Hallmark For All Seasons

“Christmas In My Heart,” starring Heather Hemmens, Luke Macfarlane, and Sheryl Lee Ralph, aired on October 23, 2021 during the premiere weekend of 2021’s Miracles of Christmas on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel.

A trio wrote the screenplay, Jamie Pachino, Shari Sharpe and Liz Storm. Pachino had a hand in On The 12th Date of Christmas, Sharpe wrote Christmas in Evergreen: Bells are Ringing, while Liz Storm is new to Hallmark. Director Pat Kiely happened to direct my favorite Lifetime Christmas movie from 2020, Christmas Ever After.

Parts of Quebec and Montreal in Canada stood in for West Virginia, and it was lovely.  Also? The interior of Sean’s house was AMAZING.

As for the movie poster?  I love this poster!  As a piano player, I love the use of the chart to show the characters AND the fact the movie so heavily features music.

In a nutshell

This was a rare Hallmark movie where the male character was really the lead role.  And I thought it was pretty darn good.  Since it was on HMM it was more serious in tone, but I didn’t mind that.  It is a strong addition to the roster for 2021.

The Plot of “Christmas In My Heart”

Concert violinist Beth tutors the daughter of reclusive Country music star Sean to prep her for the holiday concert. They are joined through the connective power of music. 

Actors & Chemistry

I. Loved. The. Daughter.  The actress in question, Maria Nash, was delightful.  She was fantastic in every scene.  She has been in a several projects already in her young life, and I sincerely hope she continues to do Hallmark movies even once she becomes an adult.

Not only that, but Luke Macfarlane showed a vulnerability in this movie that I’m not sure he’s shown in a previous Hallmark movie.  His scene in the church talking to Sheryl Lee Ralph about getting out and living life again was full of humanity and an emotional gut-punch.

Heather Hemmans previously starred in Love, Take Two on Hallmark.  While I didn’t necessarily like that movie, I liked her, so I’m glad she had the opportunity to be in another Hallmark movie.  And what a great one she picked!  She was fabulous in this.

The overall chemistry was outstanding.  Macfarlane and Hemmans were well matched, Macfarlane and young Nash were amazing together in all their scenes, and I really appreciated that Sheryl Lee Ralph had such good dialogue in this movie compared to last year’s Christmas Come Twice.

Tropes

Widowed character raising a cute kid on his own.  Sean brought his daughter and mom-in-law some hot cocoa, which MIL eventually drank with two hands.  We later had some empty coffee cups at the Christmas market.  The school was hosting a recital concert as a fundraiser.

Beth and her dad decorated a Christmas tree, with a special tree topper made by Beth’s mom. And his house had a front porch.  It was followed immediately by a baking scene (although it was latkes not cookies). Sean went Christmas tree shopping. And then the recital ended with some impromptu caroling.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

No way will six kids make that big a “children’s choir” sound.

I appreciate that Luke Macfarlane tried to knock out a southern accent, but he really shouldn’t have because it was so sporadic.  Here’s the think about Nashville – there are so many transplants to that area, that not having an accent is just as normal as having one.  I live in a southern city and the same holds true here as well.  Talk to anyone and you’ll find out they are actually from Ohio, Pennsylvania or New Jersey.  Heck, my own kids have lived in the south most of their lives and have reached aged 17 and 18 with no accents whatsoever.

Feelgoods

I appreciated that we got to hear Luke Macfarlane sing, and I thought the song wasn’t too bad.

General Thoughts

Overall, this was a very well-done Hallmark drama that happened to be set at Christmas. The Christmas portion of the movie was really incidental to the main story. But I didn’t mind that a bit because it was so good!

Re-watchability

I’ve said before I don’t tend to re-watch the more dramatic movies, so I doubt I’ll watch it again this season.  But I’ll definitely watch it when it re-airs next year!

The Ranking

“Christmas In My Heart” cracked the Top 10, and deservedly so.

1. The Santa Stakeout (air date: Oct 24) – 730 pts – weighted score: 122.3 (85.8%)
2. You, Me and The Christmas Trees (air date: Oct 22) – 716 pts – weighted score: 121.3 (85.1%)
3. Crashing Through The Snow (air date: July 10) – 705 pts – weighted score: 118.1 (82.8%)
4. Boyfriends of Christmas Past (air date: Oct 23) – 673 pts – weighted score: 116.1 (81.5%)
5. It Was Always You (air date: Feb 27) – 668 pts – weighted score: 114.2 (80.1%)
6. Christmas In My Heart (air date: Oct 23) – 675 pts – weighted score: 113.9 (79.9%)
7. You Had Me At Aloha (air date: June 5) – 675 pts – weighted score: 111.4 (78.1%)
8. Sweet Carolina (air date: May 15) – 648 pts – weighted score: 110.1 (77.2%)
9. Taking a Shot at Love (air date: Jan 2) – 641 pts – weighted score: 108.9 (76.4%)
10. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (air date: Mar 27) – 636 pts – weighted score: 108.5 (76.1%)
11. Right in Front of Me (air date: Apr 18) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
12. As Luck Would Have It (air date: Apr 10) – 638 pts – weighted score: 107.7 (75.5%)
13. Her Pen Pal (air date: June 19) – 636 pts – weighted score: 107.1 (75.1%)
14. The Baker’s Son (air date: June 13) – 637 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
15. Love Strikes Twice (air date: Oct 2) – 608 pts – weighted score: 105.2 (73.8%)
16. A Winter Getaway (air date: Jan 23) – 620 pts – weighted score: 104.4 (73.3%)
17. Love, For Real (air date: July 31) – 607 pts – weighted score: 103.6 (72.7%)
18. Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone (air date: Oct 1) – 595 pts – weighted score: 103.0 (72.2%)
19. Mix Up in the Mediterranean (air date: Feb 20) – 590 pts – weighted score: 102.5 (71.9%)
20. Advice to Love By (air date: Oct 16) – 599 pts – weighted score: 102.2 (71.7)
21. Two For The Win (air date: Jan 16) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
22. Taking the Reins (air date: Sept 28) – 574 pts – weighted score: 101.2 (71.0%)
23. Raise a Glass to Love (air date: Sept 18) – 590 pts – weighted score: 100.7 (70.7%)
24. Chasing Waterfalls (air date: Mar 20) – 570 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
25. Roadhouse Romance (air date: Sept 11) – 571 pts – weighted score: 100.2 (70.3%)
26. Sweet Pecan Summer (air date: ) – 576 pts – weighted score: 97.3 (68.3%)
27. Sand Dollar Cove (air date: June 26) – 557 pts – weighted score: 96.8 (67.9%)
28. Hearts Down Under (air date: Apr 24) – 547 pts – weighted score: 95.2 (66.8%)
29. Fit for a Prince (air date: Mar 6) – 546 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
30. A New Year’s Resolution (air date: Jan 9) – 516 pts – weighted score: 90.5 (63.5%)
31. Finding Love in Mountain View (air date: ) – 504 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
32. A Little Daytime Drama (air date: Aug 21) – 511 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
33. Baby, It’s Cold Inside (air date: May 8) – 495 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.0%)
34. Playing Cupid (air date: Feb 13) – 466 pts – weighted score: 82.6 (58.0%)
35. Beverly Hills Wedding (air date: Feb 6) – 431 pts – weighted score: 80.6 (56.5%)
36. Journey of my Heart (air date: ) – 450 pts – weighted score: 76.0 (53.3%)
37. Snowkissed (air date: Jan 31) – 402 pts – weighted score: 76.0 (53.3%)

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

What did you think of “Christmas In My Heart”?  Comment below and let me know!