'Twas the Date Before Christmas

I kept trying to figure out why I love this so much, when it IS a bit over the top. It's the great combo of fine character actors supporting two charming leads who have sweet, natural, vibrant chemistry from the start. There are many laugh out loud moments of light-hearted fun, which frankly, I could use more of right now. Family Christmas events have a fun twist on the usual tropes. Even if the conclusion to the conflict is a little pat and rushed, it makes us feel happy. What more can we ask out of an uplifting family movie? Love these two leads together and hope to see more of them in future Hallmark outings.

Hallmark kicked off its "Countdown to Christmas" with this holiday romance. Jessie (Amy Groening) "meets" Bryan (Robert Buckley) on a dating application and asks him to accompany her home for Christmas. He accepts, and the family is led to believe Bryan is her boyfriend, but they are merely on an extended blind date.

It doesn't take an Einstein to deduce where the story is going, but there is the usual complication, which involves a real estate deal. But most of the story is heartwarming. Jessie's family accepts Bryan, and he participates in their "family Christmas Olympics". The games provide a format for the "date" which feels real and looks like fun.

This was a good way to start Hallmark's season-long holiday fest.

A very strong start to Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas 2024.

The fairly implausible plot line hardly seems to matter when you see Robert Buckley (of "One Tree Hill" and "Chesapeake Shores" fame) and Amy Groening on screen together.

They are both strong actors, and their chemistry is absolutely perfect - it carries the movie brilliantly. They elevate it from being a fairly run-of-the-mill movie to one you want to watch again.

It's great to see Groening in a lead role, and Buckley has been killing it as a Hallmark leading man for years now.

The story involves a family holding a 'Christmas Olympics', which gives us plenty of light moments, and the heavier ones are handed deftly.

I wouldn't be averse to a sequel.

When Jesse (Amy Groening) learns that her family is planning to cancel her favorite traditions this year, she is devastated. Hoping to save the tradition, she tells her mom that she's got someone special to bring to the festivities. The trouble is, she doesn't. Using a dating app (who among us hasn't) she finds a guy, Bryan (Robert Buckley), willing to spend his Christmas Eve taking part in the Chamberlain Family Christmas Olympics. This movie doesn't fall into the expected trappings of every "fake boyfriend" Christmas movie you've seen before. In fact, they play it pretty loose, which is refreshing and rather enjoyable. The on-screen chemistry between Jesse and Bryan is very much apparent and believable as well.

This was a great movie to kick off the 2024 Countdown to Christmas, even if it's mid-October and my house is decorated for Halloween. It's sweet and funny, but there is one clear reason why: Amy Groening. I've seen her in Santa Summit, sharing the female co-starring role with two others and as a secondary character in several other Hallmark movies. But this is the first lead role I've seen her in. Forgive me if it's not the first. She's excellent. Often we have Hallmark female leads who are a bit-how do I put this nicely-stiff. Groening is anything but stiff. She's playful and funny, and easy to root for. Buckley too, is kind and sweet. Hallmark better get this dude a Christmas tree farm or a failing community center to save ASAP.

Loved it and would watch again.

Cast Kudos: Marcus the stepdad who rules the kitchen and wears a lot of aprons. He is hilarious, but unfortunately, IMDB doesn't even list him as part of the cast, so I can't find his name.

Alternative titles: Blind Date for Christmas; Saving the Christmas Olympics.

I am so happy to see sweet Amy Groening finally get a lead. I've been saying she deserves one for quite a while, and I've been vindicated: she really knocked it out of the park.

The story was fun too: a woman wants to preserve the Christmas traditions she has enjoyed with her very eccentric family, so she invents a boyfriend, finding someone on a dating app to pass along.

She brings him to the family Olympics, which is a series of zany Christmas themed competitions.

There's plenty of fun, and a lot of heartwarming situations as the family bonds with her new "boyfriend" only to discover he's actually a stranger.

This is the first of the Hallmarks for me this year, and they're off to a nice start.