This movie served as a kick off to Hallmark's annual Countdown to Christmas. The movie is about a young woman, Vanessa, who is a very busy doctor. She is finally able to spend Christmas with her family and she's very excited about that. Upon returning home she crosses paths with her high school sweetheart and finds out that her father is retiring. She spends her Christmas deciding if she wants to take over for her dad or further her career.
Stars: Brooke Nevin, Steve Byers, & Patrick Duffy
This movie was...ugh. I could not get into it at all. The main love interests had no chemistry whatsoever. Byers' character Mitch was poorly written. Mitch and Vanessa did not seem like high school sweethearts- in fact they seemed like strangers. The majority of the movie focuses on Nevin's character and her inner struggle of staying or going; there is no time spent on the rekindling romance until towards the end. The only redeemable and semi interesting parts of this story was Duffy and his wife and the teenagers subplot romantic story line. I had no emotional attachment to the two main characters. I cared more about Dr. Turner (Duffy) and his wife and their adorable moments, as well as Kyle (Vanessa's younger brother) and his crush Shelly. There were 2 parts that made me tear up- once again these parts had nothing to do with Vanessa and Mitch. There is an elderly woman that Dr. Turner visits weekly since her husband died, Mrs. Willis, and each Christmas she bakes a traditional German cake for her late husband. It was very sweet. Overall, I'd give this movie 1 star and say skip it. There are WAY better movies on Hallmark to watch.
