Hallmark For All Seasons

Miracles of Christmas 2020

Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas

“Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas” aired on December 5, 2020 on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. The movie was filmed in and around Vancouver. David Winning directed, having started in the Hallmark world with the every popular “Unleashing Mr. Darcy.” Marcy Hollard provided the script, in addition to Jingle Bell Bride from the beginning of the Hallmark Christmas movie season. The movie starred Lacey Chabert, Stephen Huszar, Leon and several others.

The inn has definitely been used in another movie recently because I immediately recognized it from the scene when Sarah was going into her room when Jasper was going into his. I did a quick hunt online to see if I could figure out where those scenes were shot, and while I suspect is was either in Langley or Aldergrove, I don’t know the exact property. But it’s definitely one they’ve used before.

I do know that the kitchen they used to make gingerbread cookies is the same house that was featured in Just My Type earlier this year. I took a picture of my TV of that kitchen AND the upstairs bookcase area that circles the room, and it’s the same from this movie.

And before anyone asks, yes I went looking to see if I could find the Christmas-themed chess set. I found a Christmas chess set on eBay, but it was not the one from the movie. Hallmark sold a chess set in 2004, but not the one in the movie.

In a nutshell

This movie was a bit hit or miss for me. I liked the idea of it (mysterious invitations sent to seemingly random people), but thought the romance was unnecessary, to be honest.

Plot of “Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas”

Five guests are mysteriously invited to an inn to celebrate Christmas. With the help of the owner Ben, Sarah discovers that an event from the past may connect them and change their lives forever.

Actors

There’s a reason many consider Lacey Chabert the queen of Hallmark. She never turns in a mediocre performance and always gives her all. She connects with every single leading man she works with, and is a lot more approachable and warm than other actresses who are considered Hallmark royalty.

My feelings on Stephen Huszar are decidedly mixed. In some ways he’s a great leading man, but sometimes he has these awkward mannerisms that make his characters come off as creepy versus romantic. I don’t know if they are directions he receives from the director, or notes from the script, or his own personal choices, but those mannerisms distract me during his movies.

Chemistry

As I said, Lacey has chemistry and this movie is no different. In this movie she worked well with Huszar, with Leon, and with Lini Evans (who played Karen, the woman who reunited with her former boyfriend). The result is that in every scene that Lacey has (which is 90% of this movie), the material is elevated and everyone shines.

Tropes

Sarah didn’t open the movie Christmas tree shopping, but she got one anyway. After somehow getting it home all by herself she began decorating it. And there’s the drone shot of a car on a lonely road. And some CGI right out of the gate as well and continuously through the movie.

Sarah wore a type of circle necklace although not the one I normally track. We had crafting with the ornament making. They went to a Christmas tree farm that had a festival of some kind, and folks enjoyed hot cocoa in clearly empty cups.

Sarah shared with Ben that her dad passed away when she was little, and later we discovered that her mom had also recently passed. Ben’s sister wore a giant scarf. I loved it.

The town had a tree lighting. Then we had some gingerbread cookie baking. It’s Christmas Eve! Party time! And I was hoping we’d get a kiss in the final shot on the porch with snow, but alas, Ben and Sarah moved back inside and instead our last shot was of Leon singing the last note of Blake Shelton’s song.

Bingo Card Score for “Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas”

I only covered 7 spots. Feel free to download my free bingo cards and play along!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but is her room on full display to anyone sitting on the patio? And she has no qualms about being on display at night in her PJs as she comes out of the bathroom and lays on her bed to check her phone? Oh, no way. I go in a hotel room and the FIRST thing I do is close the curtains, even if I’m 20 stories up and facing nothing but blue skies and a parking lot down below. If I was in a room like hers I’d cover up those doors pronto.

So I know the movie is supposed to have a romance, and that Sarah and Ben were that romance to focus on. But by 1 hour 12 minutes into the movie, I felt no romance vibes on Sarah’s part, and yet Ben was telling his sister “she’s leaving after Christmas,” as though there was a spark. I saw and heard no spark between them at all. In fact, when they were chatting by the firepit during an earlier scene, I appreciated that they had a genuine conversation WITHOUT a whiff of the romance stuff at all. To me, the romance seemed shoehorned in.

From the amount of CGI snow we saw (it was in practically EVERY scene), those poor people should have been stuck in a waist-high blizzard, not walking on constantly clear streets and sidewalks.

Feelgoods

The dad trying to be hip around his teenaged daughter. I wanted to hug him out of pity and laugh because I think every parent of teens wants to think their kids think they are cool. My son may not think I’m cool, while my daughter may cringe at some of my jokes but voluntarily hangs out with me without me having to beg.

I don’t generally get the chills when I watch Hallmark movies. Their plot twists are obvious and you know what’s coming long before it happens. Despite this, when Sarah saw the picture of her pregnant mom on the wall, I got goosies. That has NEVER happened while watching a Hallmark movie.

THANK YOU LACEY AND STEPHEN, for slow dancing in a relaxed hold versus the grade school “girl’s wrists on guys shoulder” slow dances that we’ve seen in past movies.

Re-watchability

As I said, if you take away the forced romance storyline, this is a decent movie, and it might be worth watching again. But there are so many other movies that are better than this one that it would never be an immediate choice to re-watch.

The Ranking

“Time For Us to Come Home for Christmas” is solidly in the middle of the pack for the year.

One Royal Holiday (air date: Oct 31) – 722 pts – weighted score: 121.8 (85.5%)
On the 12th Date of Christmas (air date: Nov 1) – 707 pts – weighted score: 119.2 (83.6%)
The Christmas House (air date: Nov 22) – 710 pts – weighted score: 118.6 (83.2%)
Sweet Autumn (air date: Oct 17) – 693 pts – weighted score: 118.5 (83.1%)
Good Morning, Christmas! (air date: Nov 25) – 698 pts – weighted score: 118.2 (82.9%)
A Timeless Christmas (air date: Nov 14) – 700 pts – weighted score: 117.7 (82.6%)
Deliver by Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 697 pts – weighted score: 117.4 (82.4%)
Christmas With the Darlings (air date: Nov 8) – 691 pts – weighted score: 117.2 (82.2%)
Christmas Waltz (air date: Nov 29) – 694 pts – weighted score: 116.1 (81.5%)
Christmas by Starlight (air date: Nov 26) – 689 pts – weighted score: 115.9 (81.3%)
Five Star Christmas (air date: Nov 27) – 688 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater (air date: Nov 7) – 681 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing (air date: Dec 5) – 672 pts – weighted score: 113.9 (79.9%)
The Christmas Bow (air date: Nov 8) – 676 pts – weighted score: 113.2 (79.4%)
Cranberry Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 650 pts – weighted score: 112.1 (78.6%)
The Angel Tree (air date: Nov 21) – 670 pts – weighted score: 110.9 (77.8%)
Matching Hearts (air date: Feb 8) – 640 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
Winter in Vail (air date: Jan 4) – 623 pts – weighted score: 108.8 (76.4%)
Wedding Every Weekend (air date: Aug 15) – 639 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
Love in Store (air date: Feb 22) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
Christmas in Vienna (air date: Nov 14) – 636 pts – weighted score: 107.0 (75.1%)
A Nashville Christmas Carol (air date: Nov 21) – 634 pts – weighted score: 107.0 (75.1%)
Love on Harbor Island (air date: Aug 8) – 634 pts – weighted score: 106.9 (75.0%)
Holly & Ivy (air date: Oct 31) – 615 pts – weighted score: 106.8 (74.9%)
Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas (air date: Dec 5) – 615 pts – weighted score: 105.3 (73.9%)
The Secret Ingredient (air date: Feb 15) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.2 (73.8%)
The Christmas Doctor (air date: Nov 15) – 605 pts (weighted score: 104.8 (73.5%)
Country at Heart (air date: Oct 3) – 611 pts – weighted score: 104.1 (73.1%)
You’re Bacon Me Crazy (air date: Apr 4) – 591 pts – weighted score: 104.0 (72.9%)
My Best Friend’s Bouquet (air date: Oct 10) – 599 pts – weighted score: 103.4 (72.5%)
The Christmas Ring (air date: Nov 7) – 609 pts – weighted score: 103.3 (72.5%)
Fashionably Yours (air date: Apr 11) – 594 pts – weighted score: 102.6 (72.0%)
Follow Your Heart (air date: Oct 4) – 585 pts – weighted score: 101.6 (71.3%)
A Godwink Christmas: Second Chance, First Love (air date: Nov 22) – 587 pts – weighted score: 100.9 (70.8%)
Christmas Tree Lane (air date: Oct 24) – 574 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
A Valentine’s Match (air date: Feb 1) – 562 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
Love On Iceland (air date: Jan 18) – 563 pts – weighted score: 99.4 (69.7%)
Hearts of Winter (air date: Jan 25) – 561 pts – weighted score: 98.2 (68.9%)
Heart of the Holidays (air date: Nov 23) – 570 pts – weighted score: 97.9 (68.7%)
Jingle Bell Bride (air date: Oct 24) – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.9 (68.7%)
Just My Type (air date: Mar 28) – 565 pts – weighted score: 95.4 (66.9%)
Meet Me At Christmas (air date: Nov 15) 532 pts – weighted score: 91.1 (63.9%)
Bad Date Chronicles (air date: Feb 28) – 520 pts – weighted score: 91.0 (63.9%)
Love in Winterland (air date: Jan 11) – 508 pts – weighted score: 90.7 (63.6%)
Nature of Love (air date: Apr 18) – 520 pts – weighted score: 90.3 (63.3%)
If I Only Had Christmas (air date: Nov 29) – 535 pts – weighted score: 90.0 (63.2%)
USS Christmas (air date: Nov 28) – 521 pts – weighted score: 87.5 (61.4%)
Chateau Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 502 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.3%)
Amazing Winter Romance (air date: Jan 20) – 487 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.1%)
Love Under the Olive Tree (air date: June 20) – 473 pts – weighted score: 85.0 (59.6%)
In the Key of Love (air date: Mar 14) – 470 pts – weighted score: 82.5 (57.9%)
Love in the Forecast (air date: Jun 13) – 440 pts – weighted score: 72.5 (50.8%)
Midway to Love (air date: June 26) – 410 pts – weighted score: 69.0 (48.4%)
Falling at Look Lodge (air date: Sept 26) – 350 pts – weighted score: 64.0 (44.9%)
Romance in the Air (air date: Aug 1) – 367 pts – weighted score: 63.2 (44.3%)
Follow Me to Daisy Hills (air date: Sept 19) – 337 pts – weighted score: 62.8 (44.1%)
How to Train Your Husband (air date: May 16) – 350 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.9%)