Hallmark For All Seasons

“Next Stop, Christmas,” starring Lyndsy Fonseca, Chandler Massey, Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd, aired on November 6 during 2021’s Countdown to Christmas on Hallmark Channel.

The screenplay was provided by Kari Drake and Duane Poole. Drake has previously written for TV shows such as “Lost in Space” and “Limitless,” while Duane Pool wrote A Timeless Christmas and Winter in Vail, among many others. Director Dustin Rikert was in charge of my favorite 2020 Hallmark movie, One Royal Holiday.

This movie poster is very reminiscent of The Polar Express, which makes sense since both involve a type of time travel!  It doesn’t necessarily scream “Christmas!” to me, but it’s still a fun poster.

“Next Stop, Christmas” was filmed in Connecticut, in the towns of Chester and Essex.  It filmed in late August into September and so everyone was undoubtedly sweating up a storm in any outdoor scene in which they had to bundle up in heavy coats, scarves and wooly hats.

Music: The song playing during the opening credits was “Winter Wonderland” by Huey Lewis and the News, from a 2009 album called “The Sounds of Christmas” that is no longer in print.  Supposedly they released a cassette in 1984 just for their fans, and it included this song.  Years later the song was restored and put on that 2009 record. The song can be heard on YouTube and Spotify, but is not for sale.

Clothes: I know people are probably going to be as obsessed with Angie’s pink bag as I am.  I tried like crazy to find out the brand of that purse, but had no luck.  The closest I could find was a Mollie Tote 25 bag at the online Coach Outlet store.

In a nutshell

I loved this movie.  Most of the actors were well-cast, the story was fun, and I loved all the nostalgic “Back to the Future” cues.

The Plot of “Next Stop, Christmas”

Angie is determined to spend Christmas alone but her usual commuter ride turns into a Christmas train that drops her off in her home town in 2011. 

Actors & Chemistry

Lyndsy Fonseca was a winner as Angie in this movie.  Her reactions to the time travel were well played and I appreciated that they lasted longer than 30 seconds.  People may recognize her from “The Young and the Restless” and the recent revival “Turner & Hooch,” but I immediately recognized her as the daughter from “How I Met You Mother!” I thought she was GREAT in this movie and I hope she sticks around for more Hallmark hijinks for many years to come. And of course who could NOT know Lea Thompson and Christopher Lloyd, from the “Back to the Future” franchise, among many other things. Thompson played Angie’s mom, while Lloyd played the mysterious train conductor.

Chandler Massey, who also has a soap opera background (“Days of Our Lives”) was an interesting choice for childhood best friend and potential love interest, Ben.  More on that in a bit.  Eric Freeman played Tyler, Angie’s initial love interest whose proposal she turned down in 2011. But it was distracting how much he looks like Adrien Grenier!  They could play brothers!

And lastly, it was a treat to see Erika Slezak as Aunt Myrt, she being yet another soap opera person – the legend that was Victoria Lord on “One Life to Live.”  I can’t help but think that THIS is the cast we should have had for A Little Daytime Drama earlier this year!

I thoroughly enjoyed the FAMILY chemistry – the two sisters, in particular, had a very heartwarming scene laying on the bed talking and confiding in each other late in the movie.  That felt very real to me and I enjoyed seeing their relationship change from superficial to connected.  I also really enjoyed the friendship between Angie and her childhood best friend, Ben.

And this is one place where the movie felt wonky to me.  My immediate impression was that Ben was her gay best friend.  I did NOT anticipate him being a love interest.  I thought the movie’s point was that she’d gain an appreciation for her family, and that she’d reconnect with Tyler in a way she didn’t the first time around, and that they’d live their happy ever after.  So when the movie suddenly introduced that Ben clearly had a crush on Angie, I didn’t see it.  More on that later.

Tropes

Workaholic Angie lives in the big city. Lots of big scarves in this one. CGI snow.  Family house had a front porch. CUTE dog and cute kid.

The family went Christmas tree shopping, followed by some tree decorating.  The conductor told Angie she had a Christmas Eve deadline to make things right.  Later the family puts together gingerbread houses.

Was that the first “snowball” fight of this holiday movie season?  Then at Aunt Myrt’s Christmas party we had carolers. Then we had caroling at the town tree lighting (although the tree was already lit).

And it was watching this movie that I realized I COMPLETELY forgot to bring out my bingo cards this year to score the movies!  I shall endeavor to do that going forward.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

There were two giant things that bothered me in the movie.

First, the Angie/Ben relationship.  I NEVER felt romantic chemistry between them during the entire movie.  It was strictly best friend energy the entire time – and not just best friend energy, but gay best friend energy (which, as someone who has had a couple male best friends who were gay in my life, wouldn’t surprise me).  Even after Angie realized Ben loved her and she loved him, I felt nothing.  I truly thought (until the movie made it obvious where it was going), that Ben was merely to be a catalyst for her renewing her relationship with Tyler, the one that got away.  And I thought Tyler could have been a fun character and I got mad the minute they started to turn him into caricature and Bad Boyfriend material.

I almost wish they had swapped Freeman and Massey in their roles.  Have Eric Freeman, the Grenier 2.0, be the childhood best friend/love interest, and have Chandler Massey be the spurned boyfriend from 2011.  THEN they could have had Massey, as the 2011 spurned boyfriend, realize he’s gay in the present while Grenier 2.0 and Angie have their happily ever after.  From a chemistry standpoint, I’d have believed that casting much more.

So now, let’s talk time travel. She tells Ben 2011 that she’s in love with him, but that the train is leaving.  He’s in the truck racing to get back to the train station.  She tells him, “Meet me on Christmas Eve in ten years at the Hampton Inn at 8 p.m.!”  She boards the train, wakes up back in 2021, on Christmas Eve finds the fancy dress in her hospital locker and remembers she (hopefully) has a date.  Now, I’m a firm believer that when it comes to time travel movies, you have to IGNORE COMMON SENSE and just go with it.  HOWEVER.

1. Back in 2011, if Ben approaches real-time Angie and tells her what happened, and that he loves her, she is SO going to think he needs to be committed and begin ending that friendship. Because back in 2011 she did NOT love him – or at least, she didn’t think of him that way.  Yes, she didn’t accept Tyler’s proposal, but it wasn’t because of BEN.

2. In current-day 2021, at the Hampton Inn it’s clear Angie and Ben have now been in a relationship for some time, and she says, “It’s all coming back to me now.”  Are we to believe that in that instant she remembers her BRAND NEW TEN YEARS OF HISTORY? AND THAT SHE DIDN’T THINK HE WAS CRAZY BACK IN 2011 WHEN PROBABLY HE TOLD HER WHAT HAPPENED?

3. I guess my questions all lead back to Hulk’s description of Time Travel in “Avengers: Endgame” (BTW, I love this scene and BTW, language alert):

Feelgoods

I LOVED the look of the Christmas train.  I want to ride on that train.

Re-watchability of “Next Stop, Christmas”

I will absolutely watch this one again, and it will likely be an annual staple for me each holiday season.  Time travel and lack of romantic chemistry notwithstanding, this was a fun movie with a delightful leading lady.

The Ranking

No surprise for me, “Next Stop, Christmas” cracked the Top 5 for the year.  I know about halfway in that it would be scoring high on my list.

1. The Santa Stakeout (air date: Oct 24) – 730 pts – weighted score: 122.3 (85.8%)
2. You, Me and The Christmas Trees (air date: Oct 22) – 716 pts – weighted score: 121.3 (85.1%)
3. Crashing Through The Snow (air date: July 10) – 705 pts – weighted score: 118.1 (82.8%)
4. Boyfriends of Christmas Past (air date: Oct 23) – 673 pts – weighted score: 116.1 (81.5%)
5. Next Stop, Christmas (air date: Nov 6) – 682 pts – weighted score: 114.7 (80.5%)
6. It Was Always You (air date: Feb 27) – 668 pts – weighted score: 114.2 (80.1%)
7. The Christmas Promise (air date: Oct 30) – 675 pts – weighted score: 114.1 (80.0%)
8. Gingerbread Miracle (air date: Nov 5) – 671 pts – weighted score: 114.0 (80.0%)
9. Christmas In My Heart (air date: Oct 23) – 675 pts – weighted score: 113.9 (79.9%)
10. You Had Me At Aloha (air date: June 5) – 675 pts – weighted score: 111.4 (78.1%)
11. Sweet Carolina (air date: May 15) – 648 pts – weighted score: 110.1 (77.2%)
12. Taking a Shot at Love (air date: Jan 2) – 641 pts – weighted score: 108.9 (76.4%)
13. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (air date: Mar 27) – 636 pts – weighted score: 108.5 (76.1%)
14. Right in Front of Me (air date: Apr 18) – 637 pts – weighted score: 108.0 (75.8%)
15. As Luck Would Have It (air date: Apr 10) – 638 pts – weighted score: 107.7 (75.5%)
16. Her Pen Pal (air date: June 19) – 636 pts – weighted score: 107.1 (75.1%)
17. The Baker’s Son (air date: June 13) – 637 pts – weighted score: 106.3 (74.6%)
18. South Beach Love (air date: Oct 9) – 615 pts – weighted score: 105.8 (74.2%)
19. Love Strikes Twice (air date: Oct 2) – 608 pts – weighted score: 105.2 (73.8%)
20. Christmas Sail (air date: Oct 31) – 606 pts – weighted score: 105.1 (73.7%)
21. Christmas in Harmony (air date: Oct 29) – 605 pts – weighted score: 104.8 (73.5%)
22. A Winter Getaway (air date: Jan 23) – 620 pts – weighted score: 104.4 (73.3%)
23. Coyote Creek Christmas (air date: Oct 30) – 614 pts – weighted score: 104.3 (73.2%)
24. Love, For Real (air date: July 31) – 607 pts – weighted score: 103.6 (72.7%)
25. Rise and Shine, Benedict Stone (air date: Oct 1) – 595 pts – weighted score: 103.0 (72.2%)
26. Mix Up in the Mediterranean (air date: Feb 20) – 590 pts – weighted score: 102.5 (71.9%)
27. Advice to Love By (air date: Oct 16) – 599 pts – weighted score: 102.2 (71.7)
28. Two For The Win (air date: Jan 16) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.8 (71.4%)
29. Taking the Reins (air date: Sept 28) – 574 pts – weighted score: 101.2 (71.0%)
30. Raise a Glass to Love (air date: Sept 18) – 590 pts – weighted score: 100.7 (70.7%)
31. Chasing Waterfalls (air date: Mar 20) – 570 pts – weighted score: 100.3 (70.4%)
32. Roadhouse Romance (air date: Sept 11) – 571 pts – weighted score: 100.2 (70.3%)
33. Sweet Pecan Summer (air date: ) – 576 pts – weighted score: 97.3 (68.3%)
34. Sand Dollar Cove (air date: June 26) – 557 pts – weighted score: 96.8 (67.9%)
35. Hearts Down Under (air date: Apr 24) – 547 pts – weighted score: 95.2 (66.8%)
36. Fit for a Prince (air date: Mar 6) – 546 pts – weighted score: 94.6 (66.4%)
37. A New Year’s Resolution (air date: Jan 9) – 516 pts – weighted score: 90.5 (63.5%)
38. Finding Love in Mountain View (air date: ) – 504 pts – weighted score: 89.5 (62.8%)
39. A Little Daytime Drama (air date: Aug 21) – 511 pts – weighted score: 87.7 (61.5%)
40. Baby, It’s Cold Inside (air date: May 8) – 495 pts – weighted score: 85.6 (60.0%)
41. Playing Cupid (air date: Feb 13) – 466 pts – weighted score: 82.6 (58.0%)
42. Beverly Hills Wedding (air date: Feb 6) – 431 pts – weighted score: 80.6 (56.5%)
43. Journey of my Heart (air date: ) – 450 pts – weighted score: 76.0 (53.3%)
44. Snowkissed (air date: Jan 31) – 402 pts – weighted score: 76.0 (53.3%)

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

What did you think of “Next Stop, Christmas”?  Comment below and let me know!