Hallmark For All Seasons

Countdown to Christmas 2019

Hallmark’s “A Christmas Duet”

“A Christmas Duet” was the first in a week filled with new movie premieres every single night. Buckle up, kiddies!

“Duet” aired on Hallmark Channel on Monday, November 25 at 8 p.m. It starred two new-to-me actors in Chaley Rose and Rome Flynn. If ever a movie was going to give me low self-esteem, it’s a movie that stars two impossibly good looking people. Because my oh my, Rose and Flynn are two VERY attractive people. It was filmed Vancouver, Canada despite being set in an unnamed New England town in Vermont.

In a nutshell

I liked it. Chaley Rose, in particular, was fabulous and I think is a great addition to the Hallmark family. I thought Rome Flynn did a fine job, but Chaley Rose was definitely the highlight of this movie.

A Christmas Duet — image: Hallmark Crown Media

Plot

Averie and Jesse, a former singing duo with one famous holiday hit, haven’t seen each other since parting ways many years ago. Averie left her music career to open a mountain lodge in Vermont while Jesse is now a struggling musician, still attempting to recapture the musical magic he had with Averie. When Jesse shows up at Averie’s lodge during the holidays, each of them confront their past, while deciding whether not there is a future for them again.

Actors

As I said already, Chaley Rose is a winner. She played Averie as a warm, vulnerable, emotional, and connected person – everything I want in a Hallmark character. Rome Flynn has some acting chops on him – he comes from the soap opera world but has done a lot besides that. But the reason I felt he was just “fine,” is that I didn’t feel like he played Jesse as being the same age. He seemed younger.

This movie also starred Teryl Rothery, an actress I adore. She always plays moms or aunts or bosses, and this time around she played Phyllis, a travel writer who reviews and gives out awards to places she visits.

As for Six Degrees of Kris Polaha, Rome Flynn is three steps away. He starred in a 2018 Netflix original “The Thinning: New World Order” which also featured Calum Worthy. Worthy had a role on “Mostly Ghostly: Have You Met My Ghoulfriend?” in 2014, that also featured Eric Allen Kramer. That same year, Kramer appeared in “Atlas Shrugged Part III” with Kris Polaha.

Chemistry

Speaking again about Flynn’s portrayal of Jesse, because he seemed younger, I felt more of a sister/brother vibe for the first half of the movie. It didn’t help that these two actors have almost the exact same eye shape and very similar smiles. They looked more like siblings in some scenes because of their physical similarities. They did end up having some chemistry as the story moved along, but it took me a long time to buy into it.

Feelgoods

My one feel from this movie was when they sat around on the sofas telling their favorite Christmas memories.

Tropes

Once again we had a Hallmark movie with only a handful of standard tropes. Jesse owned an adorable dog (who didn’t feature into the movie nearly as much as I hoped he would). The lead characters were former sweethearts. They went tree shopping. They attended a tree lighting ceremony. There was an entire small subplot about Christmas carolers. A couple characters took a sleigh ride. There was potential for a snowball fight. They built snowmen. And lastly, of course, they drank some hot cocoa. I must admit that I was putting up our Christmas tree while watching this movie, so I may not have caught all of them.

Bingo Card Score for “A Christmas Duet”

This movie earned 8 spots on the bingo card, but no bingo.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

Only two big glaring “huh?” moments for me, although there might have been more. First, Averie overheard Jesse talking with his manager and misunderstood what they were talking about. Does this happen so much in the real world that it’s a real thing? I can’t think of any time in my life where I overheard people talking and misconstrued what they were talking about, or didn’t ask directly right then and there what was being said. But no, Averie walks away without waiting to find out what she was hearing, or just asking Jesse about it.

Secondly, Phyllis and Jesse’s manager, Dan, bond during the brief stay at the lodge, and suddenly she’s asking him to tour Europe with her while she visits places to review? Really, Phyllis? Is that how you roll with a dude you only just met a couple days before?

Re-watchability

I’m not sure I’d watch “A Christmas Duet” again, but the main reason is because the plot didn’t interest me that much. That’s actually why it didn’t get a higher score – the plot wasn’t one that grabbed me and sucked me in, even though the script was decent, and Chaley Rose was terrific.

The Ranking

“A Christmas Duet” is in the lower half, but when looking only at the Christmas movies it is smack dab in the middle. And really, comparing it to the next higher movie, “Picture a Perfect Christmas” I do instinctively think that I liked “Duet” a touch better than “Picture,” but I’m letting the scores stand.

Two Turtle Doves (air date: Nov 1) – 742 pts – weighted score: 123.7 (86.8%)
Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (air date: Oct 26) – 719 pts – weighted score: 121.0 (84.9%)
Love to the Rescue RE-RANKED (air date: March 23) – 708 pts – weighted score: 120.6 (84.6%)
Winter Love Story (air date: January 19) – 685 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
Mystery 101 (air date: January 27 (HMM)) – 454 pts – weighted score: 94.2 (80.5%)
Love on the Menu (air date: February 23) – 642 pts – weighted score: 113.8 (79.9%)
Holiday Hearts (air date: Nov 23) – 663 pts – weighted score: 113.0 (79.3%)
Bottled With Love (air date: April 13) – 649 pts – weighted score: 112.2 (78.7%)
Love Takes Flight (air date: April 27) – 670 pts – weighted score: 111.0 (77.9%)
Love, Romance & Chocolate (air date: February 16) – 627 pts – weighted score: 110.2 (77.3%)
The Last Bridesmaid (air date: June 22) – 643 pts – weighted score: 109.2 (76.6%)
Love, Fall and Order (air date: Oct 12) – 636 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
Paris, Wine & Romance (air date: May 4) – 638 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
My Boyfriend’s Back: Wedding March 5 (air date: June 8) – 635 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
Over the Moon in Love (air date: Oct 5) – 613 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
Flip That Romance (air date: March 16) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
My One and Only (air date: Aug 31) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.6 (74.1%)
Mystery 101: Playing Dead (air date: June 23 (HMM)) – 425 pts – weighted score: 86.5 (73.9%)
A Summer Romance (air date: Aug 17) – 577 pts – weighted score: 103.7 (72.7%)
True Love Blooms (air date: April 6) – 598 pts – weighted score: 103.1 (72.3%)
Forever in My Heart (air date: Sept 14) – 560 pts – weighted score: 102.4 (71.8%)
The Mistletoe Secret (air date: Nov 11) – 585 pts – weighted score: 102.2 (71.7%)
Christmas Under the Stars (air date: Nov 16) – 576 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
The Story of Us (air date: February 9) – 605 pts – weighted score: 101.3 (71.1%)
Holiday for Heroes (air date: Nov 8) – 566 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
A Brush with Love (air date: March 30) – 563 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love (air date: Nov 17) – 548 pts – weighted score: 96.9 (68.0%)
Ruby Herring: Silent Witness (air date: January 20 (HMM)) – 357 pts – weighted score: 79.5 (67.9%)
Love, Unleashed (air date: July 6, 2019) – 559 pts – weighted score: 96.2 (67.5%)
Love Under the Rainbow (air date: March 9) – 581 pts – weighted score: 96.0 (67.4%)
One Winter Proposal (air date: January 12) – 535 pts – weighted score: 95.8 (67.2%)
Just Add Romance (air date: March 2) – 548 pts – weighted score: 95.6 (67.1%)
Christmas Scavenger Hunt (air date: Nov 3) – 561 pts – weighted score: 95.4 (66.9%)
From Friend to Fiance (air date: May 25) – 555 pts – weighted score: 94.8% (66.5%)
Picture a Perfect Christmas (air date: Nov 10) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
A Christmas Duet (air date: Nov 25) – 540 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
Write Before Christmas (air date: Nov 17) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
Christmas Camp (air date: July 11) – 530 pts – weighted score: 93.9 (65.9%)
Our Christmas Love Song (air date: Nov 24) – 537 pts – weighted score: 93.4 (65.5%)
Love and Sunshine (air date: Aug 3) – 504 pts – weighted score: 91.7 (64.3%)
Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (air date: March 10 (HMM) – 354 pts – weighted score: 74.1 (63.3%)
A Christmas Miracle (air date: Nov 14) – 494 pts – weighted score: 90.1 (63.2%)
Sister of the Bride (air date: June 29) – 516 pts – weighted score: 89.8 (63.0%)
Valentine in the Vineyard (air date: February 2) – 503 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
Love, Take Two (air date: June 15) – 507 pts – weighted score: 87.8 (61.6%)
All Summer Long (air date: Aug 24) – 512 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
Snowcoming (air date: January 26) – 485 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.2%)
The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
Merry & Bright (air date: Nov 2) – 483 pts – weighted score: 84.4 (59.2%)
Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 (air date: Nov 24) – 465 pts – weighted score: 83.4 (58.5%)
Nostalgic Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 446 pts – weighted score: 79.2 (55.6%)
A Merry Christmas Match (air date: Oct 25) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.3 (54.9%)
Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
Rome in Love (air date: July 27) – 436 pts – weighted score: 76.7 (53.8%)
A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas (air date: Nov 7) – 398 pts – weighted score: 72.3 (50.7%)
A Taste of Summer (air date: Aug 10) – 403 pts – weighted score: 70.9 (49.7%)
A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 pts – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)
Love in the Sun (air date: June 1) – 361 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.8%)