A Tale of Two Christmases

Trailer—A Tale of Two Christmases

source: A Tale of Two Christmases

A tale of 2 Christmases was 2 Christmases too many. I've been working at clearing my DVR of Christmas movies. I liked the idea of two different timelines, but not the end result. The lead actress had no chemistry with either lead actor and I didn't care who she ended up with. It was just sort of meh. Maybe they needed a stronger lead. I wasted 2 hours watching this, but won't have to do it again. I would rather watch repeats of Three wise men and a baby or Haul out the Holly. Christmas at the Golden Dragon did a nice job telling the multiple stories and how they intermingled with each other. If you're looking for a movie with multiple storylines, Golden Dragon or Holiday Spectacular would be my recommendation.

I don't understand why so many are confused by or stymied by the dual timeline but I have my suspicions. The key to which reality she's in at any given time is even minor attention to the detail of what she's wearing. The split screen at the start gives a big clue- in one reality she's wearing a winter white coat while in the other she's wearing a bright white coat. I won't even enumerate the many others. The movie was cute and I didn't hate it but it was another mediocre Hallmark by the numbers romance they work into everything (over-achieving, over-dressed women, frequent , very long commercial breaks, etc.) complete with the picture perfect ending.

I thought it would be a ground hog, family man, it'sa wonderful life style plot. It's not. The concept almost made me not even want to watch it, but I did. Two tales, two different timelines, two different mains. All happening at the same time.... Or something. So weird. Didn't love it. The main character played the role well, and the couple had some chemistry, but I think the screenwriter could've used some help . Also, Candy canes dissolve in water. It's not gum. They Did NOT need to cut off her hair...🙄 if they wanted a reason for a makeover, they could've at least used some red and green gum in her hair.

I watched this for the first hour with my husband, then as it seemed a little boring, we skipped over and watched a few scenes until the end. We decided to give it a 5, which means it was below expectations for a decent movie. Reading the reviews and thinking about the storyline again made me realize it's better than it appears, but it takes some analysis. The one error was the date on the phone at the end, when it was actually the next day, Christmas morning. She had the dream after the whole day of Christmas Eve, when she missed her flight. She dreamed that night that she had actually made the flight, after the not so perfect date with the guy she had wanted to know for a while. He wasn't as perfect for her as he first appeared to be, and she realized it. She knew that helping the Santa guy with his luggage had made her miss her flight. She imagined in the dream that she didn't stop to help and the whole scenario unfolds from there. She had conformed to other people's expectations in the city. When the guy talked about plain ethically sourced chocolate, it made her think. She probably thought about the way she liked it when she lived at home. She had changed and she realized it. The day with the "perfect" guy brought out all the things she didn't really like about her new city self. She realized she had compromised who she was for perceived acceptance by her peers. So the whole dream played out in her mind that night and nothing worked the way she originally thought it would. When she awakened Christmas morning she was relieved that it had been a dream. She realized she loved Drew and intended to tell him. She realized who she really was and what she really wanted in her life. I think on a second watch it may deserve a higher rating. We almost turned it off at the beginning with the really dumb model fiasco! That was hard to watch, but I suggested we keep going. We only made it to an hour, but I like the movie better when I understand it, lol.

Favorite scene with Emma Peterson (Kat Barrell) Staying in Chicago - The Yule Log Cake Disaster. Oops!!! Emma Peterson (Kat Barrell) Going to Vermont - She and Drew (Chandler Massey) Hilariously and Very Badly Pretending to be Christmas Carolers. Yikes!!! BTW #1, I Loved this Movie! BTW #2, This Movie Reminds me of the Movie Sliding Doors Starring Gwyneth Paltrow. BTW #3, I Loved Drew (Chandler Massey)! He was So Charming, So Funny, and So Hot!!! BTW #4, Although the Vermont Scenes were Just a Dream, I'm Glad that Emma Woke Up and Learned her Lesson in Chicago and Realized what she Truly Wanted in Vermont. Set in Illinois and Vermont.

I came on here to say how much I liked this movie, my favorite on in 10 years. It makes me sad that so many people thought it was confusing. It's just that movie Sliding Doors but with Santa. I LOVED it, and so did my husband. Cute. I hope Hallmark will make more movies like this one, with a cute actress who did a great job by the way. I'll watch the series that she is in now to check it out. My daughter says she plays a gay character on the series and that might be why some people didn't like this movie. Time to get with the program! I hope I don't see this kind of stuff for the LGBTQ movie that will be on Hallmark.

We liked the movie overall. However, it does involve 2 timelines, one within reality (involving the lawyer) and one a dream (involving the hometown boy), which is somewhat confusing -- particularly in the early part of the movie and again in a major way toward the end when a cell phone is shown with the date December 24, which should have been December 25 (Christmas morning). This is also well summarized within the Critic Reviews by the Romance Movie Fanatic. One other possible discrepancy relates to the heroine's flight from Chicago leaving at 8 AM Christmas morning but arriving in Vermont such that she is riding home with her father in the dark -- must have been a bad air travel day!

Over the years, Hallmark has done a few of these "alternate reality" stories, and they are a break from the normal straight through romance which check all the same boxes ... except half of this one checked those boxes anyway. Our female lead (who reminded me a LOT of Annette O'Toole) winds up in simultaneous alternate realities via a not so clear split screen scene where in one she suffers a delay and barely misses her flight home and stays in Chicago an extra day and spends time with the dreamy lawyer from a firm in the building her company occupies. In the other, she makes her flight and spends her planned Christmas with family and old friends. Unlike many of these stories, there's no "good boyfriend/bad boyfriend" dynamic. I like both guys. In fact, I liked the lawyer best. The "hometown boyfriend" was a bit of a Drama King in my opinion. That was one of the common tropes ... the hometown guy where they'd both had unrequited love many years ago. The question is ... which will she choose when she's back to one reality? Yes, there is ONE timeline goof near the end. Can you spot it, too?