Movie: Noel Next Door
Starring: Natalie Hall, Corey Sevier
Network: Hallmark Channel
Synopsis: A hard-working, single mom gets into a war of words with a neighbor who she feels is ruining Christmas, only to find that this misunderstood grouch just may steal her heart.
⚠🛑 Disclaimer: This review may contain movie spoilers
Rating (out of 5 stars): ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Review:
Christmas movie season has officially started!! This will be my second year trying to take on the Christmas movie market and to try and watch movies released by Hallmark, GAC Family, UPtv and maybe even Lifetime. If I were to complete everything we are looking at over 100 movies! I doubt I will be able to cover everything but I will do my best to cover as many as possible. Living in Canada you may be shocked to hear that we actually do not have easy access to all Hallmark movies even though the majority are filmed here! Not to mention we do not have a dedicated station which offers us GAC Family, UPtv or Lifetime. So finding a network that shows even a small number of these will be a battle.
Our first Christmas movie of the season was the "Countdown to Christmas"movie from Hallmark Channel "Noel Next Door." I will be the first to admit that I was very skeptical of this movie starring Natalie Hall and Corey Sevier. You see these two starred in a movie (Road Trip Romance) earlier this year that was so bad that I didn't have high hopes that they would have any success with this one. Well they showed me. What a great start to the Christmas season. A good solid, interesting movie with great chemistry, lessons and plot.
Plot
Unique and refreshing. Noel Next Door did not fall into the Hallmark cookie cutter plot realm. It was refreshing. This plot had a young man who had a physical challenge after suffering a life altering stroke. He was damaged and down so yes was a bit grumpy. Understandable as he is trying to adapt to his new reality. A reality where his wife left him 6 months after he had a stroke and it impacted his career as a conductor. This man meets Noel and is intrigued. Is she the perfect girl coming to a city to start a new corporate job? NO! She is also dealing with stuff of her own. She's a divorced single mom trying to make a new life for herself after her crappy ex-husband left her for another woman. Her relationship with her ex is not perfect and he is a complete jerk. Real life problems people! It was refreshing. These two are smitten with each other. We actually see them go on a date. Flirt. Noel is actually giddy and says she feels a spark. Again it felt like real life. There were challenges but adult challenges. Overall a plot that I felt was realistic. Now...would I like to see this in every Hallmark movie? No. I turn on Hallmark and GAC for an escape. An escape that sometimes you just want to get lost in a fairy tale town and romance. But once and a while let's tackle the real life world and show some real, broken people and tell their stories.
The conflict was ok albeit I think Noel could have heard Jeremy's side a little more. Her son was a liar and Jeremy did have reason to act the way he did. I liked the resolution between Jeremy and Henry and I liked all of the little teachable mom/son moments scattered within the movie as well. Overall a solid plot.
Chemistry & Performances
Corey Sevier & Natalie Hall were fantastic in this movie. We finally had a movie where Natalie Hall could shine. She has had a string of awful movies and I was just dying for her to have a standout role. She was great as a single mother. Her giddiness and flirtatious ways with Jeremy were so real. Her performance was wonderful. Corey Sevier...applause please. Just wonderful. I have seen him in a few good roles but this one was probably one of my favourites. He was grumpy, serious, fun, and you could see him start to grow with his character. You could see the struggle in his character in terms of finding his new normal and in opening himself up to love again. It was a role that has various levels of depth and I loved it. Chemistry was good at times and a little off at times but overall was solid between the leads. I loved their flirting, the date, the getting to know you moments...loved it all.
Supporting Cast
Henry - seriously this kid is the worst. Now I understand that he is having his own problems since his parents divorced and is trying to deal with that...but he's a brat. First off...who practices for soccer in the middle of winter and in what world is there a tryout for soccer around Christmas? Second...the guy asked you to stop kicking the ball against the wall and then he continues to do it? And then later kicks the ball toward the same adult man's head? He deserved to lose that ball. No one else was disciplining him so yes Jeremy had every right to take the ball away. Then he takes a toothpick and shoves it in the guys lock? What a jerk. No wonder Jeremy was a "scrooge." Geez. He's actually not that bad when you think about it.
Jeremy's blind date - um...what was that. The girl sits down in the diner, he tries to take off his coat and has a bit of a problem. She then proceeds to tell him he is making a scene taking his coat off? I do not blame him for telling her to hit the road. She was the worst.
Caroler's - so Jeremy was trying to go on a conference call and did mention that a few times. Instead of just leaving, the caroler's kept on him about singing. He said no...they kept on him...no wonder the guy closed the door on them. Good grief I would have too. The guy said he had to go for goodness sake.
Ex-Husband - This guy was a jerk. Yikes. Normally the ex-husband /wife of a character has a great relationship but my goodness was this bitter. Didn't like him at all.
Stand-outs
There were a few non-typical Hallmark moments in this movie. Dare I say a little risque for Hallmark too. First we had a tampon joke which I thought was hilarious. Then we have Jeremy's character going home and drowning his sorrows in booze until he passes out. Honestly I didn't mind it. It was just more down to earth and made the movie just that more real life like for me and not just a rosy story wrapped up in cute little bows all the time.
Overall "Noel Next Door" was a solid start to the Christmas season. It was a tad slow at times however the plot was original and relatable. The leads were both phenomenal and had a pretty good chemistry throughout. Let's hope Hallmark can keep the rest of the movie line up at par or even better than this one. Definitely one you should watch.
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