Haul out the Holly

Lacey Chabert, whose picture is in the Oxford English dictionary next to the definition of "adorable", and who has tiny, dexterous hands, plays Emily, who returns to her Christmas-obsessed hometown, filled with a large number of crazy characters, including an old friend, also crazy, played by Wes Brown. Hilarity ensues as the town tries to convince the somewhat Christmas-weary Emily, who has been abandoned by her parents, to get in the spirit and do a lot of initially unwanted work. Also, there is and a little romance. Great dialogue, which is actually funny, comedic acting by everyone, and a beautiful setting, highlight this best Hallmark Christmas movie in quite a long time.

At its roots, Haul out the Holly is a formula Hallmark Christmas movie. However, the formula has been tweaked enough to make me feel like I was not watching one. Emily (played by Lacey Chabert) must spend Christmas alone at her parent's house. They live in an HOA that requires all the residents to decorate their house for the holidays. Emily's parents decide to spend Christmas in Florida and she reluctantly stuck decorating the house all by herself. Jared (played by Wes Brown) is responsible for enforcing HOA rules and also happens to be interested in Emily and forces her to put up the decorations. In other hands, this storyline would likely have been ruined by bad acting and forced characters, and predictable scene endings. But in this case, Mclain Nelson directed it in a manner that broke the mold off the Hallmark formula. I was just blown away by how many new layers of things that ran throughout this movie. It was really funny because all the actors had space to play their quirky characters off each other with over the top, improv acting. There were subtle gags running in the scene background. Parodies of overzealous HOAs and just about every neighborhood Christmas party and neighbor obsessions with their decorations and food goodies ran throughout the story. Easter eggs were also hidden throughout the movie that connected to Lacey's previous Hallmark appearances. Finally, Lacey's narrations about the behind-the-scenes filming of the movie made me rewind and watch some scenes over. In the last 10 minutes of the movie, the characters settle into the usual Hallmark formula, and it brings it all back home to remind us we are in fact still in a formula Hallmark movie. But I didn't care. This movie was so fun to watch, and I so enjoyed the characters, parodies, and hidden trivia that I never actually noticed a formula storyline was unfolding before me. Hallmark has set a new bar for their movies, and I think this could be my favorite one of theirs with Lacey Chabert in it.

Haul Out The Holly was funny and enjoyable for the whole family to watch together! Lacey and Wes were great together (funny, great chemistry and banter!) and the supporting cast added so much to the movie. The two surprise cameos were an added bonus! My only critique would be that I wish they let Melissa Peterman go full out funny. She was hilarious in Reba and Baby Daddy and with the Haul Out The Holly storyline, Melissa's trademark full out funny would've fit in well. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and think the change up with Haul Out The Holly and Three Wise Men and a Baby storylines worked very well for Hallmark this year!

Boy, Lacey sure gets lucky in her movies. For starters, it's nice to not see Candace Cameron and Danica. So overused. See ya! This movie though, Lacey gets gifted a HUGE house, her parents just give it to her. I wonder if it's paid off, mortgage, imagine the taxes. Anyway, in another movie she gets gifted an entire animal sanctuary in Africa. How lucky is this gal? Someone mentioned in another post how nice it would be to see just regular houses. Not a huge fan of Wes Brown and he plays a bumbling idiot in this movie. A lot of cameo roles too. All the neighbors brow beat Lacey's character into doing things she didn't want to do. I hated this movie. Ok, off to watch the movie with the 3 guys and a baby. I hope it's better than this drivel.

With Candace Cameron Brure dumping Hallmark, Lacey Chabert apparently takes over the title of Queen of the Hallmark Christmas movies, and if this is any indication, then let her reign carry on for awhile. Chabert has never seemed more relaxed playing a Christmas character and is really quite funny and good here. She is ably assisted by a fine supporting cast, particularly Wes Brown and the wonderful Melissa Peterman, both of whom are also very funny. The witty, sometimes hilarious, script is a benefit, too, but it only works because Chabert and the others are just so good in playing their parts. Nicely done and one film that will make you feel good during the holidays.

Thankfully not another sickly sweet Christmas movie. A refreshingly different Hallmark holiday film, that was funny and quirky. The plot and script worked and the dialog was good, plenty of repartee. Lacey Chabert is always reliable, it was obvious that West Brown was enjoying himself acting it up as Jared and he was funny. The standouts were Stephen Tobolowsky as Ned and Melissa Peterman as Pamela, they were very funny. A character actors' dream and there were plenty of character actors who gave very good performances. The pace was perfect from the encounter between Lacey Chabert and Jake Stormoen (Dan) to the very end. Good script, good acting and enjoyable to watch. Good to see Kristoffer Polaha and Eric Mabius.

This was a cute Hallmark holiday movie that once again got too carried away with a running gag or theme. Lacey Chabert returns to a home in an HOA, and her parents immediately leave her behind for the dual purpose of getting her acclimated to living in the house alone so they can give it to her, and to fix her up with Wes Brown. They don't tell her any of this, so when Wes comes around and starts handing her multiple tickets for violations of these dumb HOA Christmas decoration rules, it gets obnoxious in combination with the over the top behavior of the neighbors. They keep coercing her into doing stuff she doesn't want to do and she never says no and shuts the front door. There was a lot of funny stuff that could have been a lot funnier if they could have stopped pounding this HOA thing in with a jackhammer. As it was, I never bought into the Lacey/Wes romance or her actually staying in the neighborhood at the end. I would have gratefully accepted the house from my parents but I would have immediately sold it, and I wouldn't have given Wes my forwarding address.

I was so happy to see that there was a new Christmas movie starring Lacey Chabert, she is my favorite Hallmark actress. I also always adore the very handsome Wes Brown! This movie was a great departure from the other movies I've seen them in, they were so relaxed, funny and quirky. This movie feels quintessential Hallmark, but it also feels somewhat different than what we've grown to expect from the channel. This wasn't a full on or forced romance it was definitely more of a Rom-Com and I laughed quite a bit throughout. It really was very enjoyable. The writing is fantastic - the lines feel youthful and fun. The delivery of the lines is amazing and funny and that's due to the fantastic ensemble cast! Lacey Chabert. Wes Brown. Melissa Peterman. · Stephen Tobolowsky. Ellen Travolta. Peter Jacobson and Eliza Hayes Maher. Also keep a look out for a few of our favorite Hallmark men who make brief cameos Eric Mabius and Kristoffer Polaha While this was not a 10 for me as I've seen other movies that I've enjoyed more for a myriad of reasons, plus this did start out a little slow so I had to remove a few points. This is definitely a solid 8 but I'm giving it a 9 to combat the ridiculously low ratings by others. It did start out a little slow but once it got going it really was great fun and well worth 2 hours of your time! This is a movie I will definetly watch at least one more time this Holiday season, and every year here after.

The plot on this one is absurd, but that's the point. It's over the top wacky on purpose and the actors in this pull it off marvellously. This was laugh out loud funny and the cameos from other Hallmark actors is so heartwarming and exciting. To enjoy this I think you need to not take these movies too seriously. Lean into the chaos and enjoy the ride. Lacey was amazing (I'm not generally her biggest fan). Wes committed to his role and delivered my favourite role of his hallmark career. Melissa was amazing and one of my favourite characters and whenever she was in a scene with Stephen Tobolowsky I knew I was going to love it. In fact, any scene Stephen Tobolowsky was in was amazing. He just went 100% in and stole every scene. A+ may be my new favourite Hallmark of all time .

Watching this as I'm searching to buy a home & this movie reinforces,my hate for HOA or similar associations. Imagine paying a mortgage/owning a home & dealing with a person or association,way more annoying than a landlord. No thanks! Why do people choose this? Unless an association is formed after your an owner,but still why agree to such things. Being ticketed for holiday standards not being followed? This movie actually gave me anxiety,wasn't almost anything cute about it. Look at Naughty or Nice & even Christmas with the Kranks,dealt with neighbor issues but in a comedic way.. This movie went in an unhealthy direction,calling it satire still doesn't excuse it. Oh sure many feel an HOA is useful from preventing nearby Sandford & Son type homes,but bullying a person that doesn't follow Stepford protocol is ridiculous.. I have ran across many HOA communities that only allow D. I. N. K-Double Income No Kid,that's a whole other level of crazy to avoid. Sure it was a bit different storyline & acting like the houses over the top,but nothing worth watching again. Casting was ok & cinematography,is always decent.