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Hey everybody, welcome to the Forever Hallmark Christmas Podcast.
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There's a lot of great Hallmark podcasts out there, but we are the only ones talking about Hallmark Christmas movies year-round.
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My name is Rich, as always.
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Joined by my Hallmark partner in Crime Renee.
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How's it going, brother?
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It's going very well, Rich.
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Happy to be here with you.
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Good morning, everybody, or good day, everyone, please.
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Good day, everybody.
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We're about three weeks away from uh Countdown to Christmas 2026.
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I can't believe it.
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Woohoo!
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It's gonna be here before we know.
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Oh, yeah.
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We have an interesting one today.
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Renee, I picked the movie November Christmas.
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And uh I think it's gonna be a very interesting review because let's just put it out there.
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This is not your normal Hallmark kind of movie.
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Nope, not at all.
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So November Christmas, let's get right into it.
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The year was 2010.
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I'm gonna name, I usually only name the couple lead characters.
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I'm gonna name five uh actors that we have in this movie because it's a big cast uh with some really popular names.
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Uh John Corbett plays Tom, Sam Elliott plays the role of Jess.
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We have Beth played by Sarah Paulson.
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Karen Allen is Claire, and I'll call out Emily Alyn Lind.
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She's young Vanessa.
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Uh so great cast.
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Uh this was based on a short story by a gentleman by the name of Greg Kappa.
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And the script was written by, I hope I get this first name right.
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I looked it up, Anina Goldstein.
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And here's our little holiday hook on this one: when a young girl battling a life-threatening illness worries she may not live to see Christmas.
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Her father and a small town community move the holidays forward, creating an unforgettable Christmas in November.
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Renee IMDB rating on this one.
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7.6.
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Uh, that is, and we'll talk about it.
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That is up there with the elite of the elite when it comes to the rating.
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And uh as always, uh,
Load full transcript
I had to dig back onto this one.
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We had 16 years to play with that.
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You ready for some fun facts?
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Absolutely.
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I'm ready.
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So this movie back in 2010, it originally aired on CBS as a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie.
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A lot of those earlier movies did.
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Uh, being on CBS and not on the Hallmark channel first day of Uber Day, 13.5 million viewers for this one.
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Wow.
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Um, so I think it just goes to show you kind of you know a network versus the you know a linear channel like Hallmark, uh, what the numbers could do on that.
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Uh interesting, this one had a running time of 96 minutes, and almost all Hallmark movies these days uh are 84 minutes.
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So we got an extra 12 minutes on this movie.
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Uh, it was filmed in Nova Scotia in the Canadian Maritimes, and it was filmed in July and August.
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So, as we know, so many of these Christmas movies are shot in Canada and they are shot over the summer, as was this one 16 years ago.
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Uh, I mentioned Greg Coppa.
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He was a high school science teacher, and he wrote the short story almost 20 years before this movie came out.
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Uh, and believe it or not, it was only seven pages long, the short story itself, and of course, then turned into a uh a full-length motion picture.
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I found it really interesting.
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The director on this, his name was Robert Harmon, and he predominantly did horror movies and thrillers for the first 25 years of his career leading up to uh to November Christmas.
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And Emily Alyn Lynch, she played Vanessa, she learned about Make a Wish, uh, the Make a Wish Foundation while the movie uh started filming, and she collected money for the organization on the set, which I thought was really, really cool.
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Uh, we had 11 Hallmark Christmas movies back in 2010, and of course, this was the highest-rated movie of the season.
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I guess you would expect that at a 7.6 rating.
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How good is a 7.6 rating?
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Well, it puts it number two all time in Hallmark Christmas movie history.
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Only Built More is higher.
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So uh it is really up there.
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And Renee, uh this is gonna sound like I am the biggest Hallmark geek in the world.
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I I I doubt many people do this, but uh I stream my music on Amazon music.
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A lot of people do Spotify.
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I actually have a Hallmark playlist on my uh on my Amazon music.
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So if I hear a song in a Hallmark movie I want to add, I add it to my Hallmark playlist because I'm such a nerd.
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But there is there is only one song in this entire movie that's that's credited, and I of course added it to my playlist.
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I am not surprised.
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But it's called The Wild Goose by British folk singer Kate Rusby.
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And since we're a Christmas podcast, Kate is extremely popular with the Christmas music.
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She has seven Christmas albums.
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First one uh in 2008, and her last one was last year in 2025, probably more coming.
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But uh, if you remember the the tractor ride out to the Christmas tree farm, that music play in the background, that was uh a Kate Rusby song, The Wild Goose, and the only uh credited song in this movie.
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And those are the fun facts.
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Yeah, it was a great scene.
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Yeah, I do remember that scene.
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That's that's a lovely scene.
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Yep.
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And I had to make a comment on Robert Harmon.
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Uh he he he he directed The Hitcher with Rutger Hauer, which is as a kid.
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Uh, I don't know if that was in the 80s or maybe so.
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It's gotta be in the late 80s, but uh that was one of my favorite movies.
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I mean, not favorite, but I really liked that movie.
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Uh Rutger Hauer was a good horror movie that I think he was a killer or something.
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Yeah, yeah.
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You you look on his MDB Chris, it's just thriller, horror movie, thriller, horror movie.
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Then all of a sudden, November Christmas, you're gonna what?
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Yeah.
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But uh I I mean, I th I thought he did a great directing job.
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So uh all right.
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So as I've said, you and I, we don't talk about these movies before I review them.
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We want everything to come out natural.
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And after you watch this one, you shot me a text, you go, dude, that was a heavy movie.
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Um I can't lie, I agree.
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It was a heavy movie, it was a really good movie, but it was heavy.
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So, what do you think of this one?
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Yeah, you know, I I I went through my normal work week and you know, I'm like, all right, Friday night, usually hallmarks
like light, and usually I'm laughing.
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Uh well, here I wrote down I watched this on a Friday night after a long week of work, and I was in the mood for something light and funny.
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This was not it.
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It took me about 30 to 4 minutes to settle or shift gears into this movie because I was in a different mode.
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It starts out heavy and it stays heavy.
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So it's hard to say if this was my mood coming in or just the movie.
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I was not into this movie at first.
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Then I began to appreciate the story and I let myself feel the emotion of it.
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I am so glad I stuck this one out.
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It was a heartfelt movie, completely different from what we reviewed as we talked about.
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Uh, this may be a hard watch, especially if you know many of us we've had a loved one struggle through illness or lost someone.
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Um, that can be tough and emotional.
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At the same time, I felt that there was a beautiful healing quality in this movie, and this movie was ultimately quite moving and beautiful.
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Um, I wrote a little bit more here because there's some other sections where we won't have a discussion point, like kisses and stuff like that.
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But that was my overall thoughts on this movie.
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It was really something different for us, and uh I I appreciate that.
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Yeah, I I I totally agree with you.
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I mean, I I jotted down I first of all I thought it was a really, really good movie, and I think we both feel it doesn't feel like a Hallmark movie in 2026 at all.
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Even some of these movies that we watch on Hallmark in the last, let's say, five years, six years, you know, the deal with lost.
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You can think Randall Offri Christmas Dealt with Lost and Take Me Back for Christmas and Holly and Ivy, but still those have you know uh a romance involved in them usually.
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Um, but this was definitely more drama than rom com for sure.
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I mean, there is no rom com in this movie.
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It's uh it's it's completely drama.
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And if you like really rom-com kind of movies, this one might not be um you know up your alley.
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I would definitely say all Hallmark movies should try to give it a watch because, or excuse me, if you're a Hallmark fan, you should try to give it a watch.
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Um, but it's it's definitely different.
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Um, I wrote it's a it felt like a really elevated script, you know, the cinematography, the acting, um almost the kind of movie you would see in a theater.
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And I, you know, I saw that 7.6 IMDb rating.
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I go, okay, I was kind of curious what other movies kind of fall in between, let's say, a 7.5 to a 7.7?
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What kind of movies like Moneyball, Apollo 13, The Fugitive, Field of Dreams, The Color Purple?
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So I mean, it was it's a very, very elevated kind of made-for-TV movie.
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So uh yeah, uh, I enjoyed it, but it uh it is uh it is a heavy watch for sure.
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Yeah.
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All right, I mean I'm sure we being such a great movie, there's there's plenty that we liked.
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Uh, what do you got on this one?
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Yeah, and the the first thing I like, I'm just gonna start with something light, is the snow globe shaking.
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And I don't know if you noticed in the snow globe, there's a figurine inside the snow globe holding a snow globe with a figurine inside that snow globe holding another person, holding another snow globe.
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So it was like snow globe inception.
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You know what I mean?
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There was no wish making on a snow globe, but there's something magical to me always about a snow globe.
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And the more serious things I really enjoyed when just just figured out what was going on with Vanessa and that Tom the dad was moving up the timeline.
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Because at first he was kind of like, Why is he asking me for pumpkins and why is he asking me for this at this out of season, right?
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So when he figured that out, that's just fantastic.
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I mean, I can't speak highly enough.
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Yeah, that talk with Claire.
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I mean, you know, Sam Elliott and Karen Allen.
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Yeah, you're right.
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That scene was a great scene.
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Two, two legendary actors, just so great.
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Yeah, and uh I really liked it, I found it so amazing at how much was said without words in this movie.
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And if you watch this, you'll know what I mean.
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They give each other a look, they pause.
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It's it's not giving you filler, it was so incredibly well acted, and emotions on their face and their body language.
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I was really, really impressed with that.
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One of the last things, there's there's several things I liked about this movie, but uh when Jess and Tom are talking about the loss of his son and uh Tom being
scared, they're driving in a vehicle, and you know I don't know about you, there's something that gets me when I see um I get emotional talking about it right now.
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It's uh seeing grown men get choked up is so powerful and visceral to me.
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And when they're those two guys are getting choked up, I mean, boy, that was all I mean I I I made it, I have to spoiler alert.
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I made it through without uh without any tissues, but I certainly came really close.
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There's so many powerful scenes in this movie.
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Um, such a beautiful moment.
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I have many more, but I'll let you get in on some.
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Yeah, I I almost made it through without any tissues, almost, which I'll get to.
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Um yeah, I I love the opening scene when uh adult Vanessa was traveling to the town, just amazing scenery and music.
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There, and if you notice, there was no credits playing at first when she was traveling through.
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She stopped and took that picture, arrived into the town.
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It was just beautiful cinematography, no credits uh interrupting the screen or anything.
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I thought that was really well done.
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Um, I loved Vanessa flying the kaid up by the ocean.
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She just wants to be a kid.
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She's sick, but she wouldn't, you know, she just wants to be around other kids.
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Um, she doesn't want to be different.
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Uh, I think that was meant to show that.
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I love it when Jess and Teddy, when they go out to the, you know, they they make the long trip out to look for the pumpkins and they find out that they're sharing bunk beds, just to look on their voice and then they have to talk.
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Um, all the kids showing up to the Halloween.
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Oh, go ahead.
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You want to keep it?
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And then I got I gotta cut in here.
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And then when he starts sneezing, oh Susie Q.
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I thought that was this grown men humor.
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It was so funny.
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It was just like classic.
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There was some very few, but there was some funny moments.
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All the kids show all the yeah, all the show, all the kids showing up to the Halloween party was just a really sweet, tender moment of the movie.
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Beautiful, beautiful.
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This was gonna be my favorite moment when I saw it.
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The tractor ride out to the Christmas trees, and then they had lunch, you know, the the the grove over there.
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We talked about that that song playing, uh, the wild goose, great music, great scenery.
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Almost my favorite moment.
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Something ended up beating it uh uh by the end of the movie, but loved that scene.
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The the scene that Jess had, the talk that he had with the minister about when he asked the minister to to say something, you know, about Vanessa, um, you know, keep her in prayers and everything.
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That was such a powerful scene, so well written, so well acted.
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Um very human for a father that probably struggles with religion.
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It sounds like he, you know, religion was a big part of his life before after he lost his son, it became tougher and tougher, and very human kind of thing.
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So very well written.
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Um yeah, just some some really powerful acting moments in this movie for sure.
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And like I say, you when you have Tom Corbin, Carnell, and and Sarah Pulse, Sam Elliott, I mean, it's just everything was so elevated in terms of of the acting, just uh you know, delivering that dialogue.
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So yeah.
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You know, to give you a little something that's personal and to share with our listeners, you know, uh I was a person, uh when things came, you know, I I stepped away from faith, and I uh and uh but sometimes when I would come across people that were struggling, my my family's of faith, so I would go to my mom, I said, Mom, could you pray for this person?
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And I'd say, Dad, could you pray for this person?
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Or to my brother, could you pray for this person?
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I won't go too deep into this, but you know, and then the priest says to him, uh he says, you know, your prayers are just as strong as mine, you know.
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Yeah, and that was a thing that um, you know, I don't know, you know, I'm not gonna get into preaching anything, but that was a thing that every once in a while I will pray myself.
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And and I think that's a an okay path for us to, and I'm not telling anybody to do anything, mind you, but uh, I think that was a very uh that was a personal moment for me because I I I felt that moment because I had experienced something like that where I'd ask people to pray, and then at some point I said, Well, why can't I just pray myself, irrespective of what my beliefs are, just pray.
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So that's a little personal thing, but it might, you know, intrigue someone who's who's in the same boat and maybe encourage them to pray as well if they want.
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No, no pressure.
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All right, our segment that you say is uh is your favorite that I actually deliver here, but I struggle on this one.
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Things we'd fix in a rewrite.
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I originally wrote, I'm not fixing anything.
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Like this thing is perfectly well written.
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But I did come up with one after thinking about it.
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When the kids all come over for Halloween, I would love to have seen a little bit more lighthearted scene there.
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I mean, they could have shown them having more fun during the Halloween part and they did, where they're gathering, but I'm not sure because her uh immune system's compromised, right?
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So I don't know that even though it's a beautiful scene where everybody's there and hanging around her, I think I would have probably, you know, just from a health point, have her wearing a mask.
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I don't know, I don't know what to do there, but I just don't think that they she would be as close contact with people if she's sick.
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That was the only thing.
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Having gone through some health issues myself, I I know that hey, when you're not when your immune system's down, you're a little bit more cautious of being around people.
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But aside from that, I honestly could not think of things I'd fix in a rewrite.
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Yeah, I'm with you.
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I I really didn't have anything personally that I would fix.
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Now, if there is a rewrite, I'm sure some people out there probably would have wished that the secret wasn't given away at the beginning of the movie that Vanessa, you know, doesn't die in this movie, that she is alive and well.
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We see 25-year-old Vanessa or so approximate age, you know, at the beginning of the movie.
00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:23.039
Um, I'm sure there's people out there that would have rather not known and kind of let the movie go on.
00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:26.879
Um but boy, it was already heavy enough.
00:15:27.120 --> 00:15:31.200
So I am perfectly fine with the way that that was done.
00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:33.120
Because I don't know, I that would have been a tough one to get through.
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:34.480
It was already a heavy boy.
00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:42.320
If I didn't know that she was she was alive and well as a movie star, but I'll that is a a rewrite that I'll bet some people would actually say they wanted.
00:15:42.399 --> 00:15:43.440
Um, but not me.
00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:46.799
I'm I'm I'm cool with the way that this movie was written, and I'm not gonna rewrite anything.
00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:53.840
Yeah, I think I was a little slow because when I first saw her, I didn't pick up that that was her until the second time they show her, and they go, Oh, that's her.
00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:55.360
But that took me a bit.
00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:00.799
Um, but I thought while she was reading, I thought perhaps like the dad or the mom had passed.
00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:03.919
Because you hadn't seen them, you know, later on.
00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:09.120
So I was like, oh no, it's this is gonna end like with, you know, because she was talking about her her story.
00:16:09.200 --> 00:16:15.600
So it seemed like she was, you know, she's talking in the past tense, and I'm thinking, oh no, you know, some the one of the parents is gonna pass.
00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:17.840
So spoiler alert, they're they're fine and well.
00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:21.600
But uh that I was I was really uh worried about that too.
00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:23.360
But it took me a second to figure that out.
00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:27.919
But I with you, I'm glad I I knew that she was okay.
00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:29.679
All right, favorite moment of the movie.
00:16:29.759 --> 00:16:30.879
We might have the same one on this one.
00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:33.759
I think a lot of people might have the exact same one we do, but we'll we'll find out.
00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:35.200
What's your what was your favorite moment?
00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:44.399
Yeah, when they're driving back uh when they picked her up from the hospital and they see the house decorated, and Vanessa's eyes were so expressive and happy.
00:16:44.559 --> 00:16:47.600
I mean, that that little girl did such a great job.
00:16:47.759 --> 00:16:55.600
I could feel her joy and just wonder as I watched it, and then they drove through the main street of the town and it was all decorated.
00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:57.919
And I was just that's I got emotional.
00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:03.759
Just seeing the kindness the community showed, it was just incredible to me and lovely.
00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:06.319
Followed by everyone being at the house, yeah.
00:17:06.640 --> 00:17:09.440
So it they really did give her a Christmas in November.
00:17:09.519 --> 00:17:13.119
I it was just a lovely, lovely scene.
00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:18.880
I I I yeah, I think it's one I think it's one of the best scenes in Hallmark history.
00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.759
I mean, how do you not get a little emotional?
00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:24.880
And and when they're driving back, obviously they see all the houses lit up one by one.
00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:26.240
I'm going, okay, really cool.
00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:30.079
I'm still holding it, but then when they turn down Main Street, the entire block was all decked out.
00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:32.079
That's when a few tears started rolling down.
00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:35.599
My funny, my 17-year-old daughter, you know her obviously.
00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:39.039
Well, uh, she walks by as I'm watching that scene.
00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:43.200
Thank God she didn't
look at me and see all these like tears coming down my face.
00:17:43.359 --> 00:17:49.039
Uh, when that scene, but yeah, that was uh that was that was a little emotional, but what an incredible scene.
00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:52.720
That that is one of the best scenes I've ever seen in a Hallmark movie, just such a feel-good moment.
00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:56.160
So yeah, if it if any of them was gonna get me, that one was gonna be it.
00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:57.519
That one was really close for me.
00:17:57.920 --> 00:17:58.319
Yeah.
00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:01.759
All right, uh, best supporting character who deserved more screen time.
00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:02.880
We have the same one on this one.
00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:06.079
I guess we'll find out because we had a lot of supporting characters in this movie.
00:18:06.400 --> 00:18:06.880
A lot.
00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:10.400
Um, you know, but I went with I kind of went off beat, I think.
00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:14.079
Uh, the uncle at the diner, I forgot his name at the moment.
00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:16.400
So uh uh his name was Wade.
00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:18.559
Wade, who took in the girl, you know.
00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:21.680
I can't kept drawing out blanket out of her name too.
00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:22.720
Uh his niece.
00:18:22.799 --> 00:18:25.359
Uh he was cranky, but he had a big heart.
00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:27.759
Uh, it was hard to pick one person.
00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:33.200
So I just thought this guy, because I wanted to know, you know, what made him take on his niece.
00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:38.640
And he was cranky, but he he's cranky in a way that he just wants what's best for her, you know.
00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:42.640
Drive safely, get to work, don't sit there and not be working.
00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:49.279
He's just, you know, old school person, the teaching uh as it should, hard work and and getting things done.
00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:51.759
But ultimately, you saw he had a big heart.
00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:56.160
He said, you know, anything they need, they need food or whatever, let me know and I'll help.
00:18:56.319 --> 00:18:58.799
And that shows his true character.
00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:00.400
So for me, it was it was Wade.
00:19:00.480 --> 00:19:03.680
I I you could have picked anybody, they were all so amazing.
00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.400
Well, speaking of Wade's niece, I'm going with Tammy, um, who was his niece.
00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:15.279
Um, she had great moments with Wade, uh, great moments with Jess there, um, great moments with Vanessa.
00:19:15.599 --> 00:19:20.079
That scene in the hospital after she sees Vanessa and she breaks down, starts crying.
00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:22.160
I mean, it was such a great scene.
00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:24.480
Um, I really liked every scene she was in.
00:19:24.559 --> 00:19:29.440
I'd love to, you know, they didn't get into too much of her backstory, just a little bit kind of made you wonder.
00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:35.920
Uh, obviously, we know her mother was struggling with something, that's why Wade took her in when her mother wasn't around to kind of bail her out.
00:19:36.079 --> 00:19:37.759
Um, and Wade didn't hesitate.
00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:42.640
But and then I'm pretty sure I'm I'm I'm I guess I'm not 100% on this, but probably 95.
00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:48.000
I th by the end of the movie, we're supposed to think that that Tammy wrote the story of Vanessa, right?
00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:50.799
Um because she wants to be a writer, she's all that time.
00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:52.880
I'm that's what I thought too.
00:19:53.119 --> 00:20:02.160
I'm guess yeah, I'm guessing I'm 95% sure we we don't know for sure, but that I I think that's what we're supposed to think that uh which really makes the character of Tammy even more special.
00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:03.279
So yeah, I'm going with Tammy.
00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:04.319
It's a great choice.
00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:06.720
All right, are we sure our logic checks?
00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:08.160
I only had a couple, but what about you?
00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:10.480
It's the same one I mentioned earlier in my rewrite.
00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:17.119
I mean, I was just it's a sweet gesture, but would they let all those kids show up in a house and be in close contact with Vanessa since her immune system's so weak?
00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:28.000
I hate to be repetitive, but I didn't I couldn't uh I was so into this, you know, after the once I got into this, I was so deeply into this movie and feeling the emotions.
00:20:28.079 --> 00:20:35.039
I really I didn't have any real, you know, um disconnects or loss of immersion in it.
00:20:35.119 --> 00:20:38.880
I was in, I I can't really think of any uh Are We Sures besides that.
00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:43.279
Uh I'm sure you're better at this than I am, but uh yeah, I don't really have much on this.
00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:46.160
So the couple of just a couple of things that came to mind.
00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:55.680
Uh at the very end of the movie, when when those that kind of row of Christmas trees is all lit up there, when Vanessa sees Jess and everybody and they're all together.
00:20:55.920 --> 00:20:57.440
How did we light up all those trees?
00:20:57.599 --> 00:20:59.599
I I can't imagine there's any power out there.
00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:02.079
I mean, they had to take a tractor to get out there earlier in the movie.
00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:06.640
I don't think it generated, I mean it looks like a half mile with Christmas trees all lit up.
00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:11.599
And I don't I don't see Jess as the kind of guy who's gonna install solar or something out there.
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:13.440
So that was my first arbeitures.
00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:15.200
How are we lighting up all those trees?
00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:19.119
Um I thought that too, but I didn't think to include it as are we sure, darn it.
00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:22.880
My source is, are
we sure he's gonna be able to get all those trees lit up at the end of the movie?
00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:25.440
Um and then my other are we sure the the kite flying scene.
00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:33.039
I don't know if you caught this one, Renee, but there's a giant power line right under, or excuse me, right above where she's flying the kite attached to the lighthouse.
00:21:33.119 --> 00:21:38.960
I'm going, are we sure that Vanessa should be flying a kite right under about a power line that's about 20 feet above her head?
00:21:39.440 --> 00:21:44.000
Um that's my other are we sure, but not too many here, just a couple little fun ones that caught my eye.
00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:51.200
So yeah, and the one was like she's running awfully close on those little cliffs by the beach, and I was like, should she be running, looking up and just running around?
00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:55.440
You know, thought she's gonna that was one I almost wrote down as well, but I thought, well, it's so minor.
00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:57.440
It's like that was funny.
00:21:57.599 --> 00:21:59.759
So if you're listening to us for the first time, we do a couple.
00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:23.599
segments here with the lead capital a couple last 12 months and we also rate the kiss uh uh give it a letter grade which we call the missile to a meter none of the neither of those are applicable here um uh because obviously this was not a rom com there was no final kiss uh we're dealing with a couple married couples here uh with the lead roles so uh I guess we can jump right into who or what won the movie.
00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:30.400
So this one took me a bit but really well I I I had no problem I had no problems with this one.
00:22:30.559 --> 00:23:02.000
Well I I because so many things I liked right so to me it boils down to the writing the whole community and people caring and supporting each other coming together the spirit of giving and supporting each other reminded me of things we can sometimes forget in the hustle and bustle of our own lives but the love and caring everyone showed was very touching to me so the story the people all together for me that won the movie was just the the the story and the sense of caring and taking care of each other that that won the movie.
00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:05.920
And I guess so I could say the the screenplayer the writer run the movie for me.
00:23:07.039 --> 00:25:09.759
Okay for me it was Sam Elliott uh playing the role of Jess um yeah I mean Sam Elliott is just like when you see him you know that is like one of the coolest dudes on the planet I mean you're you're thinking you know Jack Nicholson Eastwood Springsteen you know who are the coolest dudes on the planet he he's up there when he speaks that voice of his just that he is just the epitome of cool and the role of Jess was just such an incredible character you know obviously he's dealing with his own loss that obviously happened a long time ago um but then obviously he is doing everything he can to help Vanessa's family um you know he's got his own issues uh with teddy they they don't get too deep into it we know that teddy's wife passed away and he wasn't quite there for him obviously he had his own grief or we but they they they don't you know they they again the writer kind of lets you think what you will about that um so he he just well was she the was she the driver in the in the truck I don't know the vehicle that crashed I don't think so um they they never said that but I do know I mean why why would she be driving him back from a hockey tournament that would doesn't quite make sense but um yeah so but I I really think that's you know that role of Jess just so much revolved around him in the movie and Sam Elliott was so great so I'm going with Sam Elliott as is the MVP of this movie he's uh he gets my vote can't argue that at all that's just great all right rating the rating Renee I I I struggled this one I had to give this one a lot of thought and for iconic symbol iconic symbol that we're gonna use on this one and I and I picked this one for a reason I thought the Halloween party was kind of centered around a lot of the uh the movie uh so I'm going how many Halloween parties and it definitely has a it has significance to how I'm gonna put my my grade down how many how many Halloween parties on this one so I couldn't rate this as a nor typical Hallmark Christmas movie that we've done as I think of them being light and fun.
00:25:10.480 --> 00:25:19.119
I from all the movies we've seen this movie really stands alone for me compared to all the other ones right so having said that this is on its own scale this movie.
00:25:19.440 --> 00:26:07.119
I mean even Kiss before uh before Christmas is emotional but not like this so this is a standalone it's a unique thing I think as far as emotional movies go I gave this a 4.75 uh Halloween parties if you haven't seen it watch it when you want to see something powerful and emotional uh you you won't go wrong yeah I agree with that 100% if if you're a Hallmark fan you haven't seen it give it a watch uh it's it's uh it's it's heavy but it's really well done and very heartfelt and uh incredible community spirit the end uh I wrote down as a movie I think this deserves every bit of the 7.6 rating that it got as a Hallmark Christmas movie and that is we are Hallmark Christmas podcasters here my biggest struggle with this movie is it it felt like more of a fall movie.
00:26:07.440 --> 00:27:50.640
90% of this movie is centered around Halloween fall um Jess and Teddy are driving the big distance to get the pumpkins Tom's looking for pumpkins the Halloween party we get little snippets of Christmas you know going out to the to the tree uh to the tree grove on the tractor there but even that didn't feel super Christmassy a kind of a bright sunny day obviously we got the huge Christmas payoff at the end uh which was again one of the best scenes in Hallmark history but that's probably my biggest struggles it felt like a lot more of a fall movie in terms of the content than it did a Christmas movie still incredibly powerful so I'm gonna go with 4.5 Halloween parties for that reason but again a must watch um have your tissue boxes handy you might need them but it's uh it's a really good movie this you know at first I was like darn it Rich why are you doing this to me on a Friday night you know I watch them Friday night Saturday afternoon I was like boy you're really you're really throwing me for a loop here but that's all I said to you we didn't talk further about it as we as we generally don't but uh thank you this was uh I am I'm so glad I watched it uh thank you very much for picking this one yeah I'm glad I've got a chance to review it it's uh it's a like one of these old Hall of Fame movies hallmark hall of fame movies and yeah definitely give it a watch all right uh you're up next uh and hopefully we had don't have something quite as heavy as uh as this past week total shifting gears uh my next movie is 2021 next top christmas starring Lindsay Fonseca Chandler Massey Leah Thompson and Christopher Lloyd you know these they were they were together in uh back to the future and this movie has a little bit of uh back to the future vibe going on with the partial reunion going on there so uh that's my next pick next stop christmas uh I don't have any real teaser except that there's a little bit of back to the future vibe going on with this partial reunion.
00:27:50.880 --> 00:27:52.559
Love it can't wait to review it next week.
00:27:52.720 --> 00:28:08.960
All right that's it have you seen this one yet or no I have not no uh okay so it'll be a first for me I I I know of it because I remember hearing the you know the the Back to the Future connection but uh yeah it should be a lot of fun and uh I'm sure we'll have a few comparisons when all said and done to that uh back in the 1980s classic.
00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:13.839
So as much as I enjoyed this movie I'm ready to go something a little bit lighter for sure.
00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:16.160
Yeah we we need to we need to laugh.
00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:25.359
All right uh forever hallmark christmas at gmail if you want to shoot us a message forever hallmark christmas on Instagram uh until next week we'll keep it for the love of hallmark for the love of hallmark