HotToastyRag Lacey Chabert, Hallmark's second darling of Christmas, stars in the fun, well-acted film Family for Christmas. The beginning will probably make the romantics in the audience reach for their hankies: Lacey and her boyfriend Tyron Leitso are parting ways at the airport because she has a six-month internship in San Francisco. They vow to wait for each other, but then a title card displays the dreaded words "ten years later" and Lacey's a famous news anchor with no romantic attachments. So sad! Then again, the movie's just started, so dry those tears and get ready for some holiday magic. She starts thinking of her old flame, wondering what would have happened if they'd held on a little tighter all those years ago. The next morning, she wakes up married to him, in a suburban house with two children and a dog! Lacey is so funny in this film, letting audiences know she's out of her element without being annoying or unlikable. She tries to cope with her new life as a housewife, and along the way she starts to fall in love with Tyron all over again. He's a particularly likable love interest, a perfect blend of a romantic lead and a dad and husband. Together, Lacey and Tyron have a comfortable yet exciting chemistry together.Family for Christmas is one of the better films to come out of the Hallmark channel, because not only is the story accessible rather than silly, but the acting is very good. The characters aren't one-dimensional, so the audience can really get invested in the movie, rather than just concentrate on their popcorn. While the ending is bittersweet, the overall film is very enjoyable. Add it to your yearly line-up of Christmas movies; I did!

lauralmarie I seem to say "It could have been good" about so many movies these days, especially Hallmark movies. Before I get started on my rant on all that was wrong with this one I have to say that I think a lot of people who bashed this movie (for different reasons than me) misinterpreted the message intended. It wasn't saying women shouldn't have a career and family, it was about being so immersed in your career that you lose sight of everything else. She didn't even give herself a chance to possibly find love and have a family yet she definitely felt lacking in her current life despite her huge success. In her alternate what-if life where she's been married for awhile with two kids but no career at all, many reviewers criticize her husband for making her feel guilty about wanting to start a career but in reality he came through for her and said they would make it work...he obviously loved her deeply and put her needs above the needs of the family. The problem I had with this movie is that it didn't make sense, had no realism at all, and I'm not referring to the magic santa part. She was unconsciously wondering what it would have been like had she married her boyfriend who she had left many years before in order to start an internship with the intention of coming back within a year. They never go into what happened, why the relationship ended, instead of him logically moving to be with her since he wanted to be an author, and the job he ended up with could be done anywhere. It doesn't make sense that they would be out of touch for so many years. They didn't portray him as the type of guy who would give up the love of his life so easily. Then her alternate life goes to the opposite extreme. There is no way she would have abandoned her career goals to have two children and be a stay at home mom, that wasn't who she was portrayed to be in the movie. It wouldn't have been all or nothing. Another thing that bothered me a lot was how they wrote her kids as such brats! They actually sat there expecting her to separate things out of their cereal that they didn't like, really? They have perfectly functioning fingers. They just sat there and glumly looked at her while she did it and didn't even say thank you. They completely had that entitlement attitude. Then when they tell her she has to bring cookies as a snack to some event, they freak out and yell at her because she bought them at a store and were supposed to be home made. That was SO stupid, kids wouldn't care that they were bought at a store. They were trying to make certain points in this movie to show how out of her element she was in her what-if life, but they completely failed. They spent a lot of time on her neighbor's character and the developing relationship between the two women, then at the end nothing was done indicating they would even meet again so what was the purpose of the focus on the neighbor?Needless to say the end was ridiculous and just just added further aggravation for me. I wish I could unwatch it, unless I could be the magic santa and do the what-if thing and fix everything that was wrong with it, then it would have been a decent movie.

D.H. A successful career woman lives well in San Francisco (the common Hallmark movie trope "Big City = Bad, Small Town= Good" is in effect) but she is so burned out and depressed, that she can't even bother to make friends or even decorate her fancy high rise (seriously, it barely looks lived in). When expressing a moment of doubt to Santa, he opens up the door to an alternate reality where that career is replaced by a family. She doesn't recognize her children, has no domestic skills, and feels completely overwhelmed. This is not what she wished for. She may think she prefers her old life as a single career woman, but Santa shows her that can't possibly be true. Despite her many protestations, she just doesn't know her own mind like he does.

LtlHippo Has to be my least favorite Hallmark movie ever. The best thing about this movie is that Candace Cameron Bure wasn't in it. So tired of seeing her in so many Hallmark movies, I can't keep her characters straight. But back to this movie, talk about an husband who doesn't support his wife. Didn't see any chemistry between husband and wife. Kids were cute enough. Would have liked to see a bigger supporting cast, friends that were fun to be around. I would love to see more movies with Alicia Witt in them. Someone mentioned having a Hallmark Christmas movie channel and I'd love that. And does everyone have to have 10 lines in their reviews? I've see many reviews with a lot less.