User Reviews

After some disappointments so far in the Countdown to Christmas, I was looking forward to this movie because it featured our (my wife and I's) favorite male lead in Ryan Paevey.

We immediately noticed the visually poor pairing with Janel Parrish, who is too young, short, and frankly, not in Ryan's league. However, Janel usually plays energetic, adorable characters, and so we hoped that her character would overcome the superficial disparity between the leads.

Unfortunately, this movie went the opposite way. Instead of Paige, the main female character, winning Dylan, the male lead, and us over with her charm, passion, joy, and kindness, she spends at least the second half of the movie angry at Dylan for no good reason, while he makes the situation worse, and even more unrealistic, by repeatedly apologizing for something that wasn't his fault. The final half hour of the movie is essentially Dylan moving heaven and earth to please Paige, even though there is no clear indication that she deserves it.

Maybe I'll sweeten slightly to this movie with repeated viewings, but my first impression is that this movie never overcomes this manufactured conflict or its rather one-sided resolution.

Unfortunately, we are seeing a trend in 2021's slate, at least early, that started in bombastic fashion in "Boyfriends of Christmas Past." The issue is that the female lead often represents a ultra-modern feminist view that every woman deserves a great guy, regardless of her actual actions towards that guy. The female leads are brimming with entitlement while the male leads are going into full simp mode. That is NOT romance.

Overall, this is a pretty ordinary and unoriginal (even for Hallmark) Christmas movie with some decent acting. It does, however, do a good job of getting you (the viewer) into the Christmas spirit via some festive scenes and some beautiful scenery, props, and sets. And don't forget Charlotte the marmot, you got like 'find the marmot' tradition in Coyote Creek. The protagonists in this story are Paige (played by Janel Parrish), a career-driven woman at an event-planning business where she has been feeling unappreciated of late, and Dylan (played by Ryan Paevey), a single father who gave up on love when his wife left him to raise their son Noah (played by Azriel Dalman). Both find themselves in Coyote Creek this Christmas holiday. Paige, who is looking forward to spending the holiday at her parents' Coyote Creek Inn and continuing its Christmas traditions, meets Dylan, who is there scoping out the 'mom and pop' inn as a potential investment for him and his brother's development corporation. And so our story begins, as the two start spending time together, enjoying all that this scenic town and inn in the Rockies has to offer during Christmas. Though the plot was predictable and unoriginal, it was pleasant enough and did keep me engaged (for the most part). However, as other reviewers have pointed out, the plot was overly complicated around the selling of the Inn. Simply put, it is unclear why the parents did not tell their daughter they were selling, especially if they thought she had no interest in returning to Coyote Creek. The acting overall was pretty good. I usually enjoy Paevey's Hallmark movies. For example, his performance in last year's, A Timeless Christmas, was strong. He had this warm and gentle vibe to his performance here, which I enjoyed watching on screen. Parrish was pretty good, though I had a difficult time connecting to her performance in some scenes. The chemistry between the two was much more 'low key' in this one than in other Hallmark movies, which potentially explains some of the reviews. I felt, it worked well; that is, it was convincing enough for this story. As I alluded to above, I enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere and feel of the movie, which is one of the things I like about Hallmark films. The find Charlotte the Marmot tradition was fun and cute. The 'Christmas around the World' theme at the inn was a nice touch. I also really enjoy those scenes where Hallmark has these educational moments by including information on and/or historical accounts of particular Christmas cultures and traditions. In this one, we learned about cobwebs on Christmas trees in Ukrainian folklore. All in all, it is an entertaining Christmas movie, not one of Hallmark's best but certainly not one of their worse.

6/10 - one of the most typically Hallmark Hallmark movies to have come out this year, hitting all the familiar beats and cliches that will warm your heart this holiday season even if it feels like one in a dozen with the same plot on the channel.

I don't even know where to start. The storyline was good but it's always the same thing, why not create a plot twist which will give it a different ending.

Characters - Ryan's character never disappoints, but why should he be the one to apologize to her for her parent's mistakes. Plus l dislike that these new actresses have some sort of thing for kissing. The on-screen kiss was so fake, yes, they are all fake, but at least some are good at acting that you can not notice the difference. Also, if you are going to portray different cultures, do it, but do it correctly and please tone it down with the accents.

I think she should have been the one going after the boy and lead actor, not them returning.

This movie brings to mind a lot of similarities with Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas. That movie had a mystery going for it, but I'll take the leads in this one. Yes I'll take Janel Parrish over whom many would consider one of Hallmark's top stars. Lacey Chabert. There was chemistry between Parrish and Ryan Paevey.

I thought the conflict which had two parts to it was manufactured. It seemed like the future of the inn was made far too complex and the interpersonal conflict was blown out of proportion. Marginalizing these two things, the story is left with few highs or lows or surprises.

Since I saw her in Holly and Ivy, you can hook me with anything Janel Parrish is in. She can bring out the best in a character who makes you feel welcome and at home.

First, Janel Parrish may be immature, but only 4 years younger than Ryan Paevey... (for those who hate the disparity in age between the two). .. Strongly agree with the many who disliked the pairing... Hallmark has often put a popular weak female lead opposite a strong male. Doesn't work for me as a viewer, and really did not work here. Am tired, as many are, of the Hallmark recipe of the loud, often obnoxious, teary girls/females as the central character.

Second, The strong male leads are Rare in the Hallmark universe, but thankfully still exist in good movies. Women, and men, need stories where both leads are believable. We need good stories and better directing. It can happen- and does- in "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with Paevey and Italia Ricci.

Third, Hallmark writers are now so very often: repetitive, seemingly clueless, and inept ... might be because there is only 4 weeks between projects.... Still Bad.

Fourth, the last ones standing, the ones who release movies with this magnitude of errors, the directors and their studios.. How can you not see the problems, not notice miscasting, not want an original, cohesive script? How can you be so blind to so many flaws on the finished products?

Shame on Hallmark. (Hopefully with the changes happening now at Hallmark, GAC, Lifetime, etc. ,these problems will be lessened.)

The story was just okay. I thought the lead actresse's character was very harsh toward her parents and the Ryan character. She was controlling, didn't let the parents talk to her, when they were trying to be upfront with her. She took over and wouldn't let them talk. The two had chemistry and that was about it. I prefer watching the older movies like "The Christmas Card" and "Christmas Shepherd" which were good stories. Also, they are putting actors/actresses together that don't even click or don't have chemistry. The older "Hallmark Hall of Fame" holiday movies are better than these, as well. I am so disappointed in the new movies.

Anything with Ryan Paevey automatically rates higher with me. He's a natural. I enjoyed the story and the locale was great. I did, however, want to give "Noah" a haircut.

Room At The Christmas Inn/Coyote Creek Christmas (2021) -

I had seen this one before and liked it, so I had no issues watching it again, especially with Ryan Paevey in the lead male role of Dylan. He was incredibly scrumptious and even more so in that suit.

The idea was a bit far fetched to start with though. It always makes me face palm when they try to make Christmas events happen in just a few days, when everyone knows that you have to plan things like that way in advance, especially if you want to obtain the correct licenses and appeal to all the relevant customers. Otherwise it really would be a Christmas miracle.

However, the romance was sweet, even if Janel Parrish in her role as Paige had no right to get angry at him for her parents lies. Honestly if Ryan showed any interest in me, I would let him burn my house down.

From the beginning Ryan was the star and Janel felt a bit secondary. He won me over by being such a cute dad. Although the child was a bit irritating at times.

I did like the film in general and would watch it again. I also liked the LGBTQ+ inclusion, however I have never known such shy lesbians in all my days.

It had Christmas and romance and a very hot lead male. That will do for me.

6.25/10.

Unfortunately, this storyline has been done too many times. I watched the whole movie.....but found it boring and slow. Big fan of Ryan Pavey, was really hoping for more.

I dont know what all the fuss is about... Janel Parrish is great and ya tha dude is a robot, but hes always solid. Fun movie great setting! Feel good flick.

Why was Paige mad at Dylan and not at her parents? It wasn't Dylan's place to tell her about selling the inn! It was absolutely her parents job - no matter how difficult it was to approach the subject. If I'd been Dylan - I would have run far and fast. Paige was completely unreasonable. Sometimes I wonder where the writers heads are at (well, maybe not ... it's quite obvious). That's not how a normal person reacts...

AND while we're at it - why does EVERY movie now have to include the"gay" angle? It was absolutely NOT necessary to the story - it was thrown in to keep it "woke." I am by no means a homophobe - I have a gay brother and niece. We've accepted them and their spouses with open arms. Leave it out unless it's essential to the story. Just throwing it in to be "woke" is absolutely annoying. (Last year's The Christmas House" did it right ...)

This is Hallmark at its worst. Rehashing a plot line that they've already done several times before : save the family inn from being sold by Mom and Dad to new owners who want to tear it down and build a more modern facility. This one even comes with the cutesy, smart little kid who uses big words like "delectable", but, by the end of the movie, he just gets on your last nerve. And just why do casting directors think that a boy with long hair and big front teeth is simply adorable ?? Adding a minor subplot involving a lesbian attraction does not make this any more original - it just comes across as a superficial and self-serving attempt to make something old look new. Too bad the good cast, particularly Parrish and Paevey, who have demonstrated their fine talents in past movies, are saddled with such a lousy script. Parrish tends to overact in order to hide the dialogue's shortcomings and Paevey just looks simply uncomfortable at times. Skip this one and check out Hallmark's other new movies, "Santa Stakeout" and "Christmas In Harmony", for Hallmark at its best.

Just another tired, overused script that was written so poorly that you end up disliking the female lead so much, you hope a "romance" doesn't happen but it's OK, they tossed in a gay couple.

I love, love, love the celebration of Christmas' from around the world and the origin story of Coyote Creek's mascot Suzy the Marmot was so fun and imaginative.

This is a sweet holiday love story about family, a family business, and bringing people together to create memories and remembering old ones.

Noah Bailey...really steals the show in this one. I love how he makes a business deal with his dad to spend Christmas at the Grand Canyon and negotiates the terms when his dad wants to make a business trip. And his word-a-day shares where fantastic and I hope encourage others to build their vocabulary through such a great system.

But the marmot story...still my favorite.

This is the story of Paige Parker who lives in Denver and works for an event planning company. Her parents own an inn at Coyote Creek. Unbeknownst to Paige her parents are selling the inn to Dylan Bailey and his brother's investment/development firm. When Dylan arrives to evaluate the property, Paige's parents ask him to keep his visit secret as they haven't told their daughter about the sale yet...the problem is Paige and Dylan are falling for each other and what will happen when the secret comes out?

I thought this was beautiful and fun and worth it for all of the round the world traditions alone! Must watch.

Oh! And Ryan Paevey is as handsome and talented as ever. Great chemistry!

I gave this movie two stars ONLY because of Ryan Paevey. No fault of his that there was ZERO chemistry between him and the female lead. She was awful. Hallmark needs to do a better job of match making, so to speak. And I won't even go into the abysmal script.

Those two stars are just for Mr. Paevey. The script is usual Hallmark and that's ok. But those two are not well-suited and it's not helped at all by the lesbian side story. The music is horrible. Really terrible. Watch another Ryan Paevey movie.

Another example of how Hallmark, in the effort of being woke, is losing the original freshness of thoughts. Ryan Paevey and Janel Parrish, whom I have loved in other productions, and most other characters are unnaturally cast and wasted in this uninspired yarn. Frankly, recent productions are so artificial and boring that I find it hard to watch them to the end. I guess soon I will not even waste my time in watching Hallmark movies, at all. It is heartwarming that the new GAC channel has started with their first Christmas movie that reminds us how Hallmark used to make movies in the old times.

The story in all honesty didn't sound that promising, too been there done that, and just reading about the female lead character made me already dislike her before even watching the film. Still watched it anyway, as a few of the previous 2021 Hallmark Christmas films were good (especially 'Christmas in My Heart') and all but two were above average. Have seen Jannel Parrish and Ryan Paevey in other things and they are both good with the right material.

'Coyote Creek Christmas' doesn't see them with the right material at all. He actually comes off well all things considered and works well individually, she doesn't and her character writing is a massive turn off. And the two just don't work together. As a film too, 'Coyote Creek Christnas' is lacking in too many areas to be anything above average. As far as the 2021 Hallmark Christmas films go, up to this point and overall, this is easily one of the weakest along with 'Boyfriends of Christmas Past'.

It isn't a complete shambles. Paevey makes it just about tolerable, despite most of everything else being so weak, he comes over as very likeable and charming and he is a natural on screen. His character is the only one that has any degree of likeability, though too eager to please when not deserved (though that for me is a relatable trait).

A vast majority of the year's Christmas films have been made surprisingly well visually considering the circumstances and the scenery is lovely here.

Shame that everything else doesn't work. Parrish really does try but it too often feel like she is trying too hard to make her material work, like she knew the material was not good and really trying to make it work but instead making the character more annoying. Really disliked her character, more so on film than reading about her (quite a feat). Absolutely agree that she is far too harsh and perpetually angry throughout with no development or any real softening. Worse is that a lot of the anger is misplaced and aimed at the wrong person, at the person who has done nothing wrong and the only one who tries to put things right. The supporting cast are forgettable in cipher roles.

Forgettable is something that the music can be described as too and did think that it could have been more subtle in placement. There is no chemistry between Parrish and Paevey, Paevey does try to make it work but Parrish's character is so unlikeable that part of me was so frustrated at Paevey's character still trying to please her and still find appeal in her when he deserves better. They are also too much of a mismatch in age, types of characters and acting styles (with Paevey's being a lot more subtle) and the relationship is underdeveloped and is erratically paced, aimless and wouldn't be believable as a friendship let alone a romance to begin and then turns into romance much later on like a sudden switch on of a ceiling light.

Dialogue is overripe with Parrish and trite and unnatural for most of the film everywhere else. The story is dull and predictable, as well as very thin. The ending is too easy and too pat, and feels unrealistic too from being unearned.

In conclusion, weak. 3/10.