Movie: A Tale of Two Christmases
Starring: Kat Barrell, Chandler Massey, Evan Roderick
Network: Hallmark Channel
Rating (out of 5 stars): ⭐⭐⭐
Synopsis: Before Christmas, Emma's story splits into two possibilities. In one she goes home to reconnect with an old friend, in the other she explores a new crush in the city.
⚠🛑 Disclaimer: This review may contain movie spoilers
Review:
So this was the Hallmark take on an alternate reality story. A story of what would happen in your life if you did one thing instead of doing another. These two stories jump back and forth throughout the 2 hour movie so pay attention or you might get lost. An alternate reality story movie can work really well if done properly. The 1998 Gwyneth Paltrow movie "Sliding Doors" is an example of this done exceptionally well. Did Hallmark tackle this as well? No. This was an interesting movie but it was plagued with some flaws, and less than stellar stories for each timeline. But what made it good was the general idea and some great performances.
The good
Lead cast - The best thing going for this movie was the lead cast. At the helm was Kat Barrell who played Emma. She was lovely. I really enjoyed her in both realities actually. We also had Evan Roderick as lawyer Max who was likable and charming. Then we had Chandler Massey who played the longtime friend Drew. Loved him! I thought he was cute, charming, quirky and overall lovable.
Chemistry - Kat Barrell had chemistry with both of her leads in both of her story lines. She had a tad more with Chandler Massey but I think that made more sense as they were supposed to be childhood friends so they should have a better rapport. They had good banter and worked well opposite each other.
The not so good
Opening sequence - I didn't particularly like the opening split screen scene. I found that confusing because I didn't know what I was to watch. Was the double storyline starting right away? I found it quite distracting and did little for me considering it had absolutely no bearing on the story. Not only was that distracting but the opening in general was boring. That's understandable though as you are introducing the 3 main characters in the movie so that you are aware of how they come into play later when you need to follow the alternate versions of Emma's story.
Storylines - Frankly I wasn't interested in the timeline where she was forced to stay at home for an extra day and she meets her lawyer colleague and spends time with him. Is he the perfect guy for her? The story was boring. I had zero interest in her staying home, going to a market with a stranger and then going to his small party. I did however find her story a little more interesting, albeit it still wasn't amazing, when she went home and reconnected with her childhood friend.
Confusion - So Emma goes back to bed on what should be Christmas eve after the party with the lawyer only to wake up on what should be Christmas morning to get her flight home. This is where it was confusing and I think it was a miss on Hallmark. When she wakes up her phone says December 24. So I thought...oh she hasn't lived either of these out so she can decide what she wants to do now. Cool. But nope. I was wrong. She meets Max at the airport and it is clear that she did in fact live through the lawyer storyline and that the storyline of her going home was just a dream. OK but if that's true shouldn't her phone say December 25? Big miss Hallmark.
Aunt - So I did not like the visit to the aunt at all. That whole interaction was bad. Her anger, words...it was all bad and totally unnecessary.
Final Thoughts
Overall this movie was a good one time watch. I like the idea of alternate realities in a movie but there were some things that were big misses that only made this a 3 star movie for me.
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