Hallmark For All Seasons

Miracles of Christmas 2020

Christmas She Wrote

“Christmas She Wrote” aired on December 6, 2020 on the Hallmark Channel. The movie was filmed just a couple months ago in Victoria, Canada. It starred Danica McKellar and Dylan Neal as well as Andrew Francis and Dan Payne. Andrea Canning provided the script while Terry Ingram directed.

In a nutshell

Later I’ll go into how the movie is a hot mess, but I didn’t hate it, because there were a LOT of things I liked about the movie.

Plot of “Christmas She Wrote”

When writer Kayleigh has her column cancelled before Christmas, she heads home to reconnect with family. Sparks fly when she gets an unexpected visit from Tripp, the man who cancelled her column.

Actors

You guys. I liked Danica in this movie a lot. Normally she plays really stuffy, staid, uptight characters who need everything to be by the book. In this movie her character was a lot more loosy-goosy about things, and that allowed Danica to be relaxed and much more engaging than usual.

Christmas She Wrote — Image: Hallmark Crown Media

Not only that, but I also liked Dylan Neal. I have only seen a small handful of his movies, so I don’t have much of an impression of him other than the few episodes of Cedar Cove that I’ve seen in which he plays a morose recovering alcoholic.

Chemistry

I felt no romantic chemistry at all in this movie. That’s not to say the actors didn’t work well together – they did. But there was next to no spark.

Tropes

The movie began with a shot of the big city skyline. We enjoyed plenty of CGI snow during the movie. She’s a big city girl returning to her hometown for Christmas. Where she runs into her old boyfriend.

Kayleigh’s sister’s house had a front porch. Kayleigh and Tripp enjoyed some hot cocoa, and at one point it almost looked like something might have been in Danica’s mug.

And have I mentioned that Tripp isn’t much into Christmas? Then we had some ice skating! I spotted Danica wearing the circle necklace during the awkward family dinner. We had some caroling (and let me just say The 12 Days of Christmas needs to be banned).

There was some snowman building and cookie decorating. The movie capped itself off with a party/gala.

Bingo Card Score for “Christmas She Wrote”

I had a paltry showing on my bingo card. Only 6 spots covered. Feel free to download my free bingo cards and play along!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

So wait…was her newspaper local to NYC? Was it a national publication? Because it seems weird that a local rag would make such drastic changes, including firing so many people, when a new guy takes over as CEO, only to then have the CEO scrambling to bring back ONE column writer who had some popularity. I never quite understood the ownership of the paper (I know Grantham was the head cheese, but WHY?)

Much like Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas, we were an hour into the movie and had no romantic vibes. Tripp was merely trying to rehire Kayleigh, and Kayleigh dealing with Dan. In fact, at some point Tripp had a scene with the innkeeper and I thought, “Maybe this is a fakeout and Tripp gets with her while Dan and Kayleigh get back together.” I would have liked that, actually. But then the former teacher asked about the innkeeper and I knew I was watching a different movie. And then it wasn’t until 90 minutes into the 2 hours that there was even in inkling that Tripp might feel ANYthing for Kayleigh, and NOTHING from Kayleigh towards him. This movie confused me.

Feelgoods

I appreciated that Tripp came to like how positive Kayleigh was. Those that know me know that I try to be a generally positive person even in the midst of trials and tribulations. I avoid worrying or stressing about things, and take them as they come. I avoid people who are dramatic and chaotic. And the result is that I feel like I have a generally sunny disposition 99% of the time. Kindness is important.

I have complained in the past about how I feel that Danica is the most awkward on-screen kisser, but maybe she just didn’t have the right partner for it, because at the end of this movie, she gave us a legit kiss versus a junior high “I think this is how people kiss” kiss. I actually cheered, y’all.

Re-watchability

Despite a low-ish score, I do think I’d watch parts of this movie again. I liked Danica’s performance a lot compared to some of her other movies, and that alone is a win for me. “Crown for Christmas” will always be my favorite Danica movie though.

The Ranking

“Christmas She Wrote” is solidly in the middle, which makes sense. There were definitely some faults with the story, but the Danica performance earned high marks.

One Royal Holiday (air date: Oct 31) – 722 pts – weighted score: 121.8 (85.5%)
On the 12th Date of Christmas (air date: Nov 1) – 707 pts – weighted score: 119.2 (83.6%)
The Christmas House (air date: Nov 22) – 710 pts – weighted score: 118.6 (83.2%)
Sweet Autumn (air date: Oct 17) – 693 pts – weighted score: 118.5 (83.1%)
Good Morning, Christmas! (air date: Nov 25) – 698 pts – weighted score: 118.2 (82.9%)
A Timeless Christmas (air date: Nov 14) – 700 pts – weighted score: 117.7 (82.6%)
Deliver by Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 697 pts – weighted score: 117.4 (82.4%)
Christmas With the Darlings (air date: Nov 8) – 691 pts – weighted score: 117.2 (82.2%)
Christmas Waltz (air date: Nov 29) – 694 pts – weighted score: 116.1 (81.5%)
Christmas by Starlight (air date: Nov 26) – 689 pts – weighted score: 115.9 (81.3%)
Five Star Christmas (air date: Nov 27) – 688 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
Never Kiss a Man in a Christmas Sweater (air date: Nov 7) – 681 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing (air date: Dec 5) – 672 pts – weighted score: 113.9 (79.9%)
The Christmas Bow (air date: Nov 8) – 676 pts – weighted score: 113.2 (79.4%)
Cranberry Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 650 pts – weighted score: 112.1 (78.6%)
The Angel Tree (air date: Nov 21) – 670 pts – weighted score: 110.9 (77.8%)
Matching Hearts (air date: Feb 8) – 640 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
Winter in Vail (air date: Jan 4) – 623 pts – weighted score: 108.8 (76.4%)
Wedding Every Weekend (air date: Aug 15) – 639 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
Love in Store (air date: Feb 22) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
Christmas in Vienna (air date: Nov 14) – 636 pts – weighted score: 107.0 (75.1%)
A Nashville Christmas Carol (air date: Nov 21) – 634 pts – weighted score: 107.0 (75.1%)
Love on Harbor Island (air date: Aug 8) – 634 pts – weighted score: 106.9 (75.0%)
Holly & Ivy (air date: Oct 31) – 615 pts – weighted score: 106.8 (74.9%)
Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas (air date: Dec 5) – 615 pts – weighted score: 105.3 (73.9%)
The Secret Ingredient (air date: Feb 15) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.2 (73.8%)
The Christmas Doctor (air date: Nov 15) – 605 pts (weighted score: 104.8 (73.5%)
Country at Heart (air date: Oct 3) – 611 pts – weighted score: 104.1 (73.1%)
You’re Bacon Me Crazy (air date: Apr 4) – 591 pts – weighted score: 104.0 (72.9%)
My Best Friend’s Bouquet (air date: Oct 10) – 599 pts – weighted score: 103.4 (72.5%)
The Christmas Ring (air date: Nov 7) – 609 pts – weighted score: 103.3 (72.5%)
Fashionably Yours (air date: Apr 11) – 594 pts – weighted score: 102.6 (72.0%)
Follow Your Heart (air date: Oct 4) – 585 pts – weighted score: 101.6 (71.3%)
A Godwink Christmas: Second Chance, First Love (air date: Nov 22) – 587 pts – weighted score: 100.9 (70.8%)
Christmas Tree Lane (air date: Oct 24) – 574 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
A Valentine’s Match (air date: Feb 1) – 562 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
Love On Iceland (air date: Jan 18) – 563 pts – weighted score: 99.4 (69.7%)
Christmas She Wrote (air date: Dec 6) – 591 pts – weighted score: 99.2 (69.6%)
Hearts of Winter (air date: Jan 25) – 561 pts – weighted score: 98.2 (68.9%)
Heart of the Holidays (air date: Nov 23) – 570 pts – weighted score: 97.9 (68.7%)
Jingle Bell Bride (air date: Oct 24) – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.9 (68.7%)
Just My Type (air date: Mar 28) – 565 pts – weighted score: 95.4 (66.9%)
Meet Me At Christmas (air date: Nov 15) 532 pts – weighted score: 91.1 (63.9%)
Bad Date Chronicles (air date: Feb 28) – 520 pts – weighted score: 91.0 (63.9%)
Love in Winterland (air date: Jan 11) – 508 pts – weighted score: 90.7 (63.6%)
Nature of Love (air date: Apr 18) – 520 pts – weighted score: 90.3 (63.3%)
If I Only Had Christmas (air date: Nov 29) – 535 pts – weighted score: 90.0 (63.2%)
USS Christmas (air date: Nov 28) – 521 pts – weighted score: 87.5 (61.4%)
Chateau Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 502 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.3%)
Amazing Winter Romance (air date: Jan 20) – 487 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.1%)
Love Under the Olive Tree (air date: June 20) – 473 pts – weighted score: 85.0 (59.6%)
In the Key of Love (air date: Mar 14) – 470 pts – weighted score: 82.5 (57.9%)
Love in the Forecast (air date: Jun 13) – 440 pts – weighted score: 72.5 (50.8%)
Midway to Love (air date: June 26) – 410 pts – weighted score: 69.0 (48.4%)
Falling at Look Lodge (air date: Sept 26) – 350 pts – weighted score: 64.0 (44.9%)
Romance in the Air (air date: Aug 1) – 367 pts – weighted score: 63.2 (44.3%)
Follow Me to Daisy Hills (air date: Sept 19) – 337 pts – weighted score: 62.8 (44.1%)
How to Train Your Husband (air date: May 16) – 350 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.9%)