Y’all, I thought I’d get back to doing reviews on here once I watched a couple movies in the early Spring, but the fact is I’ve enjoyed my 2022 sabbatical a lot. I clearly needed it. The negative, though, is that I currently have 25 Hallmark movies saved on my Tivo and there are two more airing this weekend.
In order to save my sanity at the idea of writing up posts for 25+ movies, I am opting to do a bunch of mini-reviews (although they are not really reviews so much as impressions of what I thought of the movies) in which I just write a brief paragraph about some of the movies I’ll be watching over the next six weeks as we gear up for the Christmas movie season, which starts in October. I do intend to watch and review all of those, AND do it in a timely manner. But I have to clear out my Tivo to make room for more movies! Below you’ll find the first of my thoughts of a few of the movies that have come out this year, with more batches to come over the next few weeks.
I won’t be reviewing all of them, but I will be SCORING all of them and adding the scores to the list at the bottom of each post.
A quick note to my email subscribers – it has come to my attention that my last six posts were never emailed to you. I’m working to find out why my plug-in is no longer working properly. Be sure to go check out those posts from April and June!
“Rip in Time” starring Torrey DeVitto and Niall Matter
Aired May 22, 2022 on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries on May 22, 2022. The script was provided by C. Jay Cox, who wrote last year’s Love Strikes Twice, which I remember thoroughly enjoying. As such, going into this I had high expectations.
The Plot of “Rip In Time”
When organic farmer Sarah meets a man who claims to be from 1787 named Rip Van Winkle Jr., she soon discovers old fashioned romantic feelings that might be just as crazy as his story.
General Thoughts
I loved the movie. It had quite a few tropes, I thoroughly enjoyed the outlandish story (time travel is not something Hallmark does a lot) and I thought the actors were fantastic. I watched this one a while back with the intention of writing up a complete review, but completely forgot to circle back and do it. It’s been a while now, so I can’t remember too much detail about the movie at this point. I just know it’s one of my favorite Niall Matter movies now and I came away being really happy I watched it.
“Always Amore” starring Autumn Reeser and Tyler Hynes
Aired April 3, 2022 on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel. Kevin Fair directed this one, with Julie Sherman Wolfe providing the screenplay. High hopes for a JSW script in Tyler Hynes’ hands.
The Plot of “Always Amore”
Elizabeth is forced to work with Ben, a pro restaurant consultant, to keep her late husband’s Italian restaurant afloat, but as they get closer, she realizes that not all change is bad and might even open her heart to new love.
General Thoughts
This movie had a lot of stuff going on. A restaurant in trouble, a middle schooler struggling with friendships, over the top accents, dead husbands and fiancés, truffle hunts, a cooking competition, ukulele buskers, a race to the ferry dock, and Tyler’s trademark “two hands on her face” kiss at the end. Oh, and an atrocious haircut on Tyler that only made it into the movie because he showed up on set with his hair like that and they made him keep it (that’s the story I heard, anyway). But you know what? I really liked this movie – and not just because of Tyler Hynes. I thought the script was great (thanks to JSW) and had some real heavy moments (the scene when Elizabeth took off her wedding ring, in particular, was really well done).
“Christmas in Toyland” starring Vanessa Lengies and Jesse Hutch
Aired July 23, 2022 on Hallmark Channel during this year’s Christmas in July. The screenwriters were Courtney McAllister and Kate Pragnell with Bill Corcoran directing. It was NOT filmed in Vancouver like most Hallmark movies, but rather they filmed in Hamilton, which is on the eastern side of Canada near Toronto.
The Plot of “Christmas in Toyland”
A toy store data analyst attempts to save hundreds of jobs right before Christmas to help keep the in-store experience alive.
General Thoughts
I love Christmas movies, and wanted to like this one since it was feeding my need as we head into the Christmas movie season next month, but I was let down by “Christmas in Toyland” for one main reason. While yes, I understand that the whole point of the movie was that they would stick it to the man by reopening the grandfather’s store and make their own toys, I don’t get why the flagship store couldn’t have been placed in NYC versus Vegas. I’m sorry, but families don’t visit Las Vegas and think, “Let me check out the children’s toys,” but they DO go to New York and do that. There’s a reason FAO Schwartz was such a NYC staple for so many years. But to be honest, that wasn’t the only reason the movie let me down. What let me down is that the movie reverted back to plain vanilla stuff compared to a lot of really great Christmas movies last year.
The Rankings
- 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%)
- 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%)
- Rip in Time (air date: May 22) – 622 pts – weighted score: 105.3% (73.9%)
- Always Amore (air date: Apr 3) – 618 pts – weighted score: 104.5 (73.3%)
- 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%)
- The Wedding Veil Unveiled (air date: Feb 12) – 515 pts – weighted score: 86.9 (61.0%)
- 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%)
To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!
What did you think of these movies? Comment below and let me know!
