Hallmark For All Seasons

This past Saturday night, November 30, we got our Lacey Chabert Christmas movie, entitled “Christmas in Rome.” Her co-star this time around was Sam Page, a frequent Hallmark actor.  He has been in a couple of movies this year, from “The Story of Us” to “My One and Only.” This movie was partially filmed in Italy (jealous!) as well as Bucharest, Romania.

In a nutshell

I have to be honest.  I was a bit bored by this movie.  It just felt like another opportunity to Let! Lacey! Travel! (as she did with “Love on Safari” in 2018).  The plot was weak and I was not invested much at all.  I gave up taking notes at some point because the movie barely held my interest.  It was by no means the worst movie of the year, but it still was very, very disappointing.  If you are looking for in-depth commentary, I’m afraid you won’t find it with this review.

Plot

Angela, a tour guide who is fired from her job in Rome just before Christmas bumps into an American executive named Oliver (Page) visiting Rome intent on buying an Italian ceramics company. Oliver hires Angela to be his tour guide around the Eternal City, and touring the city becomes more like dating as the two spend more time together. Suddenly, closing the deal and leaving town sounds less interesting to Oliver, than figuring out whether he and Angela can make things work between them.

Actors

Listen, I like Lacey.  She was SO gracious and friendly when I met her at Christmas Con last month and 100% could not be a better ambassador for the Hallmark brand.  But that doesn’t mean all her movies are good.  Some just miss the mark.  She was perfectly lovely as Angela, and I enjoyed the sites that Angela showed to Oliver.  But…

Sam Page did a nice job with a weak story, and I thought he was a good match for Lacey’s laid-back energy.  They were both low-key in this movie, but I tend to think it’s because Hallmark wanted Rome to do the talking (although the characters did a lot of talking).

As for Six Degrees of Kris Polaha, I’ve already connected both Sam Page and Lacey Chabert to Polaha, so I guess I get the week off!

Chemistry

As I said, I thought Page and Chabert were a good match in this movie.  They made Angela and Oliver really relatable characters and we saw their friendship bloom during the course of the movie versus being shoehorned in.

Feelgoods

No feelgoods for this movie other than me expressing that I have visiting Rome (or Italy in general) on my bucket list.  My husband refuses to go (who knows why?) so I’ll likely end up going with my daughter someday – maybe as a graduation gift when she finishes college in 2025.  I did also really like the notion of handpainted ceramic ornaments, even if the ones in the movie were clearly not handpainted ceramic (more on that later).

Tropes

I think having this movie set in Rome made it harder to do the typical Hallmark tropes.  As such, the only ones I cataloged were drinking hot cocoa, Olivia’s promotion on the line if he scored the deal in Rome, Christmas tree shopping, and the baking montage.  I know Oliver handpainted an ornament for Angela, but did I miss the scene where he actually gave it to her?

Bingo Card Score for “Christmas in Rome”

Only four spots on my bingo card. FOUR!  What a let down after scoring four bingos during the “Evergreen” movie the night before!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

We’ll gloss over the small things like blatantly empty coffee cups.  My first quibble is the handpainted ornaments.  Now, I love collecting Christmas ornaments and have several ceramic ornaments in my collection.  Those ornaments are HEAVY and require a very stiff branch and high-quality hangers to put those on the tree.  I place them low on my trees on the off-chance they fall – if they are low they have less chance to break than if they tumbled from the top of the tree.  The ornaments in this movie?  I’ll bet money that those ornaments were the cheap kind found at any local WalMart or Target that shatter into 100s of pieces when they get dropped.  They didn’t have the look or sound of true ceramic ornaments when they were being handled in “Christmas in Rome.”

As I said earlier, we saw Oliver painting a ceramic ornament at Luca’s factory, and suddenly claim he was once an artist who loved to paint.  What? Where did THAT come from?  That was one moment that did not ring true to me.  Nowhere leading up to this point (that I recall) did he mention that he had once been an amateur painter.  It was way out of left field and made no sense.

Re-watchability

This was another “watch the characters walk and get to know each other” movie, but not as well as done as “Winter Love Story” or “The Christmas Club.”  So no, I won’t be watching “Christmas in Rome” again.  There are more enjoyable Lacey Chabert (and Sam Page) movies out there in the Hallmark universe.

The Ranking

“Christmas in Rome” is in the lower third, but as I said there were much worse movies this year.   And it was better than the “Rome in Love” movie we had during the summer, so there’s that.

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. Christmas in Rome (air date: Nov 30) – 494 pts – weighted score: 86.8 (60.9%)
54. The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
55. Merry & Bright (air date: Nov 2) – 483 pts – weighted score: 84.4 (59.2%)
56. Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 (air date: Nov 24) – 465 pts – weighted score: 83.4 (58.5%)
57. Nostalgic Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 446 pts – weighted score: 79.2 (55.6%)
58. A Merry Christmas Match (air date: Oct 25) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.3 (54.9%)
59. Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
60. Rome in Love (air date: July 27) – 436 pts – weighted score: 76.7 (53.8%)
61. A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas (air date: Nov 7) – 398 pts – weighted score: 72.3 (50.7%)
62. A Taste of Summer (air date: Aug 10) – 403 pts – weighted score: 70.9 (49.7%)
63. A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
64. A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 pts – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)
65. 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 Rome”?  Comment below and let me know!

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