The Holiday Fix Up

Well they could not have picked two more attractive individuals for this holiday romance...these two are gorgeous! I can see why everyone wants #soop for Christmas, although I am with Coop-whatever that means. When Rita and Jack moved in to Bel Harbor it was just four walls, it is the people that make it a home. Sam has a fixer-upper show on something like the DIY network and has been very successful for the last five years. She has avoided going home to Bel Harbor, where it all started, for Christmas by doing an annual Christmas show...which this year they have given to an up and coming fixer upper because her social media presence is off the charts. Then Sam sees that a storm caused damage to her beloved Bel Harbor Inn and she calls her surrogate father to see if he needs help...and indeed he does. Which is how Sam ends up doing a fixer upper in Bel Harbor for Christmas. There she must work with her ex boyfriend Coop and discovers their breakup was not what it seemed five years ago. This was a fairly run of the mill romance that added both Christmas and a woman doing DIY. If you are in to that...you may enjoy this film. The two leads are very attractive, if that is a draw.

A Christmas TV movie that wasn't very christmasy, but the story was okay, completely unbelievable, but that's to be expected in this genre, the acting was reasonable, but overall I was underwhelmed.

I watched this with my sisters while playing Countdown to Christmas Bingo, and it was so much fun! We couldn't believe they kissed three times! Of course, they were not appropriately dressed for December in "New England", but whatever. Also, I'm sure I heard the Maestro song from The Holiday! (Although, at times we noticed that the music was, in fact, too loud to be able to hear the dialogue.)

Loved all of the actors, but especially Jana Kramer. Fun storyline, good memories, fun activities, great decorating. Just a good all around movie. P. S. Sure wish I had the Hot Cocoa Pie recipe. 😋

Jana is a HGTV type star who is being pushed aside by an up and comer whose social media presence is better. She is out of work until the new year and is at loose ends until She is asked by Jack to renovate and rebuild his Inn which was demolished by a tree. He asks her ex, Coop, to work with her to restore the building and save Harbor Fest. I liked the chemistry between Ryan McPartin and Jana Kramer. The conflict in their two styles pushed this a long. Jana, used to taking short cuts and and getting the job done as fast as possible for television and not always using the best materials versus Ryan, who was all in for a quality product. His career was based on reclaiming wood and reusing it. He was all about the craft. He wins her over to his way of thinking. She films the renovation project for social media, and people love the more personal input and especially like Coop and her together. They seem like a good team. Why did Coop dump her to begin with? When the truth comes out Jana gets even angrier with Coop and I can't say I blame her. Eventually Jana's popularity wins over her bosses and offer her a big opportunity. Coop thinks she was just helping with the renovation to boost her career. Yikes. Will they ever get this mess straightened out? Not sure I liked the resolution but they seemed happy with it.

Jana Kramer is one of my favorite Christmas movie stars. If I weren't such a fan of hers this would be lucky to get more than 1 star. Her character, Sam, and Ryan McPartlin's Coop spar, no fight, for almost exactly half the movie. And then suddenly, there's a cease fire and the animosity disappears. But even then, I just didn't feel it even when "that moment" occurs. It didn't feel real. The acting in general was less than I'd expect from these actors. Sam and Coop get thrown together to repair the inn and "save Harbor fest". There's one formula moment after another including she-falls-and-he-catches-her, the preliminary almost-kiss, a snowball fight, the recently passed mentor, the nostalgia moments, the mysterious but cliche of why-we-really-broke-up, and Coop putting his arms around her to help her do something. There is too much use of musical montage. There are scenes of the two just building or decorating together. The story is completely cliche and the rest is filler. Throw in an unnecessary shot of Kramer's chest in a negligee and later a closeup of another woman in a T-shirt. Even the attempts at sentimentality at the end feel forced. The whole movie feels like it was written in a couple hours and filmed in a day.

How do you like a movie, especially a Christmas movie, when the actors are so unlikeable? I can't put my finger on the problem because there were so many problems. The actors can't act, any of them, and they were all unlikeable. It just didn't work so I dumped it, then stomped on it to make sure it was gone.

Plenty of fun activities, plenty of good chemistry by all, Ryan and Jana smoke it in this show. Lots of plot twists to keep you entertained and guessing. Jana who always does well in these outdoors type movies excelled. And Ryan found more of his softer qualities to put it all together nicely. Well done. I will be watching this a couple more times as I always like a good fixer upper type of show with romance thrown in.