Hallmark For All Seasons

“All Saints Christmas,” starring Ledisi and Roger Cross aired on November 6, 2022 during Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas.  Tracy Andreen wrote the script while Troy Scott (2020’s “The Christmas Ring”) directed.  Dedicated Hallmark fans recognize Andreen as being the writer behind great Hallmark movies such as Two Tickets to Paradise, Christmas with the Darlings and 2017’s “Christmas Getaway” (one of my all time faves that I watch every single year without fail). The movie was filmed both in Louisiana and British Columbia, Canada.

Music (affiliate links): So much music! I couldn’t catch everything, but here are the ones I did find.  Be There for Christmas by Ledisi was performed in the first scene. When Lissette’s dad woke up Matthew with music, the song was Shop ‘Til You Drop by Andre Charlier & Benois Sourisse. At the club, ‘Lissette’ practiced Home on Christmas also by Ledisi.  While decorating the tree we heard Something About Christmas by Craig McConnell.

In a nutshell

There was a lot to appreciate about this movie.  The writing was great, and the ensemble cast was seamless and really good.  The music was incredible. There were a few decisions made about how this movie was shot/framed that took me out of the movie, but I can’t say whether it was the director’s decision or the editor’s decision.  But those things didn’t sway me away from enjoying this movie a lot more than I anticipated.

The Plot of “All Saints Christmas”

Lisette is a popular R&B singer who’s getting ready to travel home to New Orleans for Christmas. When the media mistake a photo of her with Matthew (her music producer ex) as an engagement announcement, her family insists that he join her on the trip.

Actors & Chemistry

I LOVED LOVED LOVED Roger Cross. Halfway through the movie I went to his IMDb to see if I had seen him in anything else.  The answer is, no I have not but man it wasn’t for lack of opportunity.  He’s been acting since 1989 and has been in lots of big projects, but none that I watched.  So now I clearly have a huge back catalog of materials to start watching.  Because I loved him in this movie.

The secondary cast was all relatable and awesome.  Sometimes movies can make the families a bit in your face – they are either completely unsupportive, or overly supportive to the point of oppression.  This movie family was very well balanced between concerned and allowing Lissette to be independent and find her way.  They liked seeing Lissette and Matthew but weren’t necessarily asking embarrassing questions about “when are you getting married and having kids?”

If I’m being honest, the one weak link was Ledisi, our leading lady and executive producer.  I thought she was mostly fine in the role, but about halfway through the movie I thought, “I wonder if this movie would be even better but with __________ as Lissette?”  And then I started putting various other actresses in that spot. Alvina August? Holly Robinson Peete? Rukiya Bernard? RUKIYA BERNARD!  While Ledisi was the obvious lead since her own music was the focus, I think from a leading lady perspective, Rukiya Bernard might have been a better lead for this particular character.  At times Lissette behaved immaturely, and I think having the more mature Ledisi act that way came off as childish.  It was frustrating because in every other scene, Ledisi was great.

Find the Tropes!

Overhead drone shot of city, ice skating.  Shopping at a Christmas market.  It’s not really “girl returning to small hometown” when she’s going to New Orleans, but she’s still returning home.  So it counts.  Marble laptop made an appearance! Lissette’s mom had a house with a front porch. Fake fiancé! Family business in trouble (the nightclub). Some empty cups. and carolers. Matthew dressed up as Santa with Lissette as Mrs. Claus. A toy drive – should be a trope! Tree decorating. An interrupted kiss.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

Did I miss the reason their entire house was decorated for Mardi Gras Christmas instead of just plain Christmas?  My daughter got home from work midway through my viewing and as she saw an interior shot of the house she said, “Why are they decorating for Mardi Gras with Christmas trees?”  While I appreciate the desire to hit home that this movie was set in New Orleans, it just seemed overkill to have EVERYTHING in purple, green and gold.

As I said at the beginning of my post, there were a couple camera angles or moves that came off as very amateur.  In the scene when Lissette rushes down to the waterfront to find Matthew and declare her love, she ran into a close up one shot, followed by an up close one shot of Matthew.  Then for some inexplicable reason, she grabs his hand and moves him 3 feet away to continue the conversation with a fresh close up one shot.  Why?  Why the need to re-establish the shot when they were already fine where they were both from a story standpoint and a lighting/set standpoint?

Feelgoods

I don’t know if anyone else heard this during the movie, but I heard trains going by and dogs barking during the movie and I loved it.  I appreciated that New Orleans didn’t stop being New Orleans during this movie. I’ve been to New Orleans and LOVE that city, so to see it and hear all the noise made me smile.

These two actors who played Clay and Bob.  Trezzo Mahoro (Lucas in “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before”) and Don Mike were in this movie just enough and every scene they had was great.  Comedic timing was on point for both actors, and despite being secondary cast, they made every moment count.

Re-watchability of “All Saints Christmas”

The music was great, the cast was great, and the script was great.  I would almost definitely watch this movie again.

The Rankings

A solid ranking!  It has hit the Top 10 for the year, which is a great place to be three weekends into the movies.

1. Ghosts of Christmas Always (air date: Oct 30) – 732 pts – weighted score: 122.4 (85.9%)
2. Lights, Camera, Christmas! (air date: Nov 5) – 671 pts – weighted score: 113.1 (79.4%)
3. A Kismet Christmas (air date: Oct 24) – 664 pts – weighted score: 113.2 (79.4%)
4. Two Tickets to Paradise (air date: June 25) – 664 pts – weighted score: 111.4 (78.1%)
5. Just One Kiss (air date: Apr 2) – 660 pts – weighted score: 111.2 (78.0%)
6. The Presence of Love (air date: Mar 13) – 650 pts – weighted score: 110.9 (77.8%)
7. Wedding of a Lifetime (air date: Sept 17) – 640 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
8. Dating the Delaneys (air date: Aug 20) – 638 pts – weighted score: 106.5 (74.7%)
9. Love, Classified (air date: Apr 16) – 624 pts – weighted score: 106.1 (74.4%)
10. All Saints Christmas (air date: Nov 5) – 624 pts – weighted score: 106.0 (74.4%)
11. A Royal Runaway Romance (air date: Apr 9) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.9 (74.3%)
12. Jolly Good Christmas (air date: Oct 29) – 625 pts – weighted score: 105.7 (74.2%)
13. We Wish You a Married Christmas (air date: Oct 22) – 623 pts – weighted score: 105.7 (74.1%)
14. Rip in Time (air date: May 22) – 622 pts – weighted score: 105.3 (73.9%)
15. We Need a Little Christmas (air date: Oct 22) – 614 pts – weighted score: 105.1 (73.7%)
16. Campfire Christmas (air date: July 16) – 621 pts – weighted score: 104.9 (73.6%)
17. Noel Next Door (air date: Oct 21) – 609 pts – weighted score: 104.8 (73.5%)
18. Caribbean Summer (air date: June 11) – 636 pts – weighted score: 104.7 (73.5%)
19. A Cozy Christmas Inn (air date: Oct 28) – 626 pts – weighted score: 104.6 (73.5%)
20. Always Amore (air date: Apr 3) – 618 pts – weighted score: 104.5 (73.3%)
21. Hidden Gems (air date: Jun 4) – 611 pts – weighted score: 102.3 (71.8%)
22. A Magical Christmas Village (air date: Nov 4) – 592 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
23. Pumpkin Everything (air date: Oct 8) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.6 (71.3%)
24. Autumn in the City (air date: Oct 15) – 594 pts – weighted score: 100.2 (70.3%)
25. Love in the Limelight (air date: Aug 6) – 604 pts – weighted score: 100.0 (70.2%)
26. Second Chance at Love (air date: Mar 26) – 585 pts – weighted score: 99.7 (69.9%)
27. Christmas Bedtime Stories (air date: Oct 29) – 575 pts – weighted score: 98.8 (69.3%)
28. Romance in Style (air date: Aug 13) – 562 pts – weighted score: 97.2 (68.2%)
29. Big Sky River (air date: Aug 7) – 568 pts – weighted score: 97.1 (68.1%)
30. Game, Set, Love (air date: Aug 27) – 552 pts – weighted score: 95.3 (66.9%)
31. A Tail of Love (air date: Apr 23) – 557 pts – weighted score: 94.4 (66.2%)
32. The Perfect Pairing (air date: Jan 15) – 563 pts – weighted score: 92.7 (65.0%)
33. Christmas in Toyland (air date: July 23) – 544 pts – weighted score: 92.4 (64.8%)
34. The Wedding Veil Legacy (air date: Feb 19) – 543 pts – weighted score: 92.0 (64.5%)
35. Welcome to Mama’s (air date: Feb 26) – 540 pts – weighted score: 91.9 (64.5%)
36. Butlers in Love (air date: Jan 29) – 527 pts – weighted score: 91.3 (64.0%)
37. Feeling Butterflies (air date: Mar 12) – 542 pts – weighted score: 91.2 (64.0%)
38. To Her, With Love (air date: Sept 11) – 536 pts – weighted score: 89.4 (62.7%)
39. The Wedding Veil Unveiled (air date: Feb 12) – 515 pts – weighted score: 86.9 (61.0%)
40. My Grown-Up Christmas List (air date: July 9) – 514 pts – weighted score: 86.9 (60.9%)
41. Road Trip Romance (air date: May 14) – 492 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.3%)
42. Don’t Forget I Love You (air date: Jan 22) – 508 pts – weighted score: 85.8 (60.2%)
43. The Wedding Veil (air date: Jan 8) – 508 pts – weighted score: 83.3 (58.4%)
44. Where the Heart Belongs (air date: Jan 1) – 435 pts – weighted score: 74.5 (52.3%)
45. 14 Love Letters (air date: July 31) – 420 pts – weighted score: 73.5 (51.6%)

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

What did you think of “All Saints Christmas”?  Comment below and let me know!