Hallmark For All Seasons

“Angels Falls: A Novel Holiday” originally aired on December 15 on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel, starring the lovely Jen Lilley and Carlo Marks, who some may remember from “Chesapeake Shores” or 2017’s “Moonlight in Vermont” which co-starred Lacey Chabert.  Hallmark left Vancouver behind for this one, choosing to film on the east coast of Canada this time around.  Filming was primarily done in Ottawa. The screenplay was written by Samantha Harman, based on a story by Melissa de la Cruz, who brought us Sense, Sensibility & Snowmen a few weeks ago. Additionally, the movie was directed by Jonathan Wright, who directed Love, Romance and Chocolate earlier this year.

In a nutshell

This was another slow-paced quiet movie that never really picked up steam.  However, the two leads were fantastic together, which enabled me to enjoy it despite the lackluster story.

Plot (from Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel website)

Book editor Hannah (Lilley) must work with former rival Ryan (Marks) to help a potential writer find her way. Angel Anthony reminds them about the Christmas spirit and the value of community.

Actors

I’ve said before that I’m a huge Jen Lilley fan, and she was lovely in this movie.  I never watched “Chesapeake Shores,” and to be honest I don’t remember much about his older Hallmark movies, so I felt like this was my first time watching Carlo Marks, and I liked him a lot.  He was a lot of fun to watch.

Six Degrees of Kris Polaha:  Carlo Marks is three steps away.  Marks participated in a Tom Green movie called “Shred” back in 2008.  Tom Green had earlier enjoyed a small role in 1999’s “Superstar” which starred Harland Williams.  Polaha and Williams co-starred in 2014’s “Back in the Day.”

Chemistry

Absolutely Lilley and Marks had great chemistry together.  I loved that this story featured characters who were former childhood friends with a hint of competitiveness and a slight grudge that only one of them knew existed.  It brought a different element to the movie and the relationship between Hannah and Ryan.  He just wanted to reconnect with her after coming home due to a recent layoff, and she was frustrated that the guy who took her dream job was back in town.  It was an interesting dynamic that I don’t recall seeing before.  The result was that Ryan was able to be charming without seeming like a heartless jerk, and Hannah was hurt without being a shrew.

Tropes

Plenty of tropes – after all, it’s Angel Falls!  The characters didn’t like each other at first (although this was really just a one-way thing on Hannah’s part), there was some crafting, a Christmas wish was made, a house had a lovely front porch, and we got to see some ice skating.  There was some interesting caroling, some baking, as well as tree shopping.  We had hot cocoa, a snowglobe, a sleigh ride, an almost kiss and a misunderstanding.  I’ll discuss two of the tropes in the next section of this review.

Bingo Card Score for “Angels Falls: A Novel Holiday”

I scored one bingo, thanks to the 12 spots that got covered on my card!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

Yes, we saw empty coffee cups in this movie. *sigh*

I did notice some weird things about this movie.  First, the church choir only featured six people.  That’s not a choir – that’s chorale.  At least, that’s the definition that my high school chorus used.  We had the chorus/choir, which was a large group of singers, and then within the chorus, we had 6-8 people that would perform together as a chorale.  I’m sure people might say the true definition of choir/chorale is different than the way I think of it, but that’s the definition I’ve always used.

At the party, Hannah misunderstands the end result of Ryan’s job offer in NYC, assuming that he is taking the job.  Her overreaction was unwarranted and went from 0 to 100 in a nanosecond.  The whole thing was really unnecessary and Hannah came off as very immature at that moment.  And then for Ryan to decide to leave town because of it?  Also unnecessary and too melodramatic.  Let’s act like the adults we are, people.

At the end of the movie, when Hannah and Ryan finally get together, they kiss outside in the square, and I laughed OUT LOUD when I saw a shot of the mayor standing among the onlookers.  It was so disconcerting and out of place that I couldn’t help it.  I laughed and thought, “Why is the MAYOR part of this?”

Feelgoods

I didn’t write down any feelgood moments, but that’s not to say there weren’t any.  The main feelgood was the conversation Hannah and Ryan had about her resentment about him taking her dream job.  That was an example of a mature conversation about something that bothered them, and I liked how she let Ryan tell his side of the story to clear everything up.  I wish she had given him a couple beats near the end of the movie do explain his job offer as well.

Re-watchability

Despite a very likable cast and some interesting camera work (the freeze frame at the beginning and end of the movie – the first one looked as though people were actually doing the mannequin challenge whereas the one at the end of the movie was an actual freeze frame), plus a unique relationship among the two leads, I still found this movie to be a bit lackluster and missing some key element to give it a higher score.

The Ranking

“Angels Falls: A Novel Holiday” is just below the middle of the pack.

1. Two Turtle Doves (air date: Nov 1) – 742 pts – weighted score: 123.7 (86.8%)
2. Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (air date: Oct 26) – 719 pts – weighted score: 121.0 (84.9%)
3. Love to the Rescue RE-RANKED (air date: March 23) – 708 pts – weighted score: 120.6 (84.6%)
4. Winter Love Story (air date: January 19) – 685 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
5. Mystery 101 (air date: January 27 (HMM)) – 454 pts – weighted score: 94.2 (80.5%)
6. Love on the Menu (air date: February 23) – 642 pts – weighted score: 113.8 (79.9%)
7. Holiday Hearts (air date: Nov 23) – 663 pts – weighted score: 113.0 (79.3%)
8. Bottled With Love (air date: April 13) – 649 pts – weighted score: 112.2 (78.7%)
9. Love Takes Flight (air date: April 27) – 670 pts – weighted score: 111.0 (77.9%)
10. Love, Romance & Chocolate (air date: February 16) – 627 pts – weighted score: 110.2 (77.3%)
11. The Last Bridesmaid (air date: June 22) – 643 pts – weighted score: 109.2 (76.6%)
12. Love, Fall and Order (air date: Oct 12) – 636 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
13. Paris, Wine & Romance (air date: May 4) – 638 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
14. Holiday Date (air date: Dec 14) – 647 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
15. My Boyfriend’s Back: Wedding March 5 (air date: June 8) – 635 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
16. Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy (air date: Nov 29) – 627 pts – weighted score: 107.0 (75.1%)
17. Over the Moon in Love (air date: Oct 5) – 613 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
18. Flip That Romance (air date: March 16) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
19. Check Inn to Christmas (air date: Nov 26) – 619 pts – weighted score: 105.7 (74.1%)
20. My One and Only (air date: Aug 31) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.6 (74.1%)
21. Mystery 101: Playing Dead (air date: June 23 (HMM)) – 425 pts – weighted score: 86.5 (73.9%)
22. A Summer Romance (air date: Aug 17) – 577 pts – weighted score: 103.7 (72.7%)
23. The Christmas Club (air date: Nov 27) – 588 pts – weighted score: 103.5 (72.6%)
24. True Love Blooms (air date: April 6) – 598 pts – weighted score: 103.1 (72.3%)
25. Forever in My Heart (air date: Sept 14) – 560 pts – weighted score: 102.4 (71.8%)
26. The Mistletoe Secret (air date: Nov 11) – 585 pts – weighted score: 102.2 (71.7%)
27. Christmas Under the Stars (air date: Nov 16) – 576 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
28. The Story of Us (air date: February 9) – 605 pts – weighted score: 101.3 (71.1%)
29. Holiday for Heroes (air date: Nov 8) – 566 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
30. Time for You to Come Home for Christmas (air date: Dec 8) – 582 pts – weighted score: 98.4 (69.1%)
31. A Brush with Love (air date: March 30) – 563 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
32. Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
33. A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love (air date: Nov 17) – 548 pts – weighted score: 96.9 (68.0%)
34. Ruby Herring: Silent Witness (air date: January 20 (HMM)) – 357 pts – weighted score: 79.5 (67.9%)
35. Love, Unleashed (air date: July 6, 2019) – 559 pts – weighted score: 96.2 (67.5%)
36. Sense Sensibility & Snowmen (air date: Nov 30) – 560 pts – weighted score: 96.1 (67.4%)
37. Love Under the Rainbow (air date: March 9) – 581 pts – weighted score: 96.0 (67.4%)
38. One Winter Proposal (air date: January 12) – 535 pts – weighted score: 95.8 (67.2%)
39. Just Add Romance (air date: March 2) – 548 pts – weighted score: 95.6 (67.1%)
40. Christmas Scavenger Hunt (air date: Nov 3) – 561 pts – weighted score: 95.4 (66.9%)
41. From Friend to Fiance (air date: May 25) – 555 pts – weighted score: 94.8% (66.5%)
42. Christmas at Dollywood (air date: Dec 8) – 553 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
43. Picture a Perfect Christmas (air date: Nov 10) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
44. Christmas in Montana (air date: Dec 14) – 556 pts – weighted score: 94.4% (66.2%)
45. A Christmas Duet (air date: Nov 25) – 540 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
46. Write Before Christmas (air date: Nov 17) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
47. Christmas Camp (air date: July 11) – 530 pts – weighted score: 93.9 (65.9%)
48. Our Christmas Love Song (air date: Nov 24) – 537 pts – weighted score: 93.4 (65.5%)
49. Angel Falls: A Novel Holiday (air date: Dec 15) – 537 pts – weighted score: 92.7 (65.1%)
50. Love and Sunshine (air date: Aug 3) – 504 pts – weighted score: 91.7 (64.3%)
51. Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (air date: March 10 (HMM) – 354 pts – weighted score: 74.1 (63.3%)
52. A Christmas Miracle (air date: Nov 14) – 494 pts – weighted score: 90.1 (63.2%)
53. Christmas at the Plaza (air date: Nov 28) – 517 pts – weighted score: 90.0 (63.1%)
54. Sister of the Bride (air date: June 29) – 516 pts – weighted score: 89.8 (63.0%)
55. Valentine in the Vineyard (air date: February 2) – 503 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
56. Love, Take Two (air date: June 15) – 507 pts – weighted score: 87.8 (61.6%)
57. All Summer Long (air date: Aug 24) – 512 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
58. Snowcoming (air date: January 26) – 485 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.2%)
59. Christmas in Rome (air date: Nov 30) – 494 pts – weighted score: 86.8 (60.9%)
60. The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
61. A Christmas Love Story (air date: Dec 7) – 525 pts – weighted score: 85.1 (59.7%)
62. Merry & Bright (air date: Nov 2) – 483 pts – weighted score: 84.4 (59.2%)
63. Christmas Town (air date: Dec 7) – 508 pts – weighted score: 83.8 (58.8%)
64. Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 (air date: Nov 24) – 465 pts – weighted score: 83.4 (58.5%)
65. Nostalgic Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 446 pts – weighted score: 79.2 (55.6%)
66. A Merry Christmas Match (air date: Oct 25) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.3 (54.9%)
67. Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
68. Rome in Love (air date: July 27) – 436 pts – weighted score: 76.7 (53.8%)
69. A Homecoming for the Holidays (air date: Dec 7) – 458 pts – weighted score: 75.9 (53.2%)
70. A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas (air date: Nov 7) – 398 pts – weighted score: 72.3 (50.7%)
71. A Taste of Summer (air date: Aug 10) – 403 pts – weighted score: 70.9 (49.7%)
72. A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
73. A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 pts – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)
74. A Cheerful Christmas (air date: Dec 15) – 410 pts – weighted score: 69.5 (48.8%)
75. Love in the Sun (air date: June 1) – 361 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.8%)

To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!

What did you think of “Angels Falls: A Novel Holiday”?  Comment below and let me know!

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