The Road to Christmas (2006)

This is one of those Christmas movies where you look at the cast and do a double-take. Clark Gregg? I love him! But this predates his fame as the dead/not dead Agent Phil Coulson in the Avengers movies and Marvel's Agents of Shield. And Jennifer Grey, who just never worked as much as she should have after her nose job. (I liked the crooked Dirty Dancing nose better, anyway.)

As Christmas movies go, this one is a little drab. There's not much Christmas atmosphere to go around. Chicago photographer Claire is shooting a Christmas-themed commercial at the beginning of the film, but it's kind of cheesy. She's also so busy with work that she can't take the time to plan her wedding to a wealthy Italian businessman, Lorenzo. So he goes off to Aspen to plan their Christmas Eve wedding, and she plans to join him in a few days. But when her shoot finishes early, she decides to surprise Lorenzo. Her flight to Aspen is grounded in Omaha, where she takes a bus to Oglala and then hitches a ride with some shady characters who boot her out at a truck stop.

Meanwhile, Tom Pullman and his teenage daughter Hilly are hitting the road from Chicago with their dog, Toby, to Vail to visit Tom's mother for Christmas. Hilly sees Claire several times along the road, and when she and Tom see Claire and her baggage dumped from a van, she urges Tom to help. They all pile into the pickup and hit the road, where Claire is predictably obnoxious about their unplanned stops, car trouble, the absence of lattes, and her inability to get a cell phone signal in the middle of nowhere. But Hilly and Claire bond, and Claire and Tom find they have more in common than they originally thought. Of course.

Though there is a distinct lack of snow in the Canadian locations, it's refreshing to see that people traveling across the Great Plains encounter Native people along the way.

Of course, I've left the best part for last: Clark Gregg and Jennifer Grey are married in real life! And unlike some married couples on screen, they actually have great chemistry. I enjoyed watching them a lot, and not entirely because I have a lot of goodwill for these actors. This is a low-key movie, but a nice exploration of relationships.

eee Three out of five presents. It would have been four, but I took away a present for a lack of Christmas Spirit.

Christmas Under Wraps (2014)

Candace Cameron Bure, best known as D.J. Tanner on Full House, is Christmas Movie royalty. Christmas Under Wraps is her fifth Hallmark Channel movie, though the only one I think I've seen is last year's Let It Snow, which was pretty cute. And Christmas Under Wraps got the highest-ever ratings for a telecast on the Hallmark network, so she must be doing something right.

In this year's outing, the actress plays Dr. Lauren Brunell, a driven (and kind of entitled) 3rd-year medical resident in San Francisco. She's counting on a fellowship to a Boston hospital where her father worked, and is counting on her great transcript and Dad's connections to get in. She's also counting on a proposal from her boyfriend, but he has other plans, which don't include fitting into her detailed life plan. While she's still reeling from being dumped, she learns that she came in second for her fellowship. She decides to take a fellowship in tiny Garland, Alaska to round out her resume.

Garland turns out to be more than cold and tiny. It's quirky! Everyone is glad to have her in town after a year with no doctor, but she can't get her internet order delivered because the company can't find the town. The biggest employer in town is Frank Holliday's Holliday Shipping. Frank, played by a game Brian Doyle-Murray, looks a lot like Santa, is always talking about his busy time at work, and has a pet reindeer named Rudy. He also has a cute son who was an architect in Seattle, but has come home to consider going into the family business. Lauren and Andy hit it off, and he shows her the beauty of small-town Alaska. But when she learns she can get her fellowship after all, will she stay where she's appreciated or go back to her old plan?


Of course, although it's December in Alaska, and Lauren complains of the cold, no one ever wears a hat or gloves. And she's brings some serious city-girl attitude, striding into the local diner and demanding a fancy coffee drink. But she also helps the townsfolk and becomes part of the community, and even drops her big-city heels for warm boots and flannel. And she's not oblivious to the hints about what's really happening in Garland, even though everyone tries to keep her in the dark. Her relationship with Andy is refreshingly drama-free, and the supporting characters are fun without being overly goofy. In all, a pleasant background to tree-trimming or cookie decorating.

Fun fact: In Let It Snow, Alan Thicke played Candace Cameron Bure's father. Of course, Thicke is best known for Growing Pains, on which he played the father of Kirk Cameron, Candace's older brother. TV family synergy!

eee  Three out of five presents!

Angels Sing (2013)

A cut above the usual Hallmark holiday fare, Angels Sing boasts a stellar cast, including Harry Connick Jr. and Connie Britton, with Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Lyle Lovett.

Michael (Harry Connick Jr.) lives in Austin, TX, with his lovely wife (Connie Britton) and 10-year-old son David (Chandler Canterbury). They seem like the perfect family, until the subject of Christmas with his parents comes up. Michael complains about visiting his folks for Thanksgiving and refuses to consider visiting for Christmas, in spite of the enthusiasm of his wife and son.

It turns out Michael has issues with his father and the holiday dating back to a childhood tragedy, which he will have to deal with when something happens to his son. In the meantime, he has a bicycle accident due to a reindeer that leads him to a house for sale by a quirky old guy named Nick who agrees to sell it for just what Michael can afford.

The house is on an Austin street known for its Christmas decorations, and on moving in, the family is greeted by a succession of neighbors bearing decorations and holiday music, Michael puts all the lights and decorations in the attic with no intention of putting them up, in spite of a promise to Nick to keep the house up to the standards of the neighborhood.

What a cast! Nick is played by Willie Nelson as a possibly magical man who pops up in the most unlikely places and gives Michael the advice he needs. Kris Kristofferson is Michael's father, who wishes he could share his love of Christmas with his son and grandson. Lyle Lovett is one of the new neighbors who shows up on the doorstep with holiday lights and a song. Many small roles are played by other Texas musicians,

With a dedicated website, this movie seems to have had larger ambitions than a slot in the basic-cable rotation. By the way, it's based on the book When Angels Sing by Turk Pipkin.

eee  Three out of five presents!

A Princess for Christmas (2011)

A Princess for Christmas is a classic of holiday wish-fulfillment. Jules Daly (Katie McGrath) became guardian to her orphaned niece and nephew when her sister and brother-in-law died in an accident a year ago. The kids are acting out, the nanny quit, and Jules just lost her job in an antiques store in Buffalo when their guardian angel appears. Well, more of a guardian butler.

Sent by the childrens' grandfather, who disowned his son when he married Jules's sister, the butler comes with an invitation to Castlebury Hall for Christmas. Jules is not inclined to accept charity, but with everything else going wrong, she takes the chance. Which obviously, she will. It's called A Princess for Christmas!

For the Scrooge of a grandfather (Sir Roger Moore), who has been in a bad mood since his disowned son died, has another son, Ashton, played by a very young Sam Heughan (yes, it's spelled wrong on the cover art I swiped from IMDB). I'm surprised that I haven't read more about this, since Outlander on Starz has made Sam Heughan a lot more well known. (My sister points out that there may not be much overlap between the sexy-historical-cable show audience and the cheesy-Christmas-movie audience. Just me then, huh?)

I enjoy this movie in spite of some annoyances. The tone goes from slapstick to tragedy and the music can be heavy-handed. The acting is fine, but the accents wander all over Europe. Jules falls down a lot in the first half-hour at the castle. And there's an embarrassing sort of hip-hop dance sequence for Jules and Ashton.

But the setting is beautiful. Filmed in an actual Romanian castle, it has a much richer feel than the usual Vancouver/soundstage TV movie. The relationships between Jules and the kids and then with the family and staff at Castlebury are pretty sweet. And the epilogue feels like it may have been filmed after the royal wedding of William and Kate.

Fun fact: The movie was co-written and directed by Michael Damian, best known for being a soap star on The Young and the Restless. And I'm pretty sure he plays the boss who lets Jules go at the beginning of the movie. He's uncredited for that.