Hallmark For All Seasons

“Our Christmas Love Song” aired on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel on Sunday, November 24 at 9 p.m.  This was the movie I was kind of dreading because I’m not the biggest Alicia Witt fan DESPITE the fact that I love two of her Christmas movies, “A Very Merry Mixup” and “The Mistletoe Inn”).  Witt’s co-star in “Our Christmas Love Song” was an actor named Brendan Hines who is now one of my new favorites.  He, by far, was the highlight in this movie, which with a different lead actress could have been outstanding.  I know I’m in minority on Witt – last night even my own daughter said to me, “She’s the ONE actress I like in these movies,” and proceeded to voluntarily sit and watch it with me (this never happens).

It was filmed this past fall in Winnipeg, Canada. That makes three Christmas movies thus far being filmed in Winnipeg (the other two being “Two Turtle Doves” and “Merry & Bright“).  Had I known when I watched it that “Love Song” was also filmed there, I’d have looked for matching props since the movies filmed in Winnipeg tend to reuse props from film to film.

In a nutshell

Despite my initial negative bias, I ended up liking this movie more than I thought I would.  A snappy script by Julie Sherman Wolfe combined with Brendan Hines’ thoroughly enjoyable performance kept this one aloft for me.  I got a few genuine laughs during the movie thanks to Hines.

Plot

Melody (Witt), an increasingly successful country music singer, debuts a new song only to be accused plagiarism by her former musical mentor.  Escaping to her hometown in an attempt to figure out how to save her reputation, she shares the holiday with the family she hasn’t seen in a long time, and reunites with an old flame and musical partner.

Actors

Brendan Hines.  Love him.  He was the best part of the movie, by far.  I really, REALLY hope Hallmark hires him for more movies because I could easily become a fangirl for his dynamic performances.  Alicia Witt was fine, but she’s fine in everything she makes.  But the problem is that she plays all her Hallmark characters the same way – there’s no difference between her character in “Love Song” or “Mixup” or “Mistletoe Inn.”  None.

As for Six Degrees of Kris Polaha, Brendan Hines is three steps away (although they did both appear in episodes of the TV show “Angel” so they are loosely linked by one step).  He starred in 2009’s “Deep in the Valley” with Scott Caan, who had earlier starred in “Ready to Rumble” in 2000.  One of his co-stars in that movie was Martin Landau, who shared a screen in “Billy: The Early Years” with Polaha in 2008.

Chemistry

I think the chemistry was there, but I attribute it more to the writing, and the likeability of Hines. Alicia Witt basically just kind of played the same kind of character she always plays. The scene when they kissed in the store was made more fun because of Hines’ reaction after the kiss than anything else.  He played that scene perfectly. I need to rent some of his movies to see more of what his acting capabilities because I suspect he’s a really good actor. *lol*

Feelgoods

I didn’t really get any feels from this movie.  Or at least, none worth writing down.

Tropes

There were several tropes in “Our Christmas Love Song,” but not as many as in other movies.  There was a cute kid, a military family member, a baking montage, and the town’s tree lighting.  In addition, they drank hot cocoa, went tree shopping then decorated the tree, and the house had the obligatory front porch.  But that was really it.

Bingo Card Score for “Our Christmas Love Song”

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

Did I Hear/See That Right?

A few nits. Her new original song – the first verse was all just one non-changing chord.  I don’t know any song where the verse is only one chord.  During the town festival scene, I turned to my daughter and said, “Did they really sell hot cocoa in actual ceramic mugs?” While sipping that hot cocoa they agree to go see the tree get lit, and suddenly their mugs are gone.  Wha…?

At the Christmas show they figured out how to stream the entire program to the troops overseas, and yet it was just a plain video camera – I didn’t see any kind of technology that was allowing them to stream from an old school video camera.

Re-watchability

I’m on the fence about whether or not I’d watch “Our Christmas Love Song” again.  I think I would. But I don’t know – I can’t decide for sure if I would or not.

The Ranking

“Our Christmas Love Song” is in the lower half, but I’ll reiterate that its placement is due solely because of the writing and Hines.  Had there been a different actress in this movie, I suspect it would have gotten a much higher score.

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. Over the Moon in Love (air date: Oct 5) – 613 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
16. Flip That Romance (air date: March 16) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
17. My One and Only (air date: Aug 31) – 597 pts – weighted score: 105.6 (74.1%)
18. Mystery 101: Playing Dead (air date: June 23 (HMM)) – 425 pts – weighted score: 86.5 (73.9%)
19. A Summer Romance (air date: Aug 17) – 577 pts – weighted score: 103.7 (72.7%)
20. True Love Blooms (air date: April 6) – 598 pts – weighted score: 103.1 (72.3%)
21. Forever in My Heart (air date: Sept 14) – 560 pts – weighted score: 102.4 (71.8%)
22. The Mistletoe Secret (air date: Nov 11) – 585 pts – weighted score: 102.2 (71.7%)
23. Christmas Under the Stars (air date: Nov 16) – 576 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
24. The Story of Us (air date: February 9) – 605 pts – weighted score: 101.3 (71.1%)
25. Holiday for Heroes (air date: Nov 8) – 566 pts – weighted score: 99.8 (70.0%)
26. A Brush with Love (air date: March 30) – 563 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
27. Christmas at Graceland: Home for the Holidays – 558 pts – weighted score: 97.7 (68.6%)
28. A Godwink Christmas: Meant for Love (air date: Nov 17) – 548 pts – weighted score: 96.9 (68.0%)
29. Ruby Herring: Silent Witness (air date: January 20 (HMM)) – 357 pts – weighted score: 79.5 (67.9%)
30. Love, Unleashed (air date: July 6, 2019) – 559 pts – weighted score: 96.2 (67.5%)
31. Love Under the Rainbow (air date: March 9) – 581 pts – weighted score: 96.0 (67.4%)
32. One Winter Proposal (air date: January 12) – 535 pts – weighted score: 95.8 (67.2%)
33. Just Add Romance (air date: March 2) – 548 pts – weighted score: 95.6 (67.1%)
34. Christmas Scavenger Hunt (air date: Nov 3) – 561 pts – weighted score: 95.4 (66.9%)
35. From Friend to Fiance (air date: May 25) – 555 pts – weighted score: 94.8% (66.5%)
36. Picture a Perfect Christmas (air date: Nov 10) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
37. Write Before Christmas (air date: Nov 17) – 529 pts – weighted score: 94.1 (66.0%)
38. Christmas Camp (air date: July 11) – 530 pts – weighted score: 93.9 (65.9%)
39. Our Christmas Love Song (air date: Nov 24) – 537 pts – weighted score: 93.4 (65.5%)
40. Love and Sunshine (air date: Aug 3) – 504 pts – weighted score: 91.7 (64.3%)
41. Crossword Mysteries: A Puzzle to Die For (air date: March 10 (HMM) – 354 pts – weighted score: 74.1 (63.3%)
42. A Christmas Miracle (air date: Nov 14) – 494 pts – weighted score: 90.1 (63.2%)
43. Sister of the Bride (air date: June 29) – 516 pts – weighted score: 89.8 (63.0%)
44. Valentine in the Vineyard (air date: February 2) – 503 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
45. Love, Take Two (air date: June 15) – 507 pts – weighted score: 87.8 (61.6%)
46. All Summer Long (air date: Aug 24) – 512 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
47. Snowcoming (air date: January 26) – 485 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.2%)
48. The Winter Castle (air date: January 5) – 475 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.2%)
49. Merry & Bright (air date: Nov 2) – 483 pts – weighted score: 84.4 (59.2%)
50. Cherished Memories: A Gift to Remember 2 (air date: Nov 24) – 465 pts – weighted score: 83.4 (58.5%)
51. Nostalgic Christmas (air date: Oct 31) – 446 pts – weighted score: 79.2 (55.6%)
52. A Merry Christmas Match (air date: Oct 25) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.3 (54.9%)
53. Sailing Into Love (air date: May 18) – 455 pts – weighted score: 78.0 (54.7%)
54. Rome in Love (air date: July 27) – 436 pts – weighted score: 76.7 (53.8%)
55. A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas (air date: Nov 7) – 398 pts – weighted score: 72.3 (50.7%)
56. A Taste of Summer (air date: Aug 10) – 403 pts – weighted score: 70.9 (49.7%)
57. A Winter Princess (air date: January 18) – 380 pts – weighted score: 70.5 (49.5%)
58. A Feeling of Home (air date: May 11) – 386 pts – weighted score: 69.7% (48.9%)
59. 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 “Our Christmas Love Song”?  Comment below and let me know!

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