Hallmark For All Seasons

“A Christmas Carousel” aired on December 19, 2020 on the Hallmark Channel.  Filmed in Ottawa, Canada, it starred Rachel Boston and Neal Bledsoe with Don McCutheon directing. Uma Incrocci and Kim Beyer-Johnson provided the script.

In a nutshell

This movie had a lot of headscratchers for me, but the performances of Rachel Boston and Neal Bledsoe shined.  I found that I liked it despite its issues.

Plot of “A Christmas Carousel”

When Lila’s father is hired by the Royal Family of Ancadia to restore their carousel as a surprise present for the prince’s niece, she comes along with him to complete it by Christmas. Along the way, she and Prince Whitaker learn they’re more similar than they would have thought and also help each other realize the path in life their hearts want them to follow.

Actors

Rachel Boston is one of the few Hallmark leading ladies that always receives “perfect marks” from me.  The others are Ashley Williams, Nikki DeLoach, Jill Wagner and Jen Lilley.   When I see any of those women listed, I know I’ll enjoy the movie just because they are in it.  This was the case for “A Christmas Carousel” as well.

Neal Bledsoe has been in a lot of projects over the years, but the one I most recognize him from is his other Hallmark movie, 2017’s “Coming Home for Christmas” co-starring Danica McKellar.  In that movie he played a very buttoned-up, super serious, curmudgeonly older brother is a richie rich family.  In this movie he played a royal richie rich BUT one that is super relaxed, quirky, and artistic.  I liked him in “Coming Home” but I LOVED him in “Christmas Carousel.”

I also want to say THANK YOU Kathryn Davis, who played Margaret, the supposed-to-be fiancee to Prince Whitaker.  She could have played it as a jealous, shrewish competitor to Lila, but she didn’t.  I applaud that decision, whether it was hers or the director’s.  The result is that I really liked Margaret a lot, which was refreshing.

Chemistry

These two actors deserved a better script, to be honest.  They elevated it as best they could, but even their tremendous chemistry wasn’t enough to save it from itself.  But yeah, Hallmark, consider this a formal request to put Boston and Bledsoe in another movie together in 2021.

Tropes

Surprisingly, this movie did not have a ton of tropes.  First and foremost, it was a royal movie. The lead character had a widower father. There was a Christmas Eve deadline to get the royal carousel restoration completed.  And apparently they even have homes with front porches in Ancadia.

We had a plucky royal kid. and Lila and her dad Roy managed to find a Christmas carnival to visit. Stringbean sang a carol at the end of the movie,

Bingo Card Score for “A Christmas Carousel”

Because of the lack of tropes, I only covered four spots on my bingo card. Feel free to download my free bingo cards and play along!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

There were a lot of things about the script that were bad.  I’ll just reference a few:

Is Ancadia such a low-key country that the Prince can casually sit in a cafe without any security or bodyguards?  Because NO ONE was looking at him, and I should think that if a royal was coming to my cafe I’d have advanced notice so I could put protocols into place and ensure that my food was second to none. Same goes for walking around the Christmas carnival before the tree lighting.  Nary a security guard to be seen.

Lila and her dad get called to Ancadia to work on a carousel and yet she almost never works on the carousel once she gets there. AND becomes a party planner once she arrives?

After Stringbean sang her solo, Lila and Roy immediately hopped in the limo to go to the airport.  And they apparently planned to fly home in an evening gown and tuxedo, respectively?  Not only that, but when Lila came back, the ENTIRE party stopped and everyone listened to their entire conversation.  I host a party every year for about 30 people and we’ve had people arrive and walk in join in the conversations without ANYONE’s knowledge that they only just arrived because of the noise and volume of people.

Feelgoods

THANK YOU, Neal Bledsoe, for pronouncing scones “correctly.”  I know Ancadia is not a real country, but as an England-stand in, Brits pronounce scones as “scawns,” so I appreciated his pronunciation.

I love The Coventry Carol and it is NOT an easy song to sing acapella, so kudos to the Tessa Kozma, who played Stringbean (okay, I know her character’s name was Maya but the Stringbean thing has to be called out for overusage).

Re-watchability

Yes, I’d rewatch “A Christmas Carousel” again, despite it’s faults.  But it is STRICTLY because of Boston and Bledsoe.

The Ranking

“A Christmas Carousel” is almost dead center of the year’s pack of movies.  It scored low in a couple categories but earned a lot of points for the actors and the chemistry between them.  Had anyone else starred in this movie, it would not have ranked this high.

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. The Christmas House (air date: Nov 22) – 710 pts – weighted score: 118.6 (83.2%)
4. Sweet Autumn (air date: Oct 17) – 693 pts – weighted score: 118.5 (83.1%)
5. Good Morning, Christmas! (air date: Nov 25) – 698 pts – weighted score: 118.2 (82.9%)
6. A Timeless Christmas (air date: Nov 14) – 700 pts – weighted score: 117.7 (82.6%)
7. Deliver by Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 697 pts – weighted score: 117.4 (82.4%)
8. Christmas With the Darlings (air date: Nov 8) – 691 pts – weighted score: 117.2 (82.2%)
9. Christmas Waltz (air date: Nov 29) – 694 pts – weighted score: 116.1 (81.5%)
10. Christmas by Starlight (air date: Nov 26) – 689 pts – weighted score: 115.9 (81.3%)
11. Unlocking Christmas (air date: Dec 12) – 687 pts – weighted score: 115.9 (81.3%)
12. A Glenbrooke Christmas (air date: Dec 12) – 695 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
13. Five Star Christmas (air date: Nov 27) – 688 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
14. Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater (air date: Nov 7) – 681 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
15. Love, Lights, Hanukkah! (air date: Dec 12) – 677 pts – weighted score: 114.1 (80.0%)
16. Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing (air date: Dec 5) – 672 pts – weighted score: 113.9 (79.9%)
17. The Christmas Bow (air date: Nov 8) – 676 pts – weighted score: 113.2 (79.4%)
18. Cranberry Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 650 pts – weighted score: 112.1 (78.6%)
19. The Angel Tree (air date: Nov 21) – 670 pts – weighted score: 110.9 (77.8%)
20. Matching Hearts (air date: Feb 8) – 640 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
21. Winter in Vail (air date: Jan 4) – 623 pts – weighted score: 108.8 (76.4%)
22. Wedding Every Weekend (air date: Aug 15) – 639 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
23. Love in Store (air date: Feb 22) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
24. Christmas in Vienna (air date: Nov 14) – 636 pts – weighted score: 107.0 (75.1%)
25. A Nashville Christmas Carol (air date: Nov 21) – 634 pts – weighted score: 107.0 (75.1%)
26. A Little Christmas Charm (air date: Dec 6) – 656 pts – weighted score: 106.9 (75.0%)
27. Love on Harbor Island (air date: Aug 8) – 634 pts – weighted score: 106.9 (75.0%)
28. Holly & Ivy (air date: Oct 31) – 615 pts – weighted score: 106.8 (74.9%)
29. A Christmas Carousel (air date: Dec 19) – 610 pts – weighted score: 106.1 (74.4%)
30. Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas (air date: Dec 5) – 615 pts – weighted score: 105.3 (73.9%)
31. The Secret Ingredient (air date: Feb 15) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.2 (73.8%)
32. The Christmas Doctor (air date: Nov 15) – 605 pts (weighted score: 104.8 (73.5%)
33. Country at Heart (air date: Oct 3) – 611 pts – weighted score: 104.1 (73.1%)
34. You’re Bacon Me Crazy (air date: Apr 4) – 591 pts – weighted score: 104.0 (72.9%)
35. My Best Friend’s Bouquet (air date: Oct 10) – 599 pts – weighted score: 103.4 (72.5%)
36. The Christmas Ring (air date: Nov 7) – 609 pts – weighted score: 103.3 (72.5%)
37. Fashionably Yours (air date: Apr 11) – 594 pts – weighted score: 102.6 (72.0%)
38. Follow Your Heart (air date: Oct 4) – 585 pts – weighted score: 101.6 (71.3%)
39. A Godwink Christmas: Second Chance, First Love (air date: Nov 22) – 587 pts – weighted score: 100.9 (70.8%)
40. Christmas Tree Lane (air date: Oct 24) – 574 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
41. A Valentine’s Match (air date: Feb 1) – 562 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
42. Love On Iceland (air date: Jan 18) – 563 pts – weighted score: 99.4 (69.7%)
43. Christmas She Wrote (air date: Dec 6) – 591 pts – weighted score: 99.2 (69.6%)
44. Christmas Comes Twice (air date: Dec 13) – 583 pts – weighted score: 99.1 (69.5%)
45. Hearts of Winter (air date: Jan 25) – 561 pts – weighted score: 98.2 (68.9%)
46. Heart of the Holidays (air date: Nov 23) – 570 pts – weighted score: 97.9 (68.7%)
47. Jingle Bell Bride (air date: Oct 24) – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.9 (68.7%)
48. Just My Type (air date: Mar 28) – 565 pts – weighted score: 95.4 (66.9%)
49. Meet Me At Christmas (air date: Nov 15) 532 pts – weighted score: 91.1 (63.9%)
50. Bad Date Chronicles (air date: Feb 28) – 520 pts – weighted score: 91.0 (63.9%)
51. Love in Winterland (air date: Jan 11) – 508 pts – weighted score: 90.7 (63.6%)
52. Nature of Love (air date: Apr 18) – 520 pts – weighted score: 90.3 (63.3%)
53. If I Only Had Christmas (air date: Nov 29) – 535 pts – weighted score: 90.0 (63.2%)
54. USS Christmas (air date: Nov 28) – 521 pts – weighted score: 87.5 (61.4%)
55. Chateau Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 502 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.3%)
56. Amazing Winter Romance (air date: Jan 20) – 487 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.1%)
57. Love Under the Olive Tree (air date: June 20) – 473 pts – weighted score: 85.0 (59.6%)
58. In the Key of Love (air date: Mar 14) – 470 pts – weighted score: 82.5 (57.9%)
59. Love in the Forecast (air date: Jun 13) – 440 pts – weighted score: 72.5 (50.8%)
60. Midway to Love (air date: June 26) – 410 pts – weighted score: 69.0 (48.4%)
61. Falling at Look Lodge (air date: Sept 26) – 350 pts – weighted score: 64.0 (44.9%)
62. Romance in the Air (air date: Aug 1) – 367 pts – weighted score: 63.2 (44.3%)
63. Follow Me to Daisy Hills (air date: Sept 19) – 337 pts – weighted score: 62.8 (44.1%)
64. 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!

In any event, what did you think of “A Christmas Carousel”?  Comment below and let me know!