Deck The Hallmark

The movie kicks off with Angela and Brian from The Office trying to convince us that they can play other characters. We're at the Holly Hills Post Office, where every year, Brian and the other postal workers judge the best Christmas card. The winner goes on the Wall of Fame. It’s Settie’s dream to win, but the same person has won 18 years in a row.

Cut to a year later, and Settie sits down to write her annual newsletter. To her surprise, it doesn’t just write itself. She thinks, "If only I had this famous author to write my Christmas card!" This author, Juan, wrote her current favorite book. So, she decides to go for it and emails Juan’s manager, offering to pay him to come to her town and write the letter for her. Juan, who's in a bit of a funk, agrees to take the gig.

When he arrives, he gets into a rideshare with Settie’s daughter, Lilly. When Settie’s rival, Sue, shows up, they lie and tell her that Lilly and Juan are engaged. Juan agrees to stay, though he’s completely confused about what’s going on. But after meeting Sue, he realizes he can’t stand her and decides to stay for a while longer.

Soon enough, sparks begin to fly between Lilly and Juan for real. But Juan is still struggling with writer’s block, even when it comes to the Christmas card. Meanwhile, Sue has been running things in town for too long—she even has rules about how people can decorate for Christmas. So, to surprise Settie, Lilly and Juan stay up all night decorating Sue’s yard with Christmas lights and lawn ornaments. They love the result.

But the night isn’t over. Lilly and Juan run lines for a play she’s auditioning for, and they share a kiss—purely for the love of the art, of course.

Sue thinks she’s figured out who Juan really is and confronts him at a Christmas party. But she’s wrong—he’s not in the mafia at all. However, it’s revealed that Sue doesn’t actually write her own Christmas letter.

After the excitement of the party, Lilly and Juan share some big kisses.

Juan gives Settie the Christmas letter she asked for, but she decides that she wants to write her own letter after all. The next day at breakfast, Settie reads the letter she wrote out loud, and it’s perfect—honest, heartfelt, and even admitting she hired a ghostwriter. She also explains how she fell back in love with Christmas, and how her family’s Christmas traditions are perfect just the way they are. The letter ends up winning the Christmas card contest, and we all cheer.

Asha works is a nurse at the ER. She takes a call from her parents who are sad she isn't home on Christmas. But she explains that after years of avoiding this shift, her luck ran out. 
We then meet Jake who is a reporter covering the Christmas Day basketball game. He's leaving the game and sees a women with a bunch of gifts in her hands and goes to help her. He ends up slipping on the ice and goes to the ER. 
When Asha sees him, it's clear they knew each other. She was his chemistry tutor in high school and he was a mr. athletic in high school. They catch up on where they've been. The sparks begin to fly and his heart rate begins to increase. HE shoots his shot and asks her to go out for a drink and she says yes! 
They have some candy cane martinis, talk about their parents, and he walks her home and he's about to walk away but then he pulls her in and they kiss!!!
We then see a year go by and see them grow closer and closer. We're back to another Christmas season and he proposes! 
Now it's time to meet the parents - up first is Asha's family. Asha's dad is a real hoot who does some classic fatherly hazing to Jake such as giving him a hard time about his rental car, getting on him about not asking for his blessing, and tricking him into eating some real hot chicken. 
They go to meet Jake's dad and it's a different vibe and they end up getting into a bit of an argument about how many kids they'll have. His dad expresses concern over Jake not being ready for marriage. 
Jake's parents are divorced, hence his fathers hesitancy towards marriage, so they go to meet his mom. She's much more excited for them to get married and also excited to show off her knowledge of Indian culture she's learned from pop culture. 
The next day, Jake falls off a ladder when he finds out that he's not the first guy to propose to Asha. She explains to him that her dad really liked this guy but i didn't and I said no. They talk about it though and make up. 
The next day, the families all come together in the most anxiety driven scene in the history of Hallmark. Jake's mom wears a traditional Indian saree and they don't take off their shoes. They get in an argument about where the engagement party is gonna take place. But that's nothing a little Silent Night won't handle.
After going to the Christmas carnival together, both sets of parents have conversations about hesitation on if these two cultures can blend. 
There are some more speed bumps along the way such as Asha and Jake waking up on the couch together, a bit of an argument about what he will wear to the engagement party, and frustration that they double booked on Christmas Eve.
It all comes to a head when they show up late to Asha's families Christmas service because they were with Jake's family. A huge argument errupts which leads to Asha saying that she doens't think this is going to work. 
Samual and Jake Sr talk about how they done goofed and decide to work together to make sure their kids work out. 
Samual apologizes to Jake and gives him his blessing for him to marry Asha. 
Then Samual goes and apoogies to Asha and they have an amazing father/daugther moment.
It's time for the engagement party complete with some traditional ceremonial speeches given by both of the dads. They all dance and Asha and Jake kiss under the mistletoe.

The movie kicks off with great animation, and that's how you know you're dealing with a heavy-hitter flick. We meet Avery, a school teacher who makes toddlers give speeches about Christmas ornaments. She loves crossword puzzles and juice boxes. While she's in the teacher’s lounge, other teachers keep congratulating her, but she has no idea why. Her best friend Ruby explains that she signed her up to be a competitor on The Great Holiday Dash, something that is definitely NOT The Amazing Race. Avery is not thrilled.

Cut to Andrew Walker, selling juice—a real stretch for my boy AW. His character’s name is Wes, a retired professional athlete looking for his next big thing, and it turns out that next big thing is The Great Holiday Dash.

Avery thinks it over and realizes it could be a great way to bring attention to her school and maybe even get some extra funding. So she starts training, even though she’s never done anything like this before. She ends up meeting Wes at the gym, and it does not go well. Classic treadmill situation.

The competition begins, and Wes is shocked to see Avery from the gym there. The game is simple: there’s one silver bell hidden somewhere in America. The first one to find it wins. But this year, the contestants won’t compete individually—they’ll team up in pairs. Naturally, Avery and Wes are teamed up. The game kicks off with one team being eliminated after the first round. Luckily, Avery and Wes crack enough nuts to move on to the second round, which takes them to Boston. The next game involves shooting pucks, which works great for Wes.

Producer Dirk pulls Wes aside and tells him to flirt more with Avery for the ratings—“Wes, you’re the star! A little flirting will really boost the numbers.” That night, Wes and Avery actually connect. Gotta hate when that happens.

The next day, they head to New York City for a window display competition. Instead of immediately diving into the task, they spend more time talking and getting to know each other. Their theme is “Three French Hens,” so they go with a French theme for their display, and it looks amazing—almost like professionals came in afterward and finished it for them. And good for them—they WIN the round! They hug, and Producer Dirk tells Wes, “Good job.”

Next, they head to Texas for a dance contest. This competition is a little weird, but their dance quickly turns sexy, and they win again.

After a hitchhiking detour, they assume they’re out, but surprise—they’re not! So that’s a relief. They head to Oregon for the next round, but first, there’s an extracurricular gift exchange, for reasons that are unclear.

Avery and Wes make it to the finals, and the sparks are flying. However, when Avery overhears a conversation between Wes and the producer, she gets really mad. What she doesn’t hear, though, is Wes telling the producer that he doesn’t want to play the game anymore because he’s really into her.

The producer tells her about Wes’ feelings right before the final competition. They do a crossword puzzle and race to find the best gift under the tree. Wes falls and hurts his leg, so Avery continues on alone—and wins!!!

They celebrate by announcing what they’re going to do with their prize money—both plan to give back to the community.

In the end, they make up and and make out.
 

The movie kicks off with some narration about the Christmas magic of snow in fairy tales. But this isn’t just any normal fairy tale.

Cut to a house, all decorated for Christmas. The camera pans over to the house next door, which is dark and cold. Inside is Kathy, who is just as cold as her surroundings, while a truly awful version of "Jingle Bell Rock" plays in the background. We learn that Kathy runs a diner, and although her house may imply otherwise, she isn’t nearly as miserable as it seems. The diner keeps her busy, and she likes it that way.

She goes to serve a couple some food, and they encourage her to get back out there. Before she leaves, they give her a scarf. While walking through the town square, Kathy comes across a very muscular snowman. She drapes the scarf around it and takes a picture.

That night, the magic winds blow, and the snowman comes to life — with the long scarf still around his neck, if you catch my drift. He starts walking around town, taking in the sights and sounds, but soon realizes he’s not wearing any clothes. Desperate, he breaks into a store and grabs the first thing he finds to cover himself.

The next day, Kathy parks her car and sees a man who appears to be talking to the other snowmen. He notices her and excitedly tells her what happened to him. She’s confused but invites him to her diner.

Meanwhile, the police chief, Nate, investigates the break-in. "Stuff like this doesn’t happen in his town!" he declares, taking the case very seriously.

Back at the diner, Kathy tries to figure out this guy’s name. The shirt he stole has "Jack" written on it, so they go with that. Jack explains that he was the snowman Kathy put the scarf on. Kathy thinks he’s crazy but also feels sorry for him since he’s freezing. She takes him to the doctor, who suggests that maybe Jack is telling the truth — who can say for sure? They discuss finding Jack a place to stay, but he insists on staying with Kathy because he feels safe with her.

She reluctantly agrees, bringing him to her house and leaving him in front of the TV. After watching several channels, Jack snoops around her house and finds pictures of Kathy with a man and some medical forms about chemotherapy.

That night, Kathy comes home and realizes that the police are looking for Jack. She tells him to lay low. In return, Jack shows her that he made homemade pizza crust and eggnog. He also asks her about her late husband, and she opens up to him.

The next day, Jack finds the home improvement channel and decides to get to work fixing up Kathy’s house. But when a woman named Jane sees him shirtless, she crashes her car. She brings him to her house to help with repairs and later takes him to the diner, where Sheriff Nate is also present. He’s immediately suspicious of Jack and his strange habit of eating ice.

Despite the sheriff’s suspicions, Kathy is moved by Jack’s hard work and enthusiasm. She tells him that he can help out at the school, where he quickly becomes a hit. Jack is loving life, and Kathy starts to enjoy his company, though she admits that she can’t love anyone until she learns to love herself first.

As Jack helps decorate for the school’s Christmas ball, he realizes he wants to ask Kathy out. With some encouragement from Deputy Schatz, Jack finally works up the courage. After some hesitation, he tells Kathy, "I don’t want to lay low. I want to stand tall." She agrees, and they go fancy shopping and have a wonderful time.

Later, they go to the school dance and have the best time of their lives. They step outside to cool off, and they almost kiss, but Jack pulls back. He says, "The more I fall in love with you, the more I can’t stand the thought of hurting you if I melt." They share a hug.

On Christmas Eve, Kathy hosts a gathering at the diner. Suddenly, Sheriff Nate comes in and arrests Jack after finding a picture of him at the ATM. Kathy rushes to check on Jack and discovers he’s melting. She runs to get all the money in her safe, but it’s not enough. The townspeople, however, come together and contribute their own money — it’s a "It’s a Wonderful Life" moment. Sheriff Nate counts the money, but after seeing how much it means to the town, he returns it to Kathy.

She rushes to Jack, who is in a bad state. The townspeople carry him out into the snow, but he doesn’t wake up. Desperate, Kathy leans down and tells Jack that she loves him before kissing him. She begins to walk away, but suddenly Jack stands up. They embrace, and Kathy notices something’s different. Jack says, "I don’t know what’s up," and shivers. Kathy exclaims, "You’re cold!" They kiss again as the crowd cheers.

They spend Christmas together, repair the heating in her house, and then head off to Hawaii for a well-deserved vacation.
 

The movie kicks off with a great rendition of Deck the Halls that might be the new theme song for Deck the Hallmark. Cut to a woman driving in a car, giving herself a pep talk and talking to herself and her baby, whom she is pregnant with. Suddenly, she feels a sharp pain, drives into a town, and runs into a diner, saying she thinks she's going into labor but that the snow is really coming down. Luckily, there’s a doctor in the diner who has personally delivered over 100 babies! The birth is successful, and the baby is healthy. She names her Evie Lang. The group takes a picture to celebrate—there’s a doctor, a police officer, a lawyer, and some other fancy folks. The doctor gives the baby a little checkup and realizes the baby may have an abdominal blockage, so they all work together to get the baby to the hospital. They save the baby’s life, take up a collection to pay the hospital bill, and send them on their way.

Cut to the present day, when the mother, Elizabeth Lane, is giving a speech about the success of her skincare brand, Lane Cosmetics. Evie is now an adult, and her mom brings her up on stage to celebrate the success of women. Evie is clearly uncomfortable being on stage. She’s in fashion but isn’t having much success. Her mom tells her she’s been spoiled and needs to learn how to do something hard. So she gives her the Polaroid of the people who helped her on the night she was born. Her mom explains that Evie has to go and find these people and grant Christmas wishes to each of them. If she fails this mission, she’ll lose her trust fund.

So, Evie heads back to the town and is disappointed by the absolutely massive inn she has to stay in. She goes by the name of Mary so as not to give herself away. She decides to go and ask the only attorney in town for help finding the people in this picture. He says, “I could do that, but why would I?” She says she wants to give them an award. He replies, “That’s not what this town is all about, especially dressed like that.” So, she goes to find an outfit that’s a bit more low-key. They go and grab a bite to eat, and the diner owner tells them the story of what happened that night.

Kyle agrees to help her find the people, but they’re going to go at his pace. Up first is Roy, and Evie ends up being voluntold to be the elf in the town square. The diner owner quickly figures out who she is, and she comes clean. She asks what his wish is. At first, he’s hesitant but tells her to let him think on it. She is blown away by how nice everyone in this town is and realizes that’s going to make it hard for her to finish this project quickly.

The next day, she ends up backing out and almost hitting a police car. Turns out, that cop is someone she needs to repay, but she doesn’t want to reveal her true identity, so she ends up getting arrested. Evie is blown away by the kindness and doesn’t know how she’s going to repay them. She finds out that someone has been this town’s Secret Santa—paying hospital bills, etc., for a long time. She calls her mom, and her mom explains that she tried to repay everyone many moons ago but couldn’t do it. So, good luck, kid. It’s just your trust fund at risk.

The pressure is mounting, and what better way to deal with said pressure than by ice skating with Kyle? She decides to tell him the truth about who she is, and Kyle’s like, “Oh, yeah, I know.” But he was unaware that she was doing this just to make sure she didn’t lose her trust fund. You can tell he’s like, “Oh, boo hoo to you,” but they continue their quest, and he continues to just watch her from afar.

The diner owner is impressed by Evie, and he calls Elizabeth to encourage her to come and see all the good that Evie has been doing in the town. So, Elizabeth comes, and she’s so proud of Evie. She has done so much good. She finds out that Kyle’s dad was the one who took the picture, so she has to make his wish come true.

They have a birthday party at the diner for Evie, and she tells her mom she wants to do more of this kind of stuff with her trust fund. She asks Kyle what he wants, and he says, “I want you,” and they kiss. Everyone takes one more picture together.
 

12/7 - A Very Merry Beauty Salon

12/14 - The Holiday Junkie

12/15 - Christmas on the Alpaca Farm

12/21 - A Carpenter Christmas Romance

12/22 - Engaged by Christmas

Watch on Philo! - Philo.tv/DTH

The movie starts with Mia in some sort of fantasy sequence that reminds me of a really weird fantasy romance novel. Turns out, she's just sleeping on the job. Silly Mia! Her friends wake her up and tease her for dreaming about that guy from her books again. It’s going to be a crazy week—busy, busy, busy! But if I’ve learned anything from the first movie, it’s that Mia will barely have to work in this one, with little to no consequences for the business.

Mia’s sister asks her to watch her cat, but Mia is allergic, so she ends up falling asleep at the office again. She dreams about the book prince once more when there's a knock at the door. Gotta be honest—the lower third of his face looks a whole lot like the lower third of the dream prince’s face. He buys something and hands her a $100 bill.

The next day, her friends tease her, thinking she's still dreaming, but then he shows up again. She’s not dreaming! Turns out, his name is Beau Cavannagh. The Cavannagh family is super wealthy, and Beau is next in line to run the whole thing. This is the type of family that has his entire life planned out, including who he’s supposed to end up with. In fact, he’s already engaged.

But he keeps coming around, and the sparks are flying. There’s a lot of "will they or won’t they?" I think they will. She tells him this isn’t going to work—but then it does. They kiss. Yay.

Rose Walsh is a home renovator who insists on being present anytime there's a showing of one of her properties. She’s interested in a cottage in Ireland and puts in an offer to a man named Sean—though her approach is unnecessarily spicy.

When she arrives in Ireland, Sean recognizes her on the street and tries to talk to her, but she’s immediately wary—like STRANGER DANGER. She later shows up at the cottage, only to be shocked when she discovers that Sean is the same guy from the city. She declares that she’s going to flip the house, but he argues that house flipping is the worst thing to ever happen to homes. She insists, "Just show me the house."

To her dismay, the house is an absolute disaster—she’s been house-fished. Sean tells her she should have read the fine print, and she’s left feeling discouraged.

Things take an unexpected turn when she discovers that Sean essentially runs the town—he’s everything from the fire marshal to the local real estate agent. Although Rose is dead set against selling the house, the townspeople are eager for her to do so. Sean offers to help make the situation right.

As Rose works on fixing up the house, Sean spends as much time with her as possible. They go out drinking, stay up all night, and somehow manage to form fully functioning sentences—so, things are going pretty well. They eventually agree that what the house really needs, more than a functioning roof or repairs, is a Christmas tree.

Rose finally gets the house ready for a showing, and a couple expresses interest. When they ask why she’s selling, she admits, "I don’t know. Maybe I want to stay after all."

In a wild twist, a woman—who turns out to be a famous pop star who’s recently shaved her head—arrives in the town, hiding from the public eye.

Rose struggles with whether or not she should sell the house, even after receiving an offer. Sean keeps urging her to make a decision, not only because the buyers are pushing for an answer, but because he’s also super into her. During a romantic picnic, they almost kiss, but Rose says she needs more time.

On the day of the cold plunge, Rose arrives and tells Sean she’s found a home—not with the cottage, but with him. He tells her that they don’t have to stay in Ireland; he’d go anywhere with her.

They head to the water for the cold plunge, share a kiss, and run into the sea together.

Astronomy Professor Celeste is super excited about the annual Christmas Trivia Contest at Nick's Bar. It's a big deal—and not just for bragging rights. The winner gets a trophy called "The Stan," named after the best trivia competitor Nick's has ever seen. Celeste feels really good about this year because she has Richard, a two-time Jeopardy! winner, on her team!

She loves everything about the university where she teaches—except for football. Speaking of football, meet Max, the offensive coordinator. He doesn't really have any plans this holiday season because his parents are going on a cruise.

We're one day away from the first round, and Richard backs out. Celeste is really stressed. So stressed, in fact, that she gets mad at Max over how he handles the buffet—something she's downright wrong about. It's time for the first round, and Max shows up just to watch. But when the first round turns out to be about sports, they pull Max in to join the team, much to Celeste's chagrin. The first round ends, and they're down by one point. The rest of the team loves Max and wants him to stay for the next five days. Celeste protests, saying, "I'm sure he's busy." Max responds, "I'm actually wide open." Celeste is annoyed, but she knows winning is everything.

Celeste clearly cares about this more than the rest of her team. She stays up all night studying and shows up the next day feeling incredibly intense. But does it help them win? No. In fact, they come in last place on night two.

Max decides that the problem is they forgot to have fun. The next day, he invites the team to play a game of "Capture the Star" on the rock wall—an old classic. His theory? "If we have fun, we'll be happy. And if we're happy, we might just win." Celeste is hesitant but gives in—and ends up having a good time, maybe because they’re winning.

Afterward, instead of studying, Celeste goes with Max to buy a Christmas tree, and they actually end up having a great time talking and getting to know each other. It's time for round three, and the "fun" strategy works! They go double or nothing and win first place in the round. Celeste and Max celebrate with a hug, and the sparks fly. He walks her home, and they connect even further. Max is pumped!

The next day, they all gather for a Christmas Scavenger Hunt because Celeste thinks it could come in handy for trivia. But worst-case scenario, at least they’ll have fun! They split into teams of two, and of course, Celeste and Max team up. She’s shocked to find out that he’s a big reader—and it turns out this is the reason they don’t win the hunt. But she’s actually okay with it.

It’s time for the next round, and they CRUSH IT! The team morale is at an all-time high, and Max and Celeste aren't tired at all. So, she takes him stargazing, and they have the best time.

The good times keep rolling—at one point, they even hold hands. But they lose track of time. They’re rushing back for trivia when they have to swerve out of the way of some reindeer and end up with a flat tire. While waiting for a mechanic, Celeste snaps at Max for how they’ve lost focus on what's important. They make it back just in time for trivia—but not in time to save their first-place standing. They fall back to third.

The next day, Celeste tries to get in touch with Max but can’t reach him. She assumes he’s mad at her. It turns out his phone broke, and he spent Christmas Eve trying to find a replacement. They make up and share a big kiss.

They arrive just in time for the final round, and thanks to Max actually studying, the team ends up winning! Everyone celebrates by kissing.

The provost speaks with Celeste and tells her that her new telescope has been approved—thanks to the money the football team brought in this year. Maybe football isn’t so bad after all. Max and Celeste agree to participate in trivia again next year, sealing it with a kiss.

Join Alonso Duralde and Dave White as they dive into the magical world of Hallmark's Finding Mr. Christmas. In this bonus episode of DTH, they watch and review episode 3 of the new holiday reality show, sharing their thoughts on the guys, the challenges, and whether this show is worth your time this season.