Boyfriends of Christmas Past

Lauren and Nate are best friends. He is a social worker who now has his own community center to help teens and Lauren works in marketing and has to get a big account during the Holiday season. During the night, she is visited by her past boyfriends who are clearly trying to tell her something. So.. basically she has mommy issues. Her mother left her and her dad during Christmas and each one of her relationships tried to take the next step during the Holidays as well... so, yeah, commitment issues as well. It's a nice concept but there is not much to it. She is visited by four exes so it gets quite repetitive. Catherine as Lauren was okay, but her character gets frustrating as we move along. The scene before the flashforward was just not okay. That doesn't happened in the real world without consequences. I liked Raymond as Nate, just wished we could have seen him more. Little to no chemistry between them. You know what killed me? (I will be vague because of spoilers) In the flashfoward scene, something happens, quite obvious and expected by literally every viewer. Nate, as her friend, has watched her in her past relationships and saw what happened and WHEN, and yet he tried and DID the same thing. Luckily, it worked for him. But I think it's funny. The real question is: Has she really worked out her issues in just a year? Things I liked: the diverse cast. And Raymond Ablack, please cast him in more movies. I wished we could have seen more of him. Also, the whole cast are actors we haven't seen before. It's nice seeing refreshing faces. And not always the same ones.

The lead actor and actress were both fantastic. The dad and stepmom were charming and fun. I had no idea what to expect, but I truly loved it. I hope to see these leads become regulars on Hallmark! I truly don't know what the negative reviews are talking about, everyone did a wonderful job.

I actually really liked the concept here, putting a romantic twist on A Christmas Carol. I am also fine with the two leads. I really like Asian women, and though others have complained about her age, Asian women tend to look young longer, and it didn't bother me at all. If there is an issue here, it is just that the male lead was significantly out of her league. That kind of leads me to my main issue with this movie. The issue that causes me to give it among the lowest ratings I've ever given a Hallmark Christmas movie. The issue is that I am a man, and this movie is SO written for women. Normally, not a big deal, as all Hallmark movies are written for women, but this is such a female fantasy that it gets on my male nerves. Yeah, I know there have been plenty of movies and books through the years that were essentially male fantasies, but that doesn't mean I need to enjoy this. The fantasy here is that a woman can blaze through a series of great guys with an even greater guy in the friendzone, and no worries, that greater guy will still be there patiently waiting for you once you've finally decided to give up the boyfriend train and show the man some affection for once. No, I'm afraid her friend would have had plenty of options and been long gone by time she finally came around. Frankly, this is the only Christmas movie that would have been best served by the male lead telling the female lead to buzz off at the end. THAT would have been a great ending.

This story is a mix of two movies, Christmas Carol and Ghost of Girlfriends Past. The problem with this movie is the lead actors had no chemistry whatsoever. Throughout the entire movie, you see no transition from her end, while his character transitions. The storyline was good, but the actors were wrong. You need actors with on-screen chemistry. Plus, I don't understand how the story can be so long, yet the ending culminates in under 2 minutes.

I don't know if marketing people themselves are actually the ones writing these stories or what, but if I have to see one more Hallmark movie about a marketer I'm going to throw my hot chocolate at the screen. I'm sick of movies about people trying to reform workaholics in general. "Oh my gosh y'all look how busy I am!" Too busy to watch Hallmark movies I bet, so have mercy on the rest of us. Just once I want to see some chill people falling in love and enjoying their lives. I would ask what the selfless social worker even saw in her but he was one of those dudes who waits around forever to date a woman by being her "friend," so never mind they deserve each other. Kind of a toxic story, the emotional parts weren't emotional, and the funny parts weren't funny.

After the first 13 reviews the average rating is reported 6.5. Why? A correct calculation of the average is 5.1and the median value comes even lower, reflecting the real quality of the movie. The plot is not only predictable, but also pedestrian. The lead character, Lauren, is so superficial, self-centered and clueless that one would want to see her get a kick in her derriere rather than crowning her true love, at the end of the illogical, wandering narrative. It is about time that script writers stop ransacking Dickens for plot ideas. Every new twist of the story seems to lead to worse disasters.

Despite the heroine's almost deliberate lack of insight into her own behavior being very annoying, I did enjoy this one. Hallmark seems to be making a real effort this year to break out the box of its own making. Time travel is a common Hallmark trope, but in this one, it's a little different with Lauren going back in time (in her dreams) with 3 of her former boyfriends. They are trying to tell her something: she has sabotaged all of her previous relationships as soon as they try to move to the next level of commitment. Yes, it's another take on A Christmas Carol, but Hallmark has not used this in a long time, to my memory. As opposed to fake boyfriend, bad city person being transformed by small-town life, save the beloved fill-in-the-blank from a corporation, or royalty in disguise. Or food competition, snowed in, or sad widow/widower for that matter. Or magic Santa. Or kid matchmaker. Somebody stop me. Anyway, The breakups always occur around Christmas, and now a life-long relationship with her best friend who's in love with her is in danger. It is not until a trip into the future where she sees her soulmate proposing to another girl that she finally sees the light. I'm afraid I failed to see why this girl was able to attract such nice and attractive boyfriends (except the first one, who wore lipstick and dressed like an elf for some mysterious reason). But the actress was good. It's not her fault her character was such a pill. The very handsome and charismatic actor who played her true love was a stand-out. What a find! He looked so familiar but I hadn't seen him in anything else. I couldn't figure it out until I finally realized that he is the image of Jon Krasinski only Indian. He stole every scene.

I'm watching this now and it's ... okay at best. It barely tips over the line into "watchable". I applaud Hallmark for widening the pool of actors they constantly recycle, but that's one of only two good points. The second being Raymond Ablack. I'll get this out of the way, the man is gorgeous with a capital G. To the person who, in another review, said the actor needed a shave ... what does that tell viewers about the actual film? (And in my *opinion*, no, he doesn't.) The actor is very babyfaced, and without the scruff, it would've only made the age gap between the actors would have looked far bigger. Which is weird because they're actually only four years apart, but Catherine Haena Kim looks much older. Perhaps it was wardrobe and makeup? In the flashbacks the "younger" Lauren looks like a 45 year old woman in a bad wig. Speaking of awkward, lord is Kim bad in this. Perhaps she's fantastic in other roles, but here every word that comes out of her mouth feels wooden. Whether she's talking to her parents or Nate, she almost always reads as stiff and out of place. I wish they'd made Ryamond Ablack the lead instead. He has a charm and kindness that is the saving grace of this film. I'll update this if things change by the end of the film, but as it stands, unless you're a fan of Ablack, or are desperate for two Asian leads in Christmas film (which is cool), this one is skippable.

It's an okay movie but the whole Christmas past thing is over played. Also Lauren... Is not it. Her acting is terrible. Nate is great. I actually met him on set for Degrassi auditions haha small world. They should've cast another female though. Sorry Lauren. The ending was pretty obvious. Within the first few minutes I knew what would happen.

I tried, I really tried. I guessed correctly that it was a 2021 movie attempt, ugh, that tried but just failed. I just hope this forced miscasting isn't a trend. There was absolutely no chemistry, and by the way, they should have cast professionals for behind and in front of the camera. Good script, well acceptable anyway, that was poorly executed. Out of charity, I decided to grade it a 2 when it should have been a 1 (or less). Big hint: Use pros next time.