.
Kevin lost his license and hadn’t told Lauren. She talked him into buying a house that was a money pit and felt guilty over it. Neither one of them knew how to forgive, but then that would mean talking about it and really getting to the root of the issue (which they don’t even seem to do in therapy).
Lauren is quite all over the place and she doesn’t seem to know what she wants. She wants her husband to tell her not to sell the house, that he wants to be together and they can move past what’s been done. At least that’s what I grasp.
In that same breathe, she’s also begging for trust from him, but doesn’t give him any reason to let him trust her. She’s not told her Mom about their separation and it has been over a year. Watching her make excuses and trying to justify how somethings were okay for her and not for him, just didn’t make sense to me. Then again, I am not married.
Kevin feels like he’s doing everything that he can, but when she asks for him to lie to her Mom, he makes it so that she has to give him something in return – therapy and their yearly Christmas date.
What I didn’t like is them bargaining for time with each other. I do know that couples get busy, but if their marriage means something to them, then they should want to do everything that they can and arrange their time around working on it.
Through a series of miscommunications, Lauren painting herself as a victim the entire way through versus taking responsibility for her actions were a lot. I just felt like watching this – the whole way through – that these characters had this family that loved them no matter what they did and whatever went on between them, but they were too misguided to see it.
More: See The Entire Countdown to Christmas Schedule Here
Love isn’t easy and it takes a lot of work. While the movie has a good message, the characters of Lauren and Kevin felt so insufferable, because they were. the makers of their own chaos and full on didn’t seem to be willing to get out their own way to make it work.
Until their hands were forced.
And while I get the magic of Christmas is part of what brought them together, but that time I was so taken out of the movie. I was annoyed with the characters, I just wanted it to end.
Not something I would want to sit through again for the holiday season. But that could be just me.
