Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Abby Almost despite myself, I have become a fan of Lifetime/Hallmark/ABC Family romantic movies. The plots are formulaic and the endings are predictable but, with varying degrees of success, they all manage to be engaging and, at times, uplifting. Even with the generally low expectations that go along with movies in this genre, this one fails miserably. The dialogue is elementary and the plot is almost completely non-existent. After 10 minutes, I realized that absolutely nothing had happened. After an hour and the unsurprising "twist" revelation, still nothing had happened. Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that no compelling reason to save the factory is presented to the audience. We cannot sympathize with a mission that the protagonist herself has said is impractical.

Amy Adler Noelle (Monica Keena) is going back to her hometown to do a business study about the local Christmas ornament factory. It's near the holidays and the plant's owner, who died recently, was discovered to have been supplementing the factory with his own income to keep it afloat. Business whiz Noelle is keen to find a way to save it, for her mother and many other residents and area small business operators depend on its existence. As Noelle is blowing up a large company balloon, it breaks free and causes a male driver, Justin (Tobias Mehler) to lose control of his car, inflicting minor damage. Noelle is apologetic, especially since Justin is young, handsome, and coming to work at the factory as a seasonal employee. The gentleman also likes what he sees in Noelle and they begin to "step out" together. But, there are complications. First, the factory really is in the red and there seems to be no way out, other than moving it overseas. Then, too, the locals learn that superstore, Global Mart, will be coming to town, driving several small businesses to their demises. Lastly, Justin seems very smitten with Noelle, at times, but she often glimpses him in close conversation with the former owner's pretty granddaughter, Ashley, who has also come to town to make decisions about the company's future. How will this all turn out? Here is a winning film for the holidays or any other time of the year. It is funny, clever, sweet, and just perfect for an evening of nice entertainment for romcom fans, even ones in their teens. The two principal stars, Keena and Mehler are very winning and so is the rest of the supporting cast. The lovely town setting is also a fine asset, while the costumes, script, and direction are more than adequate. The film, in fact, resembles this year's New in Town, in quite a few ways, and that statement alone is strong praise. Do you love "getting in the mood" around holiday time, by watching a few worthy Christmas films? Include this one, then, in your schedule, as it most likely will be all you ever wanted in a seasonal flick.

jacquilynne-1 Some of the worst, least natural acting performances I've ever seen. Which is perhaps not surprising given the clunky, lame dialog given to the one note characters. Add to that the cheap production values and you've got a movie that doesn't look like it even belongs on television. One doesn't expect much from a Lifetime movie, especially one this old, but this is nearly unwatchably bad.Plot-wise, it's a dreadful, clichéd romance of a type even Harlequin would consider beneath them. It's possible to guess how the remainder of the movie will go by simply watching the opening couple of scenes. Surprise, the only female character who gets any focus and the mysterious stranger end up falling in love.

MisterMiata A note to all of you budding film writers: Study this film. If your dialog reads like the dialog in this film, please shred your script and try again.I didn't have high expectations, but was intrigued by the description indicating there was a mystery at the Christmas Ornament Factory. The Mystery is resolved very early and the film becomes a straight romance. I almost stopped watching it at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and at the first break. My spouse , who is the Hallmark & Lifetime fan, gave up at the first break. Forest River is a company town - the main business is Aikens Ornaments, who make all manner of holiday decorations.The patriarch of the company has recently passed away, so the companies future might be in question. We soon meet Noelle, who would rather be on Wall Street than Main Street, and the mysterious Justin, who gets a date with Noelle after a large snowman she is inflating crashes into Justins car. Once we meet Alison Aikens, doing due diligence for the Board, we have our story setup.If you can't nail all the story arcs by the first commercial break, you haven't seen enough of this kind of Holiday film. Maybe that's a good thing.