gehewe This is the 2nd Christmas movie I've seen with the lovely Ellen Hollman- The Perfect Christmas List (2014) and that one was a little better with some humor, but not that good. Also saw Bobby Campo in My Christmas Love (2016) which was not good. My complaint is there was no creativity or depth in the story. I enjoyed the first 30 minutes with the festive colors and such. My wife and I both fell asleep at the 60 minute mark. The title of the movie should have been "The Christmas Shop" because that was the focus of the movie. Ellen Hollman just was just not suited for this role as the happy Christmas Shop owner. The scenes where she was not happy with Bobby Campo were the best. Cynthia Gibb has had small parts in many of these Christmas movies as she did here (not that good). She stars in one of my favorite Christmas movies "Mary Christmas (2002)" which had an excellent story. She needs another starring Christmas role.

zyxnix It's not that great of a store. I feel I know a little too much about the real estate market in New York. At least there is no ice sculpting. I have no idea who Dave Koz is....that was kind of funny. Ellen Hollman is fine...the leading guy is a little weird but tolerable.

eapepin-01129 A beautiful woman takes over the family business (in this case, a Christmas shop, of all things, although it could be a cookie factory or a Christmas village or a tree farm, or a lodge) and then gets a letter from the landlord saying the building has been sold and they have 30 days to vacate. Of course, this takes place on December 1 so they have be out by the 31st. Surprise Surprise... the landlord just happens to run into the tenant (quite literally) and finds himself in her shop buying a Christmas ornament, or a tree or eating a cookie, although he has neither use nor need of Christmas or holidays or relationships. . She has no idea he's the man kicking her out and tells him about the eviction notice. Now, he could tell her who he is, but doesn't, and we're really not sure why. (Jake didn't tell Hannah who he was in 'Christmas Cookies', either). Instead he gives her options, one of them is to fight it the eviction and then even comes over to her side to keep the shop or the village or the lodge or the farm or the cookie company from having to close down or move or be taken over.... Well, you get the drift. How am I doing so far? Ok, Let's start a drinking game. For every hallmark Christmas movie that shares the same theme, plot line, characters, last minute twist and outcome, chug a brew of your choice. If you've really been paying attention to the movies, you will put away a couple of 6 packs. Yes, dear readers, of the recent crop of HMC movies to incorporate the exact same plot line, you'll have to count to 11. (Possibly more. I haven't watched all of them. I actually do have a life... of sorts). There is always the couple who start out hating or disliking or having some conflict with each other in one way or another, yet 30 minutes into the movie they seem to magically become drawn together. The man is usually a no nonsense businessman who sees money above sentiment (or in the case of the movie Christmas Cookies, that character is played by a woman). I could go on ad nauseum, but you get the point. Oh, by the way, care to venture a guess as to how it ends? Yup, you're right. That's how it ends, because that's how ALL HMC movies end... happily ever after. This one is no different. There are no surprises. There never are. For the marathon Hallmark Christmas movie junkies, this is pleasant enough fare. The actors are pleasant; the dialogue is pleasant; the scenery is pleasant; the music is pleasant; the ending is pleasant; and, as usual, the snow is fake.

Jack Vasen This Christmas movie which is new in 2017 uses a greatly overused premise. The pretty young lady, Stephanie, is about have her family business of 40 years evicted because of a new owner that wants to renovate. The handsome guy she just met and might have just a bit of romantic interest in is the one who will handle the renovation and thus is responsible for her eviction. One slightly different take is that this guy, Michael, immediately sees how precious the store is both to Stephanie and to the community. However, his boss is adamant about not finding a compromise. This last bit doesn't ring true since otherwise his boss appears to be fairly reasonable and has at least some motherly affection for Michael, and she is leasing new businesses anyway. The story doesn't progress much beyond developing the relationship between Stephanie and Michael, and further demonstrating what has already been made plain, i.e. that the shop is precious and even a little unusual. It only remains to be seen which overused plot device will be found to save the store since it is hard to believe that a Hallmark movie could have an unhappy ending.Ellen Hollman and Bobby Campo make an attractive couple as Stephanie and Michael. It is a bit unusual that they hit it off immediately without the usual conflict we usually have between the two that are obviously destined by the writers to be together. David Starzyk, as Stephanie's father, provides a few humorous moments, but seriously Dan, couldn't you be just a little quicker getting away with something without your wife seeing it?While the characters are charming, the story is flat so I recommend this movie only for those who are truly addicted to Hallmark Christmas movies.