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Countdown to Christmas 2019

Hallmark’s “Christmas at the Plaza”

It’s time for our second review of the day in order to catch up from the day off yesterday! Next up is “Christmas at the Plaza,” which aired on Hallmark Channel on Thursday, November 28 at 8 p.m. It starred Elizabeth Henstridge and Ryan Paevey and was set in New York City. And while some it was filmed at the actual hotel, portions of the movie were also filmed in Winnipeg, Canada. Man, Winnipeg is stepping out strong this year. I think this makes Christmas movie #6 filmed there.

In a nutshell

I liked it but was also a bit disappointed by it. It got off to a very weak start, and it took me a long time to get into the story and the characters. I felt as though Jessica never even bothered to try and get to know Nick, even as he continually asked questions to get to know her. Add in the fact that I was not invested at all in Jessica’s arc in the first 30 minutes, and I’ll admit I was on the struggle bus. At some point, the movie drew me in, and by the end I liked it, but the drab first thirty minutes affected this movie’s overall score.

Christmas at the Plaza — image: Hallmark Crown Media

Plot (from Hallmark’s website)

With Christmas approaching in New York City, Jessica (Henstridge), an archival historian enmeshed in a declining romantic relationship, is hired to create an exhibition honoring the history of Christmas at The Plaza Hotel. There, she meets Nick (Paevey), a handsome decorator who’s been commissioned to deck out the iconic landmark. When they’re paired together to prepare the exhibition, they wind up enjoying a host of holiday traditions together and find themselves falling for each other. Tensions soon rise as Jessica must figure out her romantic priorities and decide with whom she’ll ultimately spend Christmas at The Plaza.

Actors

I like Paevey, even though he comes from a soap background (which is clearly sometimes in his reactions to other people on screen. But ever since “From Friend to Fiance” earlier this year he was completely won me over. Elizabeth Henstridge is new to Hallmark. I did not watch her on TV’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” She was great in last night’s movie, but that first 30 minutes did not do her any favors.

As for Six Degrees of Kris Polaha, Elizabeth Henstridge is three steps away. She starred in 2016’s “Wolves at the Door” with Jane Kaczmarek, who earlier had co-starred with Reese Witherspoon in 1998’s “Pleasantville.” Witherspoon appeared with Polaha in “Devil’s Knot” in 2013.

Chemistry

It took a while for me to see any chemistry between these two. I again refer to the first 20-30 minutes when she expressed no interest in Nick whatsoever even as he was clearly interested in her (for some reason I don’t understand). When she finally warmed up to him, I warmed to the idea of them having any kind of chemistry together.

Feelgoods

My first feelgood moment was seeing the character Kenny running the front desk of the Plaza. For those that don’t know about the Kenny-verse, the actor’s name is Nelson Wong and he appears in every single movie directed by Ron Oliver. Don’t believe me? Check out his iMDb page and you’ll see he has played a character Kenny Kwan/Kwon no less than 16 times in the past 15 years.

My second feelgood moment came at the end when she walked outside of her house to find that Nick had decorated her house, complete with the star. Way to go, Nick!

Tropes

There were quite a few tropes, as expected. Obviously, with a movie set in NYC, you had to start the whole movie with an overhead Big City drone shot. This movie featured two 1980s actors in Bruce Davison (as the bellman Reginald) and Julia Duffy (as Amanda, the manager of the Plaza Hotel). There was a shot of a snow globe at some point early in the movie. The movie featured a character with a Christmas-themed name (Nick, obviously).

Additionally, we saw carolers, Jessica had a Hallmark Bad Boyfriend, they drank hot cocoa, they wore ugly Christmas sweaters, the made cookies, and they had a slow dance.

Bingo Card Score for “Christmas at the Plaza”

I’ll have to check but this might have been my worst score yet. I only got 6 out of 25.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

Just a few nits to pick. First, why on earth would the hotel keep valuable finial d’arbres (tree toppers for the regular folks like us) in random boxes in the records room with NO attempt to protect them from damage? It seems like a poor choice to me, especially considering the way everyone was throwing those boxes around at one point.

Jessica at some point forgot that Bad Boyfriend Dennis was taking her to a faculty cocktail party. He shows up at her door and she’s in PJs. And yet during a 2-minute conversation, she goes from “girl’s night in” to being ready for a night on the town. I’m pretty low maintenance for the most part, but not even I can be in PJs one minute and fully kitted and ready to mingle with the scholarly elite as quick as Jessica could.

Elizabeth Henstridge cannot slow dance, or no one noticed what happened during the slow dances. I don’t know if it was an accident, but during the first slow dance they had, her arm went under his, and it resulted in a very strange hold that looked weird. I thought it was a fluke until they danced at the end of the movie, and she did it again – her arm went under his, resulting in an awkward unnatural looking hold. What it should be is that the woman’s hand goes on the man’s shoulder, the other is held in his hand. That’s the universal hold for most dancing styles for couples.

Lastly, the movie is set in NYC and yet she has a house somewhere in the suburbs. Not sure where that was, but to me, it looked like Winnipeg passing for New Jersey as opposed to Queens or Brooklyn. Unless he drove her all the way to Long Island, which I doubt. In any event, she’s a young single gal – she should be living with some roommates in NYC!

Re-watchability

I might be willing to watch this one again, but only if I skip the first 20-30 minutes.

The Ranking

“Christmas at the Plaza” received a deceptively low score. I think I might like it a bit more than the score suggests, maybe closer to 65-66%, but when I look at my spreadsheet, I just don’t see where I’d adjust the scores to get it a higher ranking. The numbers don’t lie.

Two Turtle Doves (air date: Nov 1) – 742 pts – weighted score: 123.7 (86.8%)
Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (air date: Oct 26) – 719 pts – weighted score: 121.0 (84.9%)
Love to the Rescue RE-RANKED (air date: March 23) – 708 pts – weighted score: 120.6 (84.6%)
Winter Love Story (air date: January 19) – 685 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
Mystery 101 (air date: January 27 (HMM)) – 454 pts – weighted score: 94.2 (80.5%)
Love on the Menu (air date: February 23) – 642 pts – weighted score: 113.8 (79.9%)
Holiday Hearts (air date: Nov 23) – 663 pts – weighted score: 113.0 (79.3%)
Bottled With Love (air date: April 13) – 649 pts – weighted score: 112.2 (78.7%)
Love Takes Flight (air date: April 27) – 670 pts – weighted score: 111.0 (77.9%)
Love, Romance & Chocolate (air date: February 16) – 627 pts – weighted score: 110.2 (77.3%)
The Last Bridesmaid (air date: June 22) – 643 pts – weighted score: 109.2 (76.6%)
Love, Fall and Order (air date: Oct 12) – 636 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
Paris, Wine & Romance (air date: May 4) – 638 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
My Boyfriend’s Back: Wedding March 5 (air date: June 8) – 635 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
Over the Moon in Love (air date: Oct 5) – 613 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
Flip That Romance (air date: March 16) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
Check Inn to Christmas (air date: Nov 26) – 619 pts – weighted score: 105.7 (74.1%)
My One and Only (air date: Aug 31) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.6 (74.1%)
Mystery 101: Playing Dead (air date: June 23 (HMM)) – 425 pts – weighted score: 86.5 (73.9%)
A Summer Romance (air date: Aug 17) – 577 pts – weighted score: 103.7 (72.7%)
The Christmas Club (air date: Nov 27) – 588 pts – weighted score: 103.5 (72.6%)
True Love Blooms (air date: April 6) – 598 pts – weighted score: 103.1 (72.3%)
Forever in My Heart (air date: Sept 14) – 560 pts – weighted score: 102.4 (71.8%)
The Mistletoe Secret (air date: Nov 11) – 585 pts – weighted score: 102.2 (71.7%)
Christmas Under the Stars (air date: Nov 16) – 576 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
The Story of Us (air date: February 9) – 605 pts – weighted score: 101.3 (71.1%)
Holiday for Heroes (air date: Nov 8) – 566 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
A Brush with Love (air date: March 30) – 563 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love (air date: Nov 17) – 548 pts – weighted score: 96.9 (68.0%)
Ruby Herring: Silent Witness (air date: January 20 (HMM)) – 357 pts – weighted score: 79.5 (67.9%)
Love, Unleashed (air date: July 6, 2019) – 559 pts – weighted score: 96.2 (67.5%)
Love Under the Rainbow (air date: March 9) – 581 pts – weighted score: 96.0 (67.4%)
One Winter Proposal (air date: January 12) – 535 pts – weighted score: 95.8 (67.2%)
Just Add Romance (air date: March 2) – 548 pts – weighted score: 95.6 (67.1%)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt (air date: Nov 3) – 561 pts – weighted score: 95.4 (66.9%)
From Friend to Fiance (air date: May 25) – 555 pts – weighted score: 94.8% (66.5%)
Picture a Perfect Christmas (air date: Nov 10) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
A Christmas Duet (air date: Nov 25) – 540 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
Write Before Christmas (air date: Nov 17) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
Christmas Camp (air date: July 11) – 530 pts – weighted score: 93.9 (65.9%)
Our Christmas Love Song (air date: Nov 24) – 537 pts – weighted score: 93.4 (65.5%)
Love and Sunshine (air date: Aug 3) – 504 pts – weighted score: 91.7 (64.3%)
Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (air date: March 10 (HMM) – 354 pts – weighted score: 74.1 (63.3%)
A Christmas Miracle (air date: Nov 14) – 494 pts – weighted score: 90.1 (63.2%)
Christmas at the Plaza (air date: Nov 28) – 517 pts – weighted score: 90.0 (63.1%)
Sister of the Bride (air date: June 29) – 516 pts – weighted score: 89.8 (63.0%)
Valentine in the Vineyard (air date: February 2) – 503 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
Love, Take Two (air date: June 15) – 507 pts – weighted score: 87.8 (61.6%)
All Summer Long (air date: Aug 24) – 512 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
Snowcoming (air date: January 26) – 485 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.2%)
The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
Merry & Bright (air date: Nov 2) – 483 pts – weighted score: 84.4 (59.2%)
Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 (air date: Nov 24) – 465 pts – weighted score: 83.4 (58.5%)
Nostalgic Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 446 pts – weighted score: 79.2 (55.6%)
A Merry Christmas Match (air date: Oct 25) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.3 (54.9%)
Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
Rome in Love (air date: July 27) – 436 pts – weighted score: 76.7 (53.8%)
A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas (air date: Nov 7) – 398 pts – weighted score: 72.3 (50.7%)
A Taste of Summer (air date: Aug 10) – 403 pts – weighted score: 70.9 (49.7%)
A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 pts – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)
Love in the Sun (air date: June 1) – 361 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.8%)