The Christmas House

A family gathers one last time to bring their once traditional annual Christmas House to life. A rekindled romance, dreams come true, a relationship revived, a little magic. This is very Hallmark so no unpleasant surprises and no sad endings. These movies are part of what signal the season for me, H-mark has the formula down so they always work – just to varying degrees. For sure these weren’t my parents, unfailingly supportive, sensitive, unselfish. Treat Williams still looks like a million bucks and Sharon Lawrence as the mom comes across as the most natural though she always looks like she’s on the verge of tears. All of the actors are nice to look at as required, and a good amount of time is spent on superficial character development [if that’s not too contradictory] necessary if there’s going to be any emotional wallop at the end, and there’s really only one, and it was a bit of a ‘surprise’. So, we’re SHOWN Mike and Andi, Phylis and Bill, et. al. and we’re TOLD about their relationships, but no one really inhabits their characters, there just isn’t time, everything glides on the surface, sincerity/emotional connection is in short supply [contrast this with Doris Roberts in Mrs. Miracle]. It’s still a nice bit of run-up to holiday feels nice escape. My thing is with the look of the movie – everything looks brand spanking new, even the soft-focus flashbacks. The Christmas house, the symbol of their memories and the magic of Christmas is all contemporary, nothing’s ratty or dented or dinged, the house is 40 years old and stuff is taken out of storage bins but it looks like it all came from the Home Depot [or more significantly Hallmark] last week – so the problem is that visually, nothing evokes nostalgia or sentiment or memory, everything is bright, glitzy, slick, and LED – this is a problem when the idea of the story revolves around recapturing the magic of bringing back a family tradition ‘one last time’.

One of the reasons that I ordered this Christmas film was because it presents what I am sure it the first-ever gay couple in a Hallmark made-for-TV movie. While that relationship is enjoyable to watch unfold, the film itself simply has too many plot lines being played out. Interestingly, the story of the gay couple may be the most family-oriented plot element in the entire film. The anchor to the story, the decorating of a once-famous family Christmas house, seems to be really impossible to have been put together by so few characters in such a short time. The "surprise" plot line of the problems the parents of their two grown sons are supposed to be having is also a bit hard to take seriously. The quasi-military nature of the family mother is also more annoying than humorous. This story or the film itself could have used some sharp editing. All the actors perform well and are a pleasure to watch. The story is just too overloaded with multiple unfolding stories. The brief scenes of Christmas fast-forwarded to a future holiday season is a nice final touch.

Hallmarks first Holiday film that features a gay couple. It is well written and captures a family coming together to celebrate Christmas. The acting was wonderful. I enjoyed seeing how a home was transformed into a winter wonderland. I reminds me of my own home growing up. My late Mother would decorate the whole house into a magical world and then invite family/friends/ neighbors to come to enjoy. The dining room table covered with many desserts to eat. The music and the smell of the Christmas Tree would fill the house. Golden memories which come alive with this film.

This introduces a husband with a husband pending an adoption. Parents, secretly, selling the family home.It all works out in the end. I don't care about anyone's [personal] preferences, but there IS a kissy-kissy scene with the prospective adopters. SO0o, THAT said, THIS heterosexual happens to collect CHRISTMAS MOVIES.(~ Don't tell anyone, but I have HUNDREDS of them! ~)Worth a look!

The movie seemed to be missing something like maybe more interactions of a romantic nature between the three couples. Maybe too much of it was cut? Acting was okay, storyline a bit thin - parents not being open with the kids? It was probably a one-time watch, will donate to our library.

I purchased this because I SO like Treat Williams in most everything he does (Everwood!!). I really enjoyed this movie with the family dynamics... feel good Xmas movie🎄

I LIKED THE WAY THE FAMILY HANDLED THE ONE BROTHER THAT WAS GAY. .THE PARENTS THAT WHERE GETTING A DIVORCE, I JUST ENJOYED EVEN THE ROMANCE OF IT

Hallmark does a great job on their movies, this one was okay I have like others more.