Christmas She Wrote
My kingdom for punctuation… and chemistry between protagonists.
And yes, that was the punctuation used in the title. As in, no punctuation, and this movie could use some… in more ways than one.
Kayleigh (Danica McKeller, in one of her last Hallmark movies before she defected to the-channel-that-shall-not-be-named) is a self-help newspaper columnist fired in the weeks before Christmas.
Tripp is the new boss who let her go but who then flies from NYC to Pineberry, California to try to rehire Kayleigh and, wouldn’t you know it, falls for both Kaleigh and quaint mountain hometown.
Lots of typical tropes in this movie but just as many questionable choices to try and look past. In particular - HE IS HER BOSS! And he’s trying to convince her to come back to the paper he fired her from by offering up deals writers dream about. How in the heck does that seem like a great way to start a relationship, with wild power imbalances. It doesn’t help that Tripp (Dylan Neal) seems so much older than Kayleigh. IRL they’re only 6 years apart, but it plays like a much larger age gap in this.
All told though, it was somewhat engaging so not the worst way to spend an evening. DMcK is off to… other things now, so she likely won’t show up here often anymore. Oh well.
SCORE: 4/10
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When writer Kayleigh has her column cancelled before Christmas, she heads home to reconnect with family. Sparks fly when she gets an unexpected visit from the man who cancelled her column. Stars Danica McKellar and Dylan Neal.
