The Grinch’s Heart Grew Three Sizes That Day

Yeah, It Was OK

Lucky Christmas (2011) – A single mom moves to a small town with her son to start over again. Meanwhile, across town a good looking local man has set aside his dreams to support the family business. The rest you can guess.

Directed by Gary Yates

Starring Elizabeth Berkley, Jason Grey-Stanford

Why I Liked It – Yes, it was charming and romantic. There, I said it. Are You Happy Now?

I promised to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie this year. I had no intention or belief that I was going to like it. While I am a bit of a closet romantic, romance movies are not at the top of my favored genres list. Since the general consensus is that they are all alike, I chose this one because it was the first one I came across. The selection process wasn’t any more complicated than that.

This is the third of what would be eleven Hallmark Christmas movies in 2011. Jason Grey-Stanford was recently off a long run on “Monk”, and Berkley had done quite a bit of guest work on shows after 75 episodes as Jessie Spano on “Saved By the Bell”. That makes them exactly the kind of actors to get lead roles in this movie. Name recognition, but not to the level of demanding big salaries. The cast around them all show solid professional work.

The story is predictable. Soooooo very predictable. He’s put his dreams on hold to help his family, she’s put her dreams on hold so she can support her son. She’s down on men because her husband was a jerk. He’s never had trouble attracting female attention. There’s a lottery ticket that will play a pivotal role in the story (hence the “lucky”). There are secrets, feelings of betrayal, the usual complete and utter inability to ask simple questions, like “Why did you do that?”, a boy in search of a father figure…

Blah, blah, blah.

As I watched this movie, I called out what would happen next. When I wasn’t doing that I was yelling at the screen about the stupid parts of the script. Like scheduling a Pinewood Derby for Christmas Eve, or the youth hockey league where the kids weren’t wearing face cages. Just ridiculous plot devices that make zero sense. There’s a dopey friend, and a jealous brother, and a wise old, married couple.

There is NOTHING in this movie that will surprise you.

And yet…

I enjoyed the movie. It’s what a friend of mine called a “Check Your Brain At The Door” movie. You don’t need or want to think too much about the story. It’s warm, romantic, funny enough, and done well enough to carry you along. And it did just that. Working from the conventional wisdom that all these movies are alike, if you’re into this kind of lightweight romantic comedy, you will probably love all of them.

Good for you.

Hallmark has it’s own channel for these, I watched “Lucky Christmas” on PlutoTV.

Rating – *** Worth A Look