Hallmark For All Seasons

Last night we got to see the third installment of the “Christmas in Evergreen” movies, this time starring Paul Greene and Maggie Lawson.  It originally aired on Hallmark Channel on Friday, November 29 at 8 p.m.   Despite it’s setting in Vermont, it was filmed almost entirely in Vancouver, Canada.

In a nutshell

I LOVE the previous two “Evergreen” movies and I think my eager anticipation for this one caused a little bit of disappointment.  Only a little though – the movie still ends up in my Christmas movie Top 5 so far, but I really went in thinking its final score would be in the upper 70s or low 80s.  I appreciated that the movie had multiple stories to tell (all the main characters had major plotlines), but I also think the story suffering by having so many stories to tell in 85 minutes.

Plot

As the town searches for a rumored Christmas Time Capsule, a skeptical writer named Katie (Lawson) arrives in Evergreen to get the story on the town’s “too-good-to-be-true” Christmas-fever.  Along the way she meets many of the townspeople we’ve grown to love, as well as Ben, a writer turned town librarian.  As Katie searches to find out who she is as a writer, she also searches to find out if her attraction to Ben is one worth pursuing.

Actors

I’m a HUGE Paul Greene fan.  He is one of my Top 4 Hallmark men of all time (he joins company with Kristoffer Polaha, Brennan Elliott, and Paul Campbell).  He didn’t disappoint in this movie, infusing Ben with charm, positivity, encouragement and loyalty – all characteristics that I think Greene has himself (as evidenced in interviews and his social media presence).  Maggie Lawson is a favorite in our household – my daughter is a major “Psych” fan and had she been awake last night when I started watching the movie, I’m sure she’d have joined me on the sofa.

Add in all the other secondary female actors I’ve come to know and love in this movie series – Holly Robinson Peete, Rukiya Bernard, Barbara Niven, with special appearances by Ashley Williams and Jill Wagner – well, I was in heaven.

As for Six Degrees of Kris Polaha, I can’t really do anyone since Jill Wagner is in this movie and Polaha and she co-star in the “Mystery 101” series on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.  I could go ahead and do longer chains without Jill Wagner, but there’s no sense in ignoring the obvious this time around!

Chemistry

Yes, Maggie Lawson and Paul Greene had good chemistry.  They are both reliable actors who are good at connecting with their co-stars, no matter their roles.  And this held true in this movie from the first part of the movie when they met on the train, to their pancake dinner at a fancy restaurant.  As for the rest of the cast, let’s just say they make me want to visit Evergreen and be greet and brought into the fold by each and every one of them.  It’s a GREAT cast.

Feelgoods

Well obviously seeing two of my favorite leading ladies (Wagner and Williams) make an appearance in the movie made me very happy.  Secondly, I LOVED that giant advent calendar (a mini version can be purchased at Hallmark.com but I won’t lie – it’s on the expensive side). You can also buy your own Evergreen snowglobe as well (also not cheap).

I loved when one of the advent items was a Kringles recipe.  I love Kringles and would love to make my own someday!

Lastly, I loved seeing the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree near the end of the movie.  I worked at Rock Center for several years and my 29th floor office had a view of the ice skating rink down below.

Tropes

It was as though the writer of this screenplay decided to mess with us and give us every single trope it possibly could stuff into an 85-minute movie.  I’m just going to list the biggest ones.

Trip & catch, women wearing giant scarves, the library had a front porch, the Barbara Niven character is named Carol, there was a whole sub-plot about the snow globe, there was plenty of crafting, they baked cookies, there was produce placement (the Ninja air fry toaster), he swept a snowflake from her cheek (a CGI snowflake at that), they went caroling, a lead character sang, the build snowmen.  It went on and on.

Bingo Card Score for “Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy”

You guys.  All those tropes helped me score FOUR BINGOS on one card!  ONE CARD!  I covered 17 of 25 spots.  The first bingo came early in the movie (maybe 20 minutes in) followed in quick succession by the other three.  I was in giddy shock.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

Because I was enjoying the “Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy” so much, I really only got irritated by a couple of things.

First and foremost – those snowmen were the worst.  The actors didn’t even try to make them look like anything more than the styrofoam they were.  Just really, really bad.  And there’s no way they had enough snow in that small field for the dozen snowmen that got built.  My son made a giant snowball (about 40″ in diameter) a couple years ago and it used most of the 2-3″ of snow in our yard at the time.  And it was heavy as all get out.  And look at the picture below.  Those snowmen are PERFECTLY ROUND.  C’mon Hallmark, you can do better.

The other thing that got me was the advent calendar itself.  First, the boards that magically fell away when the key turned was over the top CGI.  But my main quibble was that the advent calendar, which was tucked away behind that nasty old wood wall, look IMMACULATE.  There is NO WAY those items in the 50-year-old advent calendar could survive being behind that wall for 50 years without getting some kind of damage from weather, bugs, and time.  It looked brand new.  Completely lovely (and again, I LOVED it), but ridiculously brand new.

Lastly.  Red wine with pancakes?  Shouldn’t it be a white wine, or a dessert wine of some kind?

Re-watchability

Sure, while it was my least favorite of the three “Evergreen” movies, I’d definitely watch it again.

The Ranking

“Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy” is in my Top 20 for the year.   YAY for Evergreen!

1. Two Turtle Doves (air date: Nov 1) – 742 pts – weighted score: 123.7 (86.8%)
2. Christmas Wishes and Mistletoe Kisses (air date: Oct 26) – 719 pts – weighted score: 121.0 (84.9%)
3. Love to the Rescue RE-RANKED (air date: March 23) – 708 pts – weighted score: 120.6 (84.6%)
4. Winter Love Story (air date: January 19) – 685 pts – weighted score: 115.8 (81.2%)
5. Mystery 101 (air date: January 27 (HMM)) – 454 pts – weighted score: 94.2 (80.5%)
6. Love on the Menu (air date: February 23) – 642 pts – weighted score: 113.8 (79.9%)
7. Holiday Hearts (air date: Nov 23) – 663 pts – weighted score: 113.0 (79.3%)
8. Bottled With Love (air date: April 13) – 649 pts – weighted score: 112.2 (78.7%)
9. Love Takes Flight (air date: April 27) – 670 pts – weighted score: 111.0 (77.9%)
10. Love, Romance & Chocolate (air date: February 16) – 627 pts – weighted score: 110.2 (77.3%)
11. The Last Bridesmaid (air date: June 22) – 643 pts – weighted score: 109.2 (76.6%)
12. Love, Fall and Order (air date: Oct 12) – 636 pts – weighted score: 109.0 (76.5%)
13. Paris, Wine & Romance (air date: May 4) – 638 pts – weighted score: 108.3 (76.0%)
14. My Boyfriend’s Back: Wedding March 5 (air date: June 8) – 635 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
15. Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy (air date: Nov 29) – 627 pts – weighted score: 107.0 (75.1%)
16. Over the Moon in Love (air date: Oct 5) – 613 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
17. Flip That Romance (air date: March 16) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
18. Check Inn to Christmas (air date: Nov 26) – 619 pts – weighted score: 105.7 (74.1%)
19. My One and Only (air date: Aug 31) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.6 (74.1%)
20. Mystery 101: Playing Dead (air date: June 23 (HMM)) – 425 pts – weighted score: 86.5 (73.9%)
21. A Summer Romance (air date: Aug 17) – 577 pts – weighted score: 103.7 (72.7%)
22. The Christmas Club (air date: Nov 27) – 588 pts – weighted score: 103.5 (72.6%)
23. True Love Blooms (air date: April 6) – 598 pts – weighted score: 103.1 (72.3%)
24. Forever in My Heart (air date: Sept 14) – 560 pts – weighted score: 102.4 (71.8%)
25. The Mistletoe Secret (air date: Nov 11) – 585 pts – weighted score: 102.2 (71.7%)
26. Christmas Under the Stars (air date: Nov 16) – 576 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
27. The Story of Us (air date: February 9) – 605 pts – weighted score: 101.3 (71.1%)
28. Holiday for Heroes (air date: Nov 8) – 566 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
29. A Brush with Love (air date: March 30) – 563 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
30. Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
31. A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love (air date: Nov 17) – 548 pts – weighted score: 96.9 (68.0%)
32. Ruby Herring: Silent Witness (air date: January 20 (HMM)) – 357 pts – weighted score: 79.5 (67.9%)
33. Love, Unleashed (air date: July 6, 2019) – 559 pts – weighted score: 96.2 (67.5%)
34. Love Under the Rainbow (air date: March 9) – 581 pts – weighted score: 96.0 (67.4%)
35. One Winter Proposal (air date: January 12) – 535 pts – weighted score: 95.8 (67.2%)
36. Just Add Romance (air date: March 2) – 548 pts – weighted score: 95.6 (67.1%)
37. Christmas Scavenger Hunt (air date: Nov 3) – 561 pts – weighted score: 95.4 (66.9%)
38. From Friend to Fiance (air date: May 25) – 555 pts – weighted score: 94.8% (66.5%)
39. Picture a Perfect Christmas (air date: Nov 10) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
40. A Christmas Duet (air date: Nov 25) – 540 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
41. Write Before Christmas (air date: Nov 17) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
42. Christmas Camp (air date: July 11) – 530 pts – weighted score: 93.9 (65.9%)
43. Our Christmas Love Song (air date: Nov 24) – 537 pts – weighted score: 93.4 (65.5%)
44. Love and Sunshine (air date: Aug 3) – 504 pts – weighted score: 91.7 (64.3%)
45. Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (air date: March 10 (HMM) – 354 pts – weighted score: 74.1 (63.3%)
46. A Christmas Miracle (air date: Nov 14) – 494 pts – weighted score: 90.1 (63.2%)
47. Christmas at the Plaza (air date: Nov 28) – 517 pts – weighted score: 90.0 (63.1%)
48. Sister of the Bride (air date: June 29) – 516 pts – weighted score: 89.8 (63.0%)
49. Valentine in the Vineyard (air date: February 2) – 503 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
50. Love, Take Two (air date: June 15) – 507 pts – weighted score: 87.8 (61.6%)
51. All Summer Long (air date: Aug 24) – 512 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
52. Snowcoming (air date: January 26) – 485 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.2%)
53. The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
54. Merry & Bright (air date: Nov 2) – 483 pts – weighted score: 84.4 (59.2%)
55. Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 (air date: Nov 24) – 465 pts – weighted score: 83.4 (58.5%)
56. Nostalgic Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 446 pts – weighted score: 79.2 (55.6%)
57. A Merry Christmas Match (air date: Oct 25) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.3 (54.9%)
58. Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
59. Rome in Love (air date: July 27) – 436 pts – weighted score: 76.7 (53.8%)
60. A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas (air date: Nov 7) – 398 pts – weighted score: 72.3 (50.7%)
61. A Taste of Summer (air date: Aug 10) – 403 pts – weighted score: 70.9 (49.7%)
62. A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
63. A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 pts – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)
64. Love in the Sun (air date: June 1) – 361 pts – weighted score: 62.5 (43.8%)

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

What did you think of “Christmas in Evergreen: Tidings of Joy”?  Comment below and let me know!

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