Christmas Joy

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source: Christmas Joy

A movie about a DC department store employee returning to North Carolina to judge a gingerbread contest and to decorate her aunt's house so people could come and eat cookies, sounds BORING. Thanks to some fresh lead characters and a few old faces, this movie was a great success. The fresh faces, Matt Long (Ben) and Danielle Panabaker (Joy) combination made it work. I guessed her name must be Joy because of the title. I loved them both, especially Matt Long. They played the city girl and North Carolina guy (sworn never to get involved with another city girl) very well. We have the delightful Susan Hogan as Ben's mom (she's been in so many Christmas movies) and the department store owner Gabrielle Rose (played the mom in LET IT SNOW (2013). We have one scene where Joy and Ben almost kiss which results in some good conflict. This one could have really come out bad, so let's congratulate them on making some Christmas Magic happen.

Familiar formula: girl goes back home and while spending time there she reconnects with people and with the place she grew up in. I can understand why people may have find this a little bit boring and slow. I liked it. I have seen Danielle before and I've always enjoyed watching her act. Matt, however is new to me. And their chemistry was amazing. Honestly, they lack the "perky" trait we are so used to in these movies, but the relationship seemed real. The storyline is plain, nothing surprising. I mean, do these events really happen during Christmas in real life? Danielle and Matt's acting made Joy and Ben's personas believable. And that was appealing.

The Hallmark people who thought of this movie had so many logistical holes it was crazy. In DC, it snows rarely and it would cause a lot more traffic than what was shown in the movie. Also, unless you're in the mountains of NC (which is 7 hours away from DC, not 5 hours), this movie with the constant snow is very improbable. Also, I didn't understand the cookie crawl. Were people supposed to be waking from house to house or did the Aunt just have it? It really made no sense, even for a Hallmark movie. Danielle Panabaker was ok to watch, I would rather watch her in a Hallmark movie than the entire female cast of Fuller House. Hallmark really has become lazy and the geography made no sense so it was really hard to watch.

I can't decide if I love or hate this movie. I find myself watching it when it's on but I'm irritated the entire time. I like the actors but so many things are written in such an annoying way. 1. Why is Ben such an a-hole to Joy the minute they run into each other and throughout? He's almost un-likeable. His digs at Joy being a city girl, and taking offense because she offers to pay for his services are just rude. Plus, how he arrogantly rattles off all the cookies needed for the cookie crawl (we'll get to that later...) How she sees past this to find him attractive are beyond me. 2. How does the aunt, a 4-year winner, not have a plan for this cookie crawl weeks, if not months, in advance? If it means so much to her where was all the pre-planning vs waiting a week before Christmas 🤔 3. Why doesn't Joy just ask the aunt what theme to use? She's got blueprints of previous years. She can't just tell Joy what to do? Again 🤔 4. I think the words "cookie crawl" are WAY overused in this movie. It's sooooo annoying after about 30 minutes. 5. Why are there so, so, SO many digs at working/living in the city? Doesn't Hallmark ever get tired of (insert reason) someone has to return to their small town, ho-hum life, said someone runs into old flame then must give up everything they worked hard for so they can conveniently uproot their life and move back to the place they avoided for years? Ugh....I love Hallmark but it's time for new story lines that don't shame women for being successful!! I'm typing this while watching the movie. Overall, feels like a batch of cookies that aren't quite right but you eat them anyway.

Joy Holbrook (Danielle Panabaker) runs a market research group for the Washington DC Weatherton store which is noticed by the store CEO Poppy Weatherton. Her work piles up as she is promised a promotion. Then her aunt Ruby takes a fall and she promises to take over the Cookie Crawl back in their hometown of Crystal Falls, NC. Ruby is best friends with Ben Andrews (Matt Long)'s mother and they even forced them to go on a date once when Ben came home from college. Nevertheless, Joy refuses help from Ben until the work from both the store and the baking starts to overwhelm. With so much imaginary baking, this movie needs some Lucille Ball physical comedy. There is surprisingly little on-screen baking. It's only until the big rescue when the cooking montage begin and it's not fun anyways. It's missing a fun section when Joy and Ben bumble their way in the kitchen. I don't expect much from these Hallmark Christmas specials but they shouldn't miss the easiest shots. They should at least know enough to take those shots. I do like the simple progression of the romance. This is nothing special and it missed its chance to have a few more fun with the premise.

Even for Hallmark the suspension of belief freely given has a limit.

First off the good: The lead actress was adorable. Picture perfect for the role. I was definitely interested pretty quickly in her story line. The problem was there was ZERO chemistry with the leading man, and I saw no hope that there ever would be. I am sure the actor is fine, but the character he was playing - well: he had no guy friends, his friends were his parents and little old ladies (including Joy's aunt), he likes to bake, decorate, do interior designing and party planning, making ginger bread houses, and talking a lot about feeling and memories... He didn't seem to have any hobbies, interests or passions that would be considered traditionally male oriented. He just liked to hang out with the old ladies and do their kind of things. uh... well he did drive a pickup truck, so umm I guess he could be interested in a woman... maybe... Platonically. I don't know why they have him in the flannel shirt on the cover, because I don't think he wore anything other than fitted sweaters and slacks the entire movie. I seriously cannot even imagine them ever sharing a bedroom. I often root for the nice guys and feel bad when they get jilted for the rich CEO or childhood sweetheart in these movies, but I honestly found myself hoping this guy was just a placeholder until the local fireman or outdoorsy neighbor guy took notice of her and her stunning beauty. No such luck... She did say all her romances just fizzled, so maybe she is just saving time and going with no flame right from the start. So much potential... Oh well. I hope to see her in more of these types of roles.