Tag Archives: pact

CHRISTMAS MOVIE REVIEW 2016 – DAY 8: The Mistletoe Promise

Posted on by under Christmas Movie Review, Fun

As promised in Day 7’s review of A December Bride, Day 8 features Hallmark’s 2016 The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans (also author of the best-selling book by the same name) because both these movies involve couples with secret pacts.

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In this movie, Elise and Nick notice each other and exchange eye rolls in the mall food court after each is serenaded by a troupe of Christmas carolers.  When they return to their respective offices, situations arise requiring drastic measures.

Nick learns he’s a contender for the only new partner slot in his law firm – whose senior partners value family and commitment above all else.  His problem?  He doesn’t have a serious girlfriend and compared to his biggest rival, whose wife is pregnant, the scales of justice aren’t tipped his way. So, what does he do? He invents a girlfriend to bolster his chances when his boss invites him to the big Christmas Eve party the next week.

Meanwhile, Elise has had it with her ex-husband, Dan. When they fell in love and married, she shared half her travel agency, and now that they’re divorced, he refuses to sell his half back. Even worse, he stole Elise’s idea to track Santa’s reindeer on the local news, and convinced the station to hire his new girlfriend, Drew.  In addition, he plans to reduce costs by cutting the charity travel the agency offers. Elise’s best friend suggests Elise needs a boyfriend to keep Dan off guard and to find joy outside work.

Elise and Nick bump into each other again in the mall and joke about being in the Christmas phobia club. Nick has an idea and proposes a contract.

The terms are seemingly simple:

  • They meet for lunch everyday.
  • They hold hands, but that’s all.
  • They watch It’s A Wonderful Life together.
  • The contract, which is softened to “promise” expires on Christmas Eve.

Nick is the perfect boyfriend. The gals in Elise’s office drool over his bouquets.

His co-workers love her.

As Elise and Nick spend more time together, and make social appearances, they discover they enjoy Christmas activities such as ice skating, ornament shopping, and a snowman contest. They begin to care for each other.

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One area I believe could be improved would be to reduce the amount of exposition given to explain their background and motivations.

One thing I loved was watching Elise’s hairstyle transform as she warmed up to Nick, her severely pulled-back hair much looser and softer around her face.

When the details of the agreement surface in front of Elise’s friends (courtesy Dan), she’s humiliated and wants to call it all off, but then decides to keep her end of the deal. Nick is overwhelmed by guilt, so he confesses what he’s done to his boss.

I won’t spoil the ending, but it involves mistletoe.

I give this movie 3 of 5 Sprigs of Mistletoe. ♥♥♥

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CHRISTMAS MOVIE REVIEW 2016 – DAY 7 : A December Bride

Posted on by under Christmas Movie Review, Fun

I’ve mentioned my fascination with similarly themed Christmas movies. Once again, I managed to find – in close proximity – two movies that reminded me of one another. First I watched Hallmark’s 2016 A December Bride, written by Karen Berger, so I’ll review it first for Day 7.  We’ll visit Hallmark’s 2016 The Mistletoe Promise, written by Richard Paul Evans for Day 8.

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(Though different set-ups, the similarities involve secret pacts between the couples. For a hilarious secret pact, I suggest Hitched For the Holidays, which I reviewed in 2015.)

As soon as the main character, Layla, introduces her cousin Jessica to her fiancé Jack at a business function, her December wedding is doomed when they immediately hit it off.  We see Layla’s nervousness as she watches their eyes connect, and blames Seth, an acquaintance who suggests that Jessica and Jack could help each other business-wise. I wondered why she was so insecure at this late date and why she had to blame Seth?

Caving to family pressure, and having secured her cute neighbor as her date, she agrees to attend the wedding, but at the last minute, he gets sick. Desperate, she allows Seth to take her – to make it up to her – after they bump into one another near his office where she’s on her way to pitch her abilities as a professional house-stager to the realty developer in town, as she tries to move on from being an eternal design assistant. He’s not buying.

But, it turns out he’s a wedding guest, and  assumes she and Seth are a couple, so as a favor to Seth… he agrees to give Layla a trial run – if she can turn Seth’s pathetically under-decorated, yet luxurious bachelor home into a holiday paradise for the Christmas Tour of Homes.

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Okay, it’s not this bad.

(PS: Yes, we’ve seen the bachelor pad makeover before too, per A Bride For Christmas, which I also recommend from last year.)

As this puts her into direct competition with her boss, she’s promptly fired. Now she has to win the tour’s highest honor.  As she and Seth are linked together, they’re invited to more holiday functions as a couple, and somehow… to save face, it pops out that they’re engaged. They decide to carry the charade through until Christmas.

During the process of preparing Seth’s home for Christmas – trimming the tree, making wreaths, stringing popcorn – their attraction grows, though Layla holds back.

The unresolved issue of forgiving Jessica (and Jack) still weighs her down. One sticking point for me was not that Layla should forgive, rather it was that Jessica didn’t seem truly contrite – merely that all should be forgiven because she and Jack fell in love.

I felt there should be something more from Jessica. Where’s the sense of honor when the two cousins were so close? And, why did she also steal Layla’s dream of a December wedding? She is not the “December Bride” this movie is about.

However, all the story lines neatly wind up, so I give this movie 3.5 of 5 popcorn strands.

♥♥♥.5

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