"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse ..."
Hello everyone!
Welcome back to the blog, and welcome to this year's Christmas extravaganza!
I know, I know, Christmas is still weeks away, but on this blog it arrives early, aka it's hitting the ground running tonight with the first seasonal blog post that I'm starting right now.
As you probably all know I have this thing for Hallmark where I'll watch quite a few of their movies if I can get my hands on them - and since figuring out that there are good Samaritans out there who put up an actual list on Wikipedia, well, that just makes my life SO much easier!
That being said, I know not everyone enjoys these, and I do occasionally hit a snag myself when I'm expecting too much from one movie or the other.
Not this time, though.
No, for the start of my Christmas blogging this year, I picked a good one. Can you picture it snowing? I bet some of you in the US can. While you're at it, Picture a Perfect Christmas, too.
Since this is the first in my series for the 2019 holiday season there really isn't that much to link back to, BUT I've linked all the previous years' holiday sections down below, starting with 2016.
Don't worry, as you can see, I've got you covered!
Picture a Perfect Christmas was honestly the best way for me to start this season, because it was one of those that Hallmark hits right out of the park.
Merritt Patterson stars as Sophie, a photographer who's in a relationship with another photographer, but their 'relationship' really only just happens when they're in the same general location, because both of them travel so much. She hasn't really had any time off for the holidays in a while, and her parents are both somewhere in Spain so she's looking to be alone this year too since her boyfriend is off shadowing some band, when she gets a call.
Her grandmother managed to injure herself and could do with a little bit of company and help, so Sophie packs up and heads back to the place where she's always spent some amazing Christmases while growing up.
Enter Jon Cor as David, a friendly neighbour and entrepreneur who's the caretaker of his young nephew Troy ... and who's REALLY stretched thin.
Seriously. He needs all the help he can get. And there's not a reliable nanny to be found.
Of course Grandma can see a matchmaking possibility from a mile away since David and Troy are her neighbours, so she sends Sophie over with a hat the boy forgot, only for her to end up quizzed and mistaken for a nanny by David, which takes a hot minute to sort out.
Thankfully, Sophie doesn't hold grudges and laughs it off.
She also sees that David literally has his hands full while trying to still be the best guardian he can be to Troy, and because she's a naturally good-hearted person, she offers to watch Troy so that David can get things done.
David doesn't want to impose. Psych, says Sophie, you're not, I'm offering.
Which is how we land ourselves in a string of Christmas activities that Sophie and Troy get themselves into, including but not limited to decorating, ice skating, and volunteering Troy for the Christmas pageant. Oh and did I mention David tags along for the skating exercise as well?
During all this and the magic of the season, Sophie and David grow closer; he explains that his life was upended a few years ago when his brother and sister-in-law passed away and he had to take Troy into his home, moving both of them to this, smaller town, so that the boy would have a better life and his uncle could spend time with him.
Meanwhile Sophie tells how, as a freelance photographer, it's always about the next shoot for her because you have to take work when you can get it, but that she misses the stability she used to have with her grandmother.
And meanwhile her grandmother is matchmaking, although truthfully, while I agree with the old lady that Sophie needs to re-evaluate her current relationship, Sophie is also right in saying she can't do anything about David given that she IS in a relationship.
Which is the point when her boyfriend suddenly pops up on scene and is ... slightly condescending to the town as a whole, Christmas, and other such stuff that Sophie has re-discovered her joy for, which prompts her to take the first step in a better direction when she breaks it off with him, politely and with enough explanation so that she doesn't actually come across as miffed.
But even so things aren't all smooth sailing, as much as she and David are adorable dancing together after putting Troy to bed, because her holiday shoot has been moved up and she needs to head out before Christmas - which means she'll miss the pageant, and so much more.
David is upset, understandably, and so is Sophie - but both of them re also adults so they're not going to mope in corners. They simply go their separate ways, even if it hurts David a heck of a lot, especially after learning earlier his ex is now engaged and was actually HAPPY they broke up.
He did fall for Sophie pretty hard, after all.
And Sophie fell too, because in the end, she calls her agent and asks her to move the shoot if possible, or to let it go if not because other things matter, too, and she arrives just in time for the pageant, and to get the Christmas card Troy and David made for her.
David is delighted - and so is Troy, who in the interim landed the lead role in A Night Before Christmas because the other boy fell sick.
All's well that ends well, and the future is looking bright as the newly minted couple, Troy, and Sophie's grandmother, enjoy some festive holiday cheer together in the movie's closing moments.
Fun, easygoing, relaxing and non-complicated, without the usual nonsense of no communication and misunderstanding (in terms of the relationship), I thoroughly enjoyed this one as an introduction to the holiday season. Merritt always shines in these seasonal movies, and Jon was an unexpected surprise after his surly role as Hodge in Shadowhunters! The actor playing Troy was an absolute delight that added the icing to the cake.
If you're looking for a start for your own holiday movie-thon, this is as good a place, if not better, than many!
xx
*images and video not mine
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