Hallmark For All Seasons

“The Christmas Bow” aired on November 8, 2020.  It starred violinist and actress Lucia Micarelli and Hallstar (and one of my personal faves) Michael Rady. It was filmed in Provo, Utah.  Clare Niederpruem directed the movie, having jumped on the Hallmark train in 2019 with such movies as Love, Fall and Order and Holiday for Heroes.

In a nutshell

You guys, I liked so many things about this movie.  So! Many! Things!

Plot (from Hallmark Channel website)

Kate is a promising musician whose lifelong dream of playing in the Rocky Mountain Philharmonic is put on hold by an accident. Reconnecting with Patrick, an old family friend, and his young cousin Gavin (Kenneth Cummins, “The Road Home for Christmas”), while recovering at home during the Christmas holiday, she finds love in someone who believes in her.

Actors

If Michael Rady were tasked with playing himself in a movie, and felt the need to do research, all he’d need to do is watch this movie to know how to play himself.  I say this because in every interview I’ve seen him do he is charming, affable, friendly, kind and genuine.  And so was his character, Patrick.  This was probably Rady’s easiest acting job EVER.

Lucia Micarelli was really well cast as Kate.  Not only did she shine while she played her violin, but her acting brought out a character who was appropriately serious, subdued, worried about her future and yet still wanting to be with Patrick despite concerns about where life was taking them.

And I have to bring up James Saito, as the granddad.  Now, I know that Saito has been an actor for a long, long time, but the one role of his that I hold special is that of Dr. Chen in “Eli Stone.”  It was a delightful show that was sadly canceled after two seasons (I was devastated).  Fortunately, ABC.com has it available for streaming (for free!) and I HIGHLY recommend you go watch the show.  Anyway, Saito played an acupuncturist who helps mentor Eli during his crisis of conscience throughout the show.  And he is fantastic.  So when I saw his name pop up in the credits, I got my first feels of the movie at that moment.

Six Degrees of Polaha: Jame Saito is only two steps away from Polaha.  Saito starred in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” way back in 1990.  The movie also featured Elias Koteas.  Koteas had a role in 2013’s “Devil’s Knot” along with Polaha.

Chemistry

The cast chemistry was very good.  Rady’s affable Patrick was the perfect foil for Micarelli’s pensive Kate.  I liked the extended family – Kate’s parents, Patrick’s mom and the child cousin.  It all worked for me.

Tropes

The movie started out strong – Kate’s mom was wearing the circle necklace in one of the first scenes.  There was also some Christmas tree shopping, a house with a front porch, a cute kid, some hot cocoa, and cookie decorating.

Additionally, I saw some crafting (making wreaths), a Christmas festival, a big scarf, some carolers and a snow globe (a happy unexpected addition).  But that was really it – this movie, while it took place at Christmas, was not a Christmas-centric movie.  The plot of the movie could have shifted to any time of year and still been told well.

Bingo Card Score for “The Christmas Bow”

I suffered through my least covered bingo card thus far.  I only covered six spots!  SIX!  That’s almost as though I wasn’t even playing.  Feel free to download my free bingo cards and play along!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

I had serious issues with the medical stuff in this movie.  I had the privilege of working for an OT/PT department for 6-7 years at my old job.  I’m very familiar with OT and PT practices in general.  “Bow” did not promote good, productive OT or PT.  It was some mild stretching and that’s about it.  But I get it – it’s not like the movie is going to go into great detail about their therapy, but some fact-based treatment info might be helpful.

Feelgoods

I think we’d all have to agree that only a MONSTER could watch the flashback scene with the grandma coming out of the fog of dementia to sing along with her daughter’s violin music and not be affected by it. It was a lovely scene from beginning to end.

There was some fun, casual humor, my favorite of which was the wingman line between Patrick and Gavin, his young cousin.  Added to that, I loved how Gavin had no qualms about playing matchmaker between Patrick and Kate.

I appreciated that there was a kiss 3/4th into the movie versus only at the end.  And that Patrick and Kate acted like adults about it.  That has been a new thing in this year’s Hallmark movies, and I approve!

And EVERY TIME Lucia Micarelli picked up that violin and played it was music to my ears.  So refreshing to allow the actor to actually PLAY in the movie – and play she did!  Absolutely gorgeous.

Re-watchability

As much as I liked the movie, I’m not sure I’d watch “The Christmas Bow” again.  It’s a much more serious movie despite having a bit of romance in it.  Other than last year’s amazing Two Turtle Doves, I tend to like my Christmas movies to be light-hearted and whimsical.

The Ranking

I have loved this year’s batch of Christmas movies. “The Christmas Bow” has a solid place in the Top 10 thus far for the year, which is a good place to be at the 1/3rd mark for Christmas movies.

1. One Royal Holiday (air date: Oct 31) – 722 pts – weighted score: 121.8 (85.5%)
2. On the 12th Date of Christmas (air date: Nov 1) – 707 pts – weighted score: 119.2 (83.6%)
3. Sweet Autumn (air date: Oct 17) – 693 pts – weighted score: 118.5 (83.1%)
4. Deliver by Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 697 pts – weighted score: 117.4 (82.4%)
5. Christmas With the Darlings (air date: Nov 8) – 691 pts – weighted score: 117.2 (82.2%)
6. Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater (air date: Nov 7) – 681 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
7. The Christmas Bow (air date: Nov 8) – 676 pts – weighted score: 113.2 (79.4%)
8. Cranberry Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 650 pts – weighted score: 112.1 (78.6%)
9. Matching Hearts (air date: Feb 8) – 640 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
10. Winter in Vail (air date: Jan 4) – 623 pts – weighted score: 108.8 (76.4%)
11. Wedding Every Weekend (air date: Aug 15) – 639 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
12. Love in Store (air date: Feb 22) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
13. Love on Harbor Island (air date: Aug 8) – 634 pts – weighted score: 106.9 (75.0%)
14. The Secret Ingredient (air date: Feb 15) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.2 (73.8%)
15. Country at Heart (air date: Oct 3) – 611 pts – weighted score: 104.1 (73.1%)
16. You’re Bacon Me Crazy (air date: Apr 4) – 591 pts – weighted score: 104.0 (72.9%)
17. My Best Friend’s Bouquet (air date: Oct 10) – 599 pts – weighted score: 103.4 (72.5%)
18. The Christmas Ring (air date: Nov 7) – 609 pts – weighted score: 103.3 (72.5%)
19. Fashionably Yours (air date: Apr 11) – 594 pts – weighted score: 102.6 (72.0%)
20. Follow Your Heart (air date: Oct 4) – 585 pts – weighted score: 101.6 (71.3%)
21. Christmas Tree Lane (air date: Oct 24) – 574 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
22. A Valentine’s Match (air date: Feb 1) – 562 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
23. Love On Iceland (air date: Jan 18) – 563 pts – weighted score: 99.4 (69.7%)
24. Hearts of Winter (air date: Jan 25) – 561 pts – weighted score: 98.2 (68.9%)
25. Jingle Bell Bride (air date: Oct 24) – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.9 (68.7%)
26. Just My Type (air date: Mar 28) – 565 pts – weighted score: 95.4% (66.9%)
27. Bad Date Chronicles (air date: Feb 28) – 520 pts – weighted score: 91.0 (63.9%)
28. Love in Winterland (air date: Jan 11) – 508 pts – weighted score: 90.7 (63.6%)
29. Nature of Love (air date: Apr 18) – 520 pts – weighted score: 90.3 (63.3%)
30. Chateau Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 502 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.3%)
31. Amazing Winter Romance (air date: Jan 20) – 487 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.1%)
32. Love Under the Olive Tree (air date: June 20) – 473 pts – weighted score: 85.0 (59.6%)
33. In the Key of Love (air date: Mar 14) – 470 pts – weighted score: 82.5 (57.9%)
34. Love in the Forecast (air date: Jun 13) – 440 pts – weighted score: 72.5 (50.8%)
35. Midway to Love (air date: June 26) – 410 pts – weighted score: 69.0 (48.4%)
36. Falling at Look Lodge (air date: Sept 26) – 350 pts – weighted score: 64.0 (44.9%)
37. Romance in the Air (air date: Aug 1) – 367 pts – weighted score: 63.2 (44.3%)
38. Follow Me to Daisy Hills (air date: Sept 19) – 337 pts – weighted score: 62.8 (44.1%)
39. How to Train Your Husband (air date: May 16) – 350 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.9%)

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

What did you think of “The Christmas Bow”?  Comment below and let me know!