Hallmark For All Seasons

“Meet Me At Christmas” aired on November 14, 2020. I had this review in draft mode and realized I never published it – for those that loved the movie, I apologize for the delay.  For those that didn’t quite love the movie, I’m afraid I was right there with you.

The movie starred Hallmarkies favorite Catherine Bell and Mark Deklin in a movie about two people who met as older teens only to be reunited as adults.  Directed by Annie Bradley (who has directed a couple of Good Witch movies), and written by Hallmark newcomers Jennifer Aspen and John-Eliot Jordan, the movie was filmed in Calgary, Canada only a couple months ago.  The result?  Some of that snow was REAL and gorgeous.

In a nutshell

Despite a movie plot with some amazing potential, this movie felt lackluster and I was disappointed by it.

Plot of “Meet Me At Christmas”

When her son’s wedding planner quits, Joan must coordinate his Christmas Eve wedding with the help of Beau, the bride’s uncle. They realize their fates and pasts are intertwined.

Actors

I don’t watch Good Witch, but I do like Catherine Bell.  I really liked her in the Fiji Hallmark movie she made with Cameron Mathison, 2018’s “A Summer to Remember.”  Mark Deklin is a solid Hallmark leading man and I generally like him in the movies.

Six Degrees of Polaha: Catherine Bell is a mere two steps away from Polaha.  She had a role in Adam Sandler’s 2016 comedy “The Do-Over,” which also featured Nick Swardson. Swardson shared the screen with Polaha in 2014’s “Back in the Day.”

Chemistry

Despite two leads that know their way around a Hallmark movie, I did not feel any chemistry between these two actors.  Maybe it was the fear of COVID, but in several scenes the actors didn’t even get close to each other (see picture in the Tropes section below as an example) and it was glaringly obvious.  Not only that, but the movie had such low-key energy that I couldn’t even blame the actors for the lack of chemistry.  The whole movie was plodding and, to be honest, it took me a few sittings to watch this movie the entire way through.

Tropes

The movie did feature some tropes, albeit not as many as I’d have hoped for.  They built snowmen, there was a Christmas festival, they drank hot cocoa, and she wore a big scarf (see pic below for that as well).  There was an almost kiss, a tree lighting (two, actually!) and a misunderstanding that could have been easily resolved had they just talked to each other.

Bingo Card Score for “Meet Me At Christmas”

With only a handful of tropes, I know I wouldn’t score a bingo.  I did manage to cover five spots, which is more than the last movie, so that’s something. Feel free to download my free bingo cards and play along!

Did I Hear/See That Right?

The issue I have with the movie is the very essence of the plot.  How on earth can do people spend 6 hours together and NOT swap names?

Look, back in my single days I was a club hopper.  I was out dancing 3-4 nights a week, sometimes more.  One night I saw a guy who piqued my curiosity, and while he and I swapped glances all night long, we never approached each other at the club. The next week, I saw him and this time around one thing led to another and next thing I know we’re sitting next to each other and chatting for most of the night.  One of the first things we did?  “Hi, my name is Jane.” “Hi, I’m Joe.”  See?  Simple as that!  NO WAY are two people spending six hours together and NOT swapping names, even if they tried to address it and get away with it in the movie.

And because of that, I just couldn’t enjoy some portion of the movie.  I could see them not giving their LAST names in that first six hours, but they could have given Deklin’s character a more mundane name so even if they met up again as adults they might not necessarily know each other right away, but it’s a plot device that could have been abandoned in the first ten minutes and still maintained the story.

I also had issues with a couple of minor things, such as the obviously fake snowmen (WHY? WHEN THEY HAD REAL SNOW AVAILABLE?), the house ornament on the town tree that somehow is always put in the same spot every year, and the fact that the bride’s parents were stuck and unable to get to the town.  Sorry, but if my daughter was getting married and there was a threat of snow, I’d have arrived a week early if necessary in order not to miss the final preparations.

And speaking of final preparations, that bride should have fired her wedding planner long before arriving at the lodge because did you see that list of things that still needed to be done with four days until the wedding?  She had two pages!  That’s downright unprofessional.  I seem to recall that with four days to go on my wedding, it was just a matter of confirming all my vendors (flower, cake, caterer, church, musicians) had what they needed ahead of the big day.

Feelgoods

Having said all that, I did think the wedding was lovely (albeit cold) and I did love the idea behind the long-lost-love plot of the movie.  Especially since they showed that the same night she actually DID meet the man who would become the love of her life.  I thought that was a nice twist on that story.

Re-watchability

Sadly, I will not be watching this one again.

The Ranking

“Meet Me at Christmas” sits in the lower half for the year, and should be content with that.  It’s not the worst of the Christmas movies that have come out this year, there is also consolation in that, I guess?

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

Programming note: this coming week there will be a new movie every night.  So far I’ve been able to write up 3 of the 4 movies from every weekend thus far.  I’m very doubtful that I’ll be able to write a review of every single movie this week.  But I will do my best!  Later today I hope to get out my review of “A Nashville Christmas Carol,” which aired last night.

In any event, what did you think of “Meet Me At Christmas”?  Comment below and let me know!