"It's okay to choose your own path."
Hello everyone!
Christmas is, quite literally, right around the corner.
So what better way to prepare for it than by watching some of the holiday movies that always air this time of year?
Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas and Miracles of Christmas are both seasonal programs that have been running for quite a few years by this point, and on a good year they'll launch probably close to 50 movies into the ether to then see which resonates with audiences the most.
To say there may be some repetitions of plotlines would be an understatement, but suffice to say they do in fact have gems every single holiday season, and then some.
Christmas in My Heart even has a lovely title to go along with it!
As always, a link to the label CHRISTMAS will be included down at the bottom of the page, as well as further links to this year's movies which I am reviewing.
On with the show!
Violinist Beth (Heather Hemmens) returns to her hometown from New York to care for her ill mother, who unfortunately passes away right before the holidays, leaving her daughter and husband in a state of grief, but attempting to make the time of year as magical as when they were all together.
Now, Beth wants to play in one of the big orchestras, but while she's at home she's been picking up students to teach (her mother was a music teacher at the local school) to make ends meet and to also have something else to do.
This is how she meets Sean (Luke Macfarlane).
Sean's wife equally passed away three or so years ago, at which point he packed up and relocated himself and his daughter Katie (Maria Nash) closer to his mother-in-law, and out of the public eye. See, Sean is a big time country star, but his well of inspiration has currently run sort of dry, despite pressures from his agent and his label.
It's at this point in time that he has a literal run-in with Beth, whom he meets at the music store where he's picking up some sheet music for his daughter, mistaking Beth for the salesperson, and she equally doesn't recognize him because ... well, she's a classical violinist, and apparently doesn't listen to country music.
While Sean is slightly hesitant of letting anyone else into his or his daughter's lives, Katie swipes his phone and arranges for Beth to meet them at the house to become her violin teacher, as playing the violin is actually something the girl enjoys.
Naturally, Sean is STILL iffy about this, but after having Beth swear up and down she won't tell anybody anything (practically signing an NDA really, not that anyone would get why since the people in town know Sean's been living there for 3 years and nobody's called the paparazzi down on him yet ...) the gig is on.
Slowly but surely, through her music teaching, Beth and Katie grow closer as Katie feels she can't talk to her dad about some stuff, but she can connect with Beth who has also lost her mother. Beth is currently struggling both with the audition for being a rather important violin player when a spot opens in one of the orchestras she desperately wants to play for, and with helping the community to raise money for instruments for the kids at school.
She also wants to help Katie while she's at it, so at one point she brings over materials so they could make an angel for the top of the tree, which is where things veer sideways and I'm not even sure what happens.
For some reason, Sean blows a gasket that Beth is helping Katie with anything but her violin, saying that they agreed she wouldn't be talking to anyone about anything, and with that bizarre statement he kicks her out. If this confuses you as much as it confused me, we're on the same team, because I have no clue what he even meant with 'won't talk to anyone about anything', as that entailed Beth telling who she was teaching and what she was teaching in town.
But really, if you think about it, it's mostly just Sean being an asshole and not wanting anyone to talk about his wife at all, especially not with his daughter, who, NEWSFLASH, actually misses the woman too and WANTS TO TALK ABOUT HER. So, you know, she doesn't forget her, maybe.
Anyway, this eventually gets smoothed over between Katie and Sean, and Sean makes a half-assed apology to Beth which makes as little sense as his initial outburst, and he shares that he's actually started writing again, not that all he writes is always good, which Beth points out to him.
Just as things seem to be moving in the right direction though, especially with the whole festivities and school performance thing Beth has been helping with, she gets the spot with the orchestra after a second audition, and won't be there to see Katie perform.
Luckily this is a Hallmark movie, and she and the woman who initially recommended her for the position hustle back and JUST make it at the tail end of the show when Katie's struggling on stage, so both Beth and Sean step up to help, her with the violin and him on the guitar. Katie's grandmother, who's accepted the position that Beth's mother used to hold in the community, ties it all off in a neat little bow, and Beth and Sean finally iron out their differences so he asks her out on a date.
They kiss under the mistletoe, and ho ho ho into a happily ever after. The end!
This movie had a TON of potential and is generally a really good one to start the holidays off with if you can overlook the incredibly bizarre choice of Sean's reaction there midway through. Other than him being an ass for the sake of being an ass, it makes about zero sense and completely ruins the flow of the movie, but I love how reviewers are commenting on everything else but that.
I really wonder sometimes if people think actual people in real life react how Sean reacted in the movie. It would have made a whole lot more sense if Beth had REALLY talked to someone, but, you know, no one ever said a teacher and student couldn't speak during lessons.
Anyway, that aside, this is a fairly standard Hallmark Movies and Mysteries production, and a solid entry into the lineup with just the one major hiccup. But if you can ignore that, then I'm sure you'll enjoy it, as Heather is a lovely leading lady with a whole lot of potential. I can't wait to see her in more! Plus it has a wonderful underlying message about POCs becoming famous artists and the everyday questions they probably ask themselves when they're young. For that, I definitely recommend watching.
xx
*images and video not mine
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