Hallmark For All Seasons

“Heart of the Holidays” aired on November 23, 2020 on the Hallmark Channel.  It starred Vanessa Lengies and Corey Sevier.  Kate Pragnell provided the screenplay while Corey Sevier served as the director of his own movie! It is Pragnell’s first script for Hallmark although she worked in the script department for Chesapeake Shores, so she’s already part of the Hallmark film family. The movie was filmed in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, which means it’s a rare East Coast Canada movie, as Hamilton is right near Buffalo, New York.

In a nutshell

This movie was a weird experience for me.  I really liked the first half of the movie, but the second half fell flat.  The food bank story in the 2nd half felt shoehorned in versus being the reason for the movie.  Yes, we had a shot of her looking at the homeless man when she was still in New York, but bringing back that story in the 2nd hour was an odd place to introduce it again.

Plot of “Heart of the Holidays”

Career-driven Sam returns to her hometown for the holidays where she comes face-to-face with her high school boyfriend, Noah. Together they rediscover what matters most in life.

Actors

I liked the cast fine.  I’ve not really seen Vanessa Lengies in much and in the first half of the movie I really liked her a lot.  When the movie took a turn in the second half, I felt she didn’t fit where the story was trying to go.

Corey Sevier is fine.  I’ve seen him in his other Hallmark offerings.  He’s not one of my favorite Hallmark leading men, but he plays quiet, stoic leading men quite well.

Six Degrees of Kris Polaha: Vanessa Lengies is three degrees away from Polaha.  She had a role in 2005’s “The Perfect Man” which co-starred Gerry Mendicino.  He had previously featured in “Vendetta,” a 1999 made-for-HBO movie. Joaquim de Almeida also starred in that movie, and shared the screen with Polaha in 2014’s “Atlas Shrugged 3.”

Chemistry

I didn’t feel much chemistry from the characters mainly because of for the first 40-50 minutes they rarely spent any time together other than awkward silence.  It was only when they were in the café kitchen talking about mac and cheese that they had an actual conversation of any substance.  And I believe that was about an hour in.

As such, there was no opportunity to build chemistry – and it wasn’t helped that we kept getting told they had a good relationship until she left.  Perhaps if they did a flashback of some kind I would have felt more invested.  Having said that, I still liked the awkwardness of the first hour and how they kept avoiding each other – in that sense I did know she felt guilty about their breakup.

Tropes

Big city opening shot followed by an introduction to our workaholic main character, Sam, and a bad boyfriend on his cell phone giving a gift IN A RING BOX THAT’S NOT A RING.  Then we got some CGI snow, which was nice.  After the corporate takeover Sam decides to head back to her hometown for the holidays.

Then we got this shot of a single car going down a lone road surrounded by trees, which is starting to turn into a Christmas movie trope because I’ve seen it many, many times in the movies we’ve seen thus far:

Sam’s mom’s house had a front porch, and she offered Sam some hot cocoa upon arrival.  Sam and her mom went Christmas tree shopping where Sam saw her high-school sweetheart Noah for the first time in 8 years where it became clear they had some history.  The next morning Sam and her mom decorated the tree.  We find out that Sam’s dad is no longer alive.

Sam and her mom head to Noah’s bakery to begin making some cookies and it’s here that I realize that Vanessa Lengies must only be 5 feet tall because everyone towers over her.

Later, Sam’s mom crafted a wreath and apparently a gingerbread house was made over at Noah’s café.  Sam wore a really nice big scarf that I liked – it had red, green, black and pink in a nice plaid (see picture in the Actors section above). Then unexpectedly we ended up watching as a big party got planned for the town.

Bingo Card Score for “Heart of the Holidays”

I covered nine spots but didn’t score a bingo. Feel free to download my free bingo cards and play along!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

There’s no way that Bad Boyfriend did not know what company was being taken over. Mergers and acquisitions don’t happen overnight and certainly wouldn’t happen such that Bad Boyfriend doesn’t know the details of where he’ll be working until the day he starts the job at the newly acquired company. That’s not how it works.

Sam arrives at her childhood home and goes to her old room to find lights up and on.  Um…why?  When my kids are not home,  their rooms are dark.  They both have Christmas trees in their room, but it’s up to them to turn on their lights when they go in their rooms, not me.  And my kids still LIVE with me – the mom wasn’t even expecting Sam to show up, and yet her room is full lit.  Strange.

The tension over the perceived slight from eight years prior when Sam left town for the Big City seemed overblown.  It’s been eight years, people.  Are we really to assume that in all that time Noah has resented her departure?  Yes, I know he had an ornament on his little Christmas tree with their initials, but the heartbreak over my first real, adult relationship only last a few months, not 8 years (he dumped me and it was awful and tacky and he was wrong in so many ways and I had many bitter months before I realized I was glad he was gone).  When I saw my ex a couple years later I felt NOTHING for him.  Not a thing – not even a resurgence of the anger I felt over how he dumped me.  So I find it hard to believe someone could be lovesick for 8 years.

The Crawleigh food bank had exactly 8 cans on the shelves a day before it was due to open. And Sam expected to be able to have stations and aisles similar to a grocery store?  Um.  Okay.  AND she was able to create an 11×14 poster for the event as well? AND all those people were able get the word out about toys and get them all donated in 24 hours?  AND she was able to arrange for a food delivery from her anonymous donor in 24 hours?  Nope.  Nope.  Nope.

Feelgoods

Despite being the impossible plot point, I appreciated that the town came together to help the town food bank.  A couple times a year I place a big grocery order on Amazon and have it delivered directly to our local care center, and last year my office (of 12 people at the time) donated over 20 “complete Thanksgiving in a bag” to a local food kitchen as well. And while my office was not able to coordinate the Thanksgiving bag donation this year, I do still plan on making a big Amazon grocery order in the next couple of weeks leading up to Christmas.  I think it’s important to help those less fortunate or in a place of struggling for a season. So I did like that aspect of the movie.

Re-watchability

Despite a solid first hour, I doubt I’ll be watching this one again because of the second half.

The Ranking

“Heart of the Holidays” is in the lower half of the year.  It’s not the worst of the Christmas movies, though.

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

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

In any event, what did you think of “Heart of the Holidays”?  Comment below and let me know!