Hallmark For All Seasons

“If I Only Had Christmas” aired on November 29, 2020 on the Hallmark Channel.  The script was by Sarah Montana, who wrote the amazing Two Turtle Doves from last year.  David Weaver directed, having preciously directed Bure in Christmas Town.  Set in Kansas City and Connecticut, it was filmed in British Columbia including Abbotsford and Victoria (the Fairmont Empress hotel was featured).  Not only that, but ONCE AGAIN the same shop from Wedding Every Weekend popped up in this movie.  The shop is called Bureaux, and it is in Abbotsford.

In a nutshell

Am I the only one that was confused for the first hour on exactly what she was supposed to be doing?  Because the plot of the movie seemed so convoluted that it took me out of the movie.  And I get that it was an homage to the Wizard of Oz, but not even that could save this movie,  And that makes me sad because Sarah Montana wrote a brilliant script for “Doves” last year.

Plot of “If I Only Had Christmas”

Kansas City publicist Darcy ventures to the Emerald Educational Trust for the job of a lifetime, helping VP Glen Goodman and his team find the know how, courage, and heart to help a charity in need for Christmas. Darcy and Glen begin to realize they have everything in common. However, Glen’s surprise revelation at the big Christmas gala just may put an end to their promising romance before it has really gotten started.

Actors

Candice Cameron Bure was pretty standard in this.  You could plop her into any Hallmark movie and you’d get a typical Candice Cameron Bure performance.  That’s why people love her, and that’s why people are exasperated by her.

It was nice to have Warren Christie back in a Hallmark Christmas movie.  I love him in my favorite classic Hallmark Christmas movie, 2008’s “The Most Wonderful Time of Year,” which also starred Brooke Burns and Henry Winkler.

Six Degrees of Kris Polaha: Speaking of Brooke Burns, that is the connection between Polaha and Warren Christie.  Brooke Burns also starred in a movie with Polaha, 2014’s “Where Hope Grows.”

Chemistry

I thought Bure and Christie were great together, but I get a sense that Christie probably has chemistry with most actresses he works with.  So I’ll say that all the chemistry came from him.

Tropes

It opened with a drone shot over the city then went to a shot of a house with a front porch.  A cute dog jumped on the bed soon after that.  Three tropes in the first 30 seconds!

We saw some cookie baking and she served hot cocoa as her family arrived at the house.  And I haven’t been mentioning the product placement in the past few movies, but we got a shot of the Balsam Hill logo in this one.  And the only way we knew Darcy was decorating the tree was when she SAID she was decorating it.

After a LONG absence, the marble covered laptop is back! At some point Darcy’s step-mom Emma wore a circle necklace.  We had plenty of empty coffee cups in this movie.

The gala!  We had kids caroling courtesy of the big Christmas show that they included with the gala.

Bingo Card Score for “If I Only Had Christmas”

I only covered six spots on my card.  Pitiful showing! Feel free to download my free bingo cards and play along!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

There’s no way they could have designed and set up that light maze in the short time they had.

The rest of the movie is a big ???????  It made no sense and I can’t even begin to dive into everything that was wrong with this story.

Feelgoods

Despite the impossibility of having the light maze set up so fast, the light maze was very cool and I’d love to go through one in real life.

The speech by Dr.  Tinsley about how teachers appreciate the school supply drives but it’s a waste of money to send laptops to students who don’t have reliable internet at home, and that we need to look at the bigger picture when it comes to helping students and teachers alike.  I liked that in this era of COVID-at-home education.  My kids benefit from having a way to do schoolwork from home and get it turned in, but we do have communities in my area that don’t have that luxury and are getting lost in the system as a result.

Re-watchability

It’s weird.  It took me a very long time to figure out exactly what Darcy was supposed to be doing.  Promoting the education foundation?  Helping the AI company that Warren Christie’s character worked for?  And is he the son or just the VP of communications?  I had all these questions even an hour into the movie. As such, I am pretty confident I’ll never watch it again.

The Ranking

“If I Only Had Christmas” is near the bottom of the Christmas movies.  It’s mainly because the plot was horrifically convoluted.

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. If I Only Had Christmas (air date: Nov 29) – 535 pts – weighted score: 90.0 (63.2%)
42. Chateau Christmas (air date: Oct 25) – 502 pts – weighted score: 87.3 (61.3%)
43. Amazing Winter Romance (air date: Jan 20) – 487 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.1%)
44. Love Under the Olive Tree (air date: June 20) – 473 pts – weighted score: 85.0 (59.6%)
45. In the Key of Love (air date: Mar 14) – 470 pts – weighted score: 82.5 (57.9%)
46. Love in the Forecast (air date: Jun 13) – 440 pts – weighted score: 72.5 (50.8%)
47. Midway to Love (air date: June 26) – 410 pts – weighted score: 69.0 (48.4%)
48. Falling at Look Lodge (air date: Sept 26) – 350 pts – weighted score: 64.0 (44.9%)
49. Romance in the Air (air date: Aug 1) – 367 pts – weighted score: 63.2 (44.3%)
50. Follow Me to Daisy Hills (air date: Sept 19) – 337 pts – weighted score: 62.8 (44.1%)
51. 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 “If I Only Had Christmas”?  Comment below and let me know!