Guilty as Charged, Part 6

Every year, the titles get more generic and the plots do too!  Are there any bright spots? (for past years, see my 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2009 reviews).

Once Upon a Holiday

Plot: A small-country princess (aren't they all?) escapes from her royal life for a few days, aided by a handsome stranger who has no idea who she is. Think Roman Holiday but starring the chick from Step Up 2 the Streets.
Lovable Old Person: No one famous.
Overacting: 2/5. Not too bad!
My guilt level: 3/5. Hallmark has a weakness for royalty-themed holiday movies lately, and I have a weakness for watching them.
Handsomeness of male lead: 4/5. He's the lovable goofball from Window Wonderland.
Overall: 3.5/5. This is pretty cute!

'Tis the Season for Love

Plot: a struggling actress comes home for the holidays to find her ex-boyfriend married with kids and his fire chief brother...conveniently unattached.  Would things have been different if she had never gone to New York? Can the charms of hometown life make her give up her acting dreams?
Lovable Old Person: Not present.
Overacting: 2/5.
My guilt level: 2/5
Handsomeness of male lead: 3/5, but my "gaydar" was going off throughout his performance.
Overall: 3.5/5.  A cute ending and a pretty cute movie!

A Gift-Wrapped Christmas

Plot: a personal shopper gets a crabby new client for Christmas - a handsome widowed workaholic with an adorable son.  See where we're going with this?
Lovable Old Person: Not present.  But that kid might be the most adorable kid since Love Actually. And that's saying something.
Overacting: 1/5.  The lead actress does a great job, and it has some of the most relatable family scenes of the bunch.
My guilt level: 1/5.
Handsomeness of male lead: 3/5.  He's a little wooden, but once they get him out of a suit and into jeans and a sweater...swoon.
Overall: 5/5! This is the holiday movie that shows other holiday movies how it's done.

The Christmas Gift

Plot: Not to be confused with A Gift-Wrapped Christmas or the 12 Gifts of Christmas, in The Christmas Gift Michelle Trachtenberg struggles to crack a smile as a journalist looking for her big break into serious stories.  How? By stalking profiling the founder of a children's charity...who also happens to have sent her an inspiring Christmas gift when she was a kid. An unnecessary side plot about her aunt being kicked out of her apartment complex to make room for a fancy new condo development.
Lovable Old Person: NBA player Rick Fox plays the boss.
Overacting: 3/5.  There's a smarmy ex boyfriend who lays it on pretty thick. Also, Rick Fox.
My guilt level: 2/5.
Handsomeness of male lead: 2/5. Not super cute at first but has a nice smile.
Overall: 1/5. The outlook for this movie is as drab at Michelle Trachtenberg's wardrobe. Seriously, it was bad.

The 12 Gifts of Christmas

Plot: The woman from last year's Snow Bride is back as some sort of shopping savant who helps a handsome beefcake get ready for Christmas.
Lovable Old Person: She's not super lovable but Donna Mills plays the beefcake's mother.
Handsomeness of male lead: 4/5. He's cute alright.
My guilt level: 0/5 because I didn't stick around long enough to find out.
Overacting: 5/5 because you know who has a major role in this film?  The chick from the Megaplex pre-show features. Yes, her:

This movie also features City Creek masquerading as a New York City mall. You can't fool me, Hallmark.

A Christmas Detour

Plot: Candace Cameron Bure is a high-strung magazine writer stranded on her way to meet her stuffy fiance and his stuffy family.  But when her only hope to arrive rests with her handsome seatmate on the plane, who knows what could happen?  You know what, actually everyone knows what could happen.
Lovable Old Person: Not present.
Overacting: 3/5. Candace Cameron Bure is not the best actress.
My guilt level: 2/5.
Handsomeness of male lead: 3/5. Sometimes he's cute and sometimes he looks old! Mostly he's cute though.
Overall: 3/5.

Last Flight to Christmas

Plot: Mayim Blalik is horribly miscast as a contemporary woman whose fiance has just broken up with her.  Flying home to lick her wounds, she is stranded in a storm with a handsome stranger. We'll set aside the fact that Mayim Blalik is Jewish, starring in a Christmas movie.
Lovable Old Person: Not present.
Overacting: 2.5/5. Not much overacting per se, but the two leads have exactly zero chemistry.
My guilt level: 3/5.
Handsomeness of male lead: 4/5. Those glasses don't hide the fact that he's incredibly good-looking. You know who Mayim Blalik actually married?  Someone who looks like this:

Overall: 1/5.

Dolly Parton's Coat of Many Colors

Plot: Not exactly a Christmas movie - but I think it mentions Christmas?  Anyway, this is the story of Dolly Parton's growing up in a tiny cabin with 12 kids in the mountains of Tennessee.  Ricky Shroder (welcome back!) plays her dad, who is struggling to find God in the midst of tragedy, and Jennifer Nettles plays his long-suffering wife.
Lovable Old Person: Gerald McRaney of Major Dad fame.
Overacting: 1/5. This is really well-acted.
My guilt level: 1/5.  Not guilty about this one at all!
Handsomeness of male lead: 3/5. If we're counting Ricky Shroder as the male lead, there were a few times when I found myself thinking he looks good in those overalls.
Overall: 5/5.  I really liked this one!!  I loved how it dealt with issues every family can relate to and doesn't shy away from religion.  Also, Dolly Parton!

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

Plot: In perhaps the creepiest plotline of them all, a woman's college friend moves back in town and he HATES CHRISTMAS all of a sudden.  So she arranges to have 12 gifts sent to him once per day to help him recapture the spirit, then doesn't tell him it's her and writes an article / expose about him!
Lovable Old Person: Not present.
Overacting: 3/5.
My guilt level: 3/5.
Handsomeness of male lead: 1/5. Not cute at all.
Overall: 2/5.  Oof.  This is a rough one.

Christmas Incorporated

Plot: The rebellious (he drives a motorcycle) heir of a toy company visits a small town prior to closing the factory and putting them all out of business.  UNLESS a pretty new employee can convince him how much the town needs the company!  If only she hadn't lied in order to get the job in a plot line clearly manufactured to create conflict!
Lovable Old Person: Not present.
Overacting: 2/5.
My guilt level: 2/5.  Mostly related to the tie he's wearing in this picture.
Handsomeness of male lead: 5/5.  I mean look at him in this flannel.

Overall: 3/5.










Just in Time For Christmas

Plot: a young professor has to choose between a lucrative job offer and getting married (because they're mutually exclusive).  When she accepts a carriage ride from a stranger (note: never accept a carriage ride from a stranger), she is transformed 3 years into the future to see how her choices turn out.
Lovable Old Person: Two!! William Shatner plays the strange carriage driver and Christopher Lloyd really elevates the acting in the movie as her cute grandfather.
Overacting: 1/5.  This is well-acted.
My guilt level: 3/5 for the time travel plot alone.
Handsomeness of male lead: 4/5.  He's got just the right amount of scruff and floppy hair.
Overall: 4/5.  This was a pleasant surprise, after a dubious first 30 minutes.  Stay with it - this is a cute one.

Phew!!!  What did you think of the holiday crop this year?