Hallmark For All Seasons

Countdown to Christmas 2022

A Kismet Christmas

“A Kismet Christmas,” starring Sarah Ramos, Carlo Marks and Marilu Henner aired on Hallmark Channel during the first weekend of 2022’s Countdown to Christmas, on October 23, 2022.

Betsy Morris provided the screenplay, with Mark Jean directing. Mark Jean’s most popular Hallmark movie that he directed is probably 2014’s “The Nine Lives of Christmas.” The movie was filmed in Victoria, Canada.

Music: The opening credits featured Best Christmas Ever (affiliate link) by Universal Honey.

In a nutshell

I came into this movie knowing nothing about it because the trailer showed nothing of the movie plot. And that’s surprising because the plot listed below is a good one, and one I would be interested in. Not sure why the trailer basically does not show Carlo Marks AT ALL except in a Santa costume. But in the end? This movie completely charmed me and was the winner of the weekend.

The Plot of “A Kismet Christmas”

Sarah is a children’s book author who returns to her hometown, where she reconnects with her family and Travis, her teenage crush. She soon discovers that a long-held family legend might actually be true.

Actors & Chemistry

I really like Carlo Marks. I wish he did more Hallmark stuff. Yes, I know he’s on “Chesapeake Shores,” but I never watched that show. As such, when he pops up, it’s a special treat because he’s so engaging and fun. And Sarah Ramos was new for me because she’s not on things I normally watch. People who watched “American Dreams,” “Parenthood” or “Winning Time” would obviously recognize her immediately. These two actors together? Fantastic and fun. They played off each other so well and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Added to that, I thought that Rubi Tupper was great as Jazzy, Travis’ daughter. Marilu Henner is just delightful, and all the other secondary characters/actors lended themselves to a very fun holiday movie!

Find the Tropes!

Lead character returning to hometown (albeit the town her grandmother lives) where an old crush still lives. Grandmother lives in house with a front porch. Lead character has a deadline (albeit post-Christmas at first, and then moved up when the editor said they were going to assign a ghostwriter if she didn’t hurry up). Cute kid. Deceased parent. Single parent. They crafted by making ornaments to go on the book donation tree. The entire town was one big festival, what with people dressing in Victorian garb all the time. We had a scavenger hunt!

Sarah wore a giant scarf. CGI snow popped up in one of the overhead shots of the town. Circle necklace is back! There was an almost kiss at one point even if it was more on her part than his. A couple snowballs got thrown throughout the movie. An unexpected slip/fall in the forest. 3/4ths of the way into the movie we finally saw some tree decorating.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

No way did Grandma keep the teen/college student’s room (who only visited in the summers and at Christmas) decorated AS IS for all those years. When I visited my grandparents during vacations, I slept in the guest room.

Were we to believe that Travis read the ENTIRE story of “A Christmas Carol” or was it just excerpts? I couldn’t tell.

Feelgoods

Sarah hanging out with her grandmother and her pals gave me SO MANY FEELS. I always loved hanging out with my grandmother and her bitty friends when I was younger. I went with them to Myrtle Beach, to Nashville, or just hung out and played bridge or spent a sunny day at the town pool.

I appreciate that this movie agrees that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie.

General Thoughts

I appreciate so much that this was a movie that had almost no conflict. None. With 15 minutes to go, I worried they may shoehorn something in, but they didn’t and I’m so happy they didn’t. The most conflict was her being upset that her grandmother was selling the house, and then debating whether to go back to NYC or stay in town – and that ended the minute that cookie went under her pillow.

Re-watchability of “A Kismet Christmas”

This is one I’ll watch every year. Simple, sweet, fun. It was great!

The Rankings

Well, look at that! A new number one movie for the year! I really, really liked this movie and it shows.

A Kismet Christmas (air date: Oct 24) – 664 pts – weighted score: 113.2 (79.4%)
Two Tickets to Paradise (air date: June 25) – 664 pts – weighted score: 111.4 (78.1%)
Just One Kiss (air date: Apr 2) – 660 pts – weighted score: 111.2 (78.0%)
The Presence of Love (air date: Mar 13) – 650 pts – weighted score: 110.9 (77.8%)
Wedding of a Lifetime (air date: Sept 17) – 640 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
Dating the Delaneys (air date: Aug 20) – 638 pts – weighted score: 106.5 (74.7%)
Love, Classified (air date: Apr 16) – 624 pts – weighted score: 106.1 (74.4%)
A Royal Runaway Romance (air date: Apr 9) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.9 (74.3%)
We Wish You a Married Christmas (air date: Oct 22) – 623 pts – weighted score: 105.7 (74.1%)
Rip in Time (air date: May 22) – 622 pts – weighted score: 105.3 (73.9%)
Campfire Christmas (air date: July 16) – 621 pts – weighted score: 104.9 (73.6%)
Noel Next Door (air date: Oct 21) – 609 pts – weighted score: 104.8 (73.5%)
Caribbean Summer (air date: June 11) – 636 pts – weighted score: 104.7 (73.5%)
Always Amore (air date: Apr 3) – 618 pts – weighted score: 104.5 (73.3%)
Hidden Gems (air date: Jun 4) – 611 pts – weighted score: 102.3 (71.8%)
Pumpkin Everything (air date: Oct 8) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.6 (71.3%)
Autumn in the City (air date: Oct 15) – 594 pts – weighted score: 100.2 (70.3%)
Love in the Limelight (air date: Aug 6) – 604 pts – weighted score: 100.0 (70.2%)
Second Chance at Love (air date: Mar 26) – 585 pts – weighted score: 99.7 (69.9%)
Romance in Style (air date: Aug 13) – 562 pts – weighted score: 97.2 (68.2%)
Big Sky River (air date: Aug 7) – 568 pts – weighted score: 97.1 (68.1%)
Game, Set, Love (air date: Aug 27) – 552 pts – weighted score: 95.3 (66.9%)
A Tail of Love (air date: Apr 23) – 557 pts – weighted score: 94.4 (66.2%)
The Perfect Pairing (air date: Jan 15) – 563 pts – weighted score: 92.7 (65.0%)
Christmas in Toyland (air date: July 23) – 544 pts – weighted score: 92.4 (64.8%)
The Wedding Veil Legacy (air date: Feb 19) – 543 pts – weighted score: 92.0 (64.5%)
Welcome to Mama’s (air date: Feb 26) – 540 pts – weighted score: 91.9 (64.5%)
Butlers in Love (air date: Jan 29) – 527 pts – weighted score: 91.3 (64.0%)
Feeling Butterflies (air date: Mar 12) – 542 pts – weighted score: 91.2 (64.0%)
To Her, With Love (air date: Sept 11) – 536 pts – weighted score: 89.4 (62.7%)
The Wedding Veil Unveiled (air date: Feb 12) – 515 pts – weighted score: 86.9 (61.0%)
My Grown-Up Christmas List (air date: July 9) – 514 pts – weighted score: 86.9 (60.9%)
Road Trip Romance (air date: May 14) – 492 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.3%)
Don’t Forget I Love You (air date: Jan 22) – 508 pts – weighted score: 85.8 (60.2%)
The Wedding Veil (air date: Jan 8) – 508 pts – weighted score: 83.3 (58.4%)
Where the Heart Belongs (air date: Jan 1) – 435 pts – weighted score: 74.5 (52.3%)
14 Love Letters (air date: July 31) – 420 pts – weighted score: 73.5 (51.6%)