wwaigl I and my daughter just watched this movie. So I am reflecting our opinions. They don't really jive very well with some of the very negative reviews I am reading here, and I am wondering if we watched the same movie.We have been watching the Hallmark Christmas movies for a few years now, along with offerings we are seeing from some of the other stations. I have even posted a couple of other reviews last year. In the grand scheme of specialty channel Christmas movies, we felt this was one of the better offerings.We found the leads charming and believable. Rachel in particular we thought was very good - she is able to convey a lot with her eyes, facial expression and slight body movement - she can actually act. She is a very attractive woman (that's me talking on that observation! LOL). The male star is also handsome, and we thought he did a good job. The supporting cast was fine.These movies are made in a very short period of time and a very tight budget, sometimes filming is only 7-10 days! I am aware of this when I watch these movies, and sometimes its evident when you see a scene end a bit abruptly. And you can't blame an actor for the sometimes banal dialog - they have to work with what they get, and sometimes its only one take and then they have to move onto the next scene.I thought the conclusion was a bit rushed and underwhelming, if only as I would like to have savored how it played out in a bit more depth. But all-in-all we enjoyed the movie. We sat through a real stinker the other day (Sweet Home Carolina with Heather McComb) and Marry Me at Christmas was superior in every respect.You just have to know that all the Hallmark movies follow a very similar script - even when the concept is potentially somewhat original they always play it out via a formula. You will never find romance/Christmas movies with less sexual tension in them then a Hallmark movie, many of which only have one kiss at the end.Another review noted the move Christmas Cookies with Jill Wagner. Both movies were the same - a beautiful woman trying not to find love finishes the movie with one kiss with the handsome interloper, said kiss intending to convey eternal love and happiness to the audience and the rest is up to us to fill in the blanks.If you don't like the formula, don't watch the movies....

zyxnix First things first, Rachel Skarsten is super hot. Even with that horrible hair job, she still manages to look decent. Her curls are way too tight. Painfully tight. Finally, at the end they get her hair right for about thirty seconds. Trevor Donovan is a dope...that's it...plain and simple but I've seen worse, so barely tolerable is how I would describe him. Emily Tennant will be star in the future Christmas movies...Mark the tape!The relationship will never last....no guy is going to end a superstar movie career to move to a pedestrian small town and live with a bumpkin no matter how hot she is..Did they kiss??? Because, I don't even remember it...moving...No Christmas Magic???...OK, OK his parents died, that was his one redeeming quality...commiseration. A little better than average but certainly not good.

phd_travel This is a fairly average Hallmark Christmas movie. A movie star's sister is getting married in a small town. He swoops into town to help and falls for a local girl. There is the expected little drama before the end. Trevor Donovan looks a bit like Brad Pitt / Robert Redford so he is quite suited to play a big movie star. But the running joke about his being able to buy expensive stuff or get a person to arrange something special is kind of repetitive. It's a bit of a one joke movie. Rachel Skarsten is the small town girl he falls in love with. She is pretty in a rather Uma Thurman way but her eyes are a bit scary. She would be better for a Lifetime wacko than a Hallmark romantic comedy leading lady.Okay for one watch.

Ghostwriter14 I bought the book about a few months before finding out that they were turning it into a Hallmark movie, so I decided to read the book. Now I'm watching the movie and I have to say I'm rather pleased with it. There are the obvious differences between the book and the movie of course, but the differences don't take away from the storytelling. While the cast isn't QUITE how I pictured everyone in my head, they all capture the ESSENCE of the people they're portraying, especially Trevor Donovan as Johnny Blake. Donovan captures Johnny's longing to be normal and slight pushiness when it comes to his sister's wedding. A lot of actors are good at playing either the rich type or the down- to-earth guys and tend to falter when trying to portray both but Donovan does it well.From what I've seen so far, the movie is sweet and charming, and I'm enjoying it.