User Reviews

How refreshing to have a normal looking woman with a normal looking figure be the lead character. Let's be honest here. I can't be the only person that noticed that Jody is not some beauty pageant-ready glamor-puss. And in this story-line of a daughter trying to live up to her mother's impossibly high standards it really works.

Jody is the presumptive heir to a Martha Stewart like empire but let's just say her talents lie in her financial and business skills rather than cooking and crafting. And she has people skills and a generous heart as opposed to the brittle competency of her mother. I won't regurgitate the plot, but it really showcases Jody Sweetin's comedic skills. I have never been a fan, but she really shines in this one. And I liked that her mother was not stereotyped. Her reveal at the end, that she actually felt insecure compared to her daughter's qualities and talents and really admired her, was a very nice development.

I found Brenden Fehr very attractive as a leading man. I wish he hadn't been so bullied by his boss though without him getting some of his own back. And I think it would have suited the storyline better if there had been more of a gradual realization of his feelings for Jody and his appreciation of her value and unconventional beauty. But other than that, I really enjoyed this movie and appreciated the areas that they made some unconventional choices.

Entertaining Christmas contains a new plot that is worlds better than most Hallmark plots - our leading lady Candace (Jodi Sweetin) is the daughter of a domestic media conglomerate Martha Stewart type named Liz Livingstone. This mostly works, except for the middle third of the movie. The love interest John (Brendan Fehr) is far superior to most Hallmark leading men, yet we get to see far too little of him and the need for him is questionable. Actually, the 'love story' is more of a forced sub-plot than anything and removing it all together would improve the movie drastically.

We find New York celebrity daughter Candice going to small town Vermont to help a little girl celebrate her dad's coming home from the army. The drama is that Candace can't cook, sew, or make a gingerbread house - even though the Livingstone Magazine says she can...Ut Oh! Poor Candace has to waffle around when the local townsfolk put the screws to her and demand she demonstrate her domestic skills. This is where the movie drags on and on. One scene of this was enough to prove the point, but hey we get like five of them.

Eventually some of the townsfolk figure out her little secret but kinda sorta not really. John happens to be both the uncle to the little girl that brought Candace to the town, and a local reporter. He spends most of his time writing a news article about Candace and we are led to believe he lets the cat out of the bag regarding Candace's homemaking skills. We aren't really sure what he writes because it is glossed over in the ending that all too quickly kinda sorta wraps up various plot lines. John has guts and tries to kiss Candace multiple times, but gosh darn he is foiled at the last minute every time. In fact, he is 0 for 3 until three minutes left on the DVR.

The town is 'Cedar Falls' which is a common town for many a Hallmark movie in 2018. Every time though each movie shows the town with different people and different diner restaurants. Actually, the last Hallmark movie that I watched that took place in 'Cedar Falls' had cut shots of downtown Toronto for establishing shots, but in Entertaining Christmas the town has shrunk to a tiny snow covered village. Cedar Falls must be a very special place.

All in all the acting was better in this than most Hallmark movies, with Jodie Sweetin coming across as highly believable (unlike Ashely Williams who is notorious for gregarious over-acting). Brendan Fehr is not bad as well, and the supporting characters of moms, aunts, and single elderly women are also well cast. I just wish this moving had some sort of wise old Grandpa figure - it was screaming for it. Come to think of it, since John had so little to do and made absolutely no sense, and the only dad in the movie was away in the army, replacing John with a Ben Kenobi type would do this movie well. Maybe next time...

At least to a certain extent, you know what you're going to get from a Hallmark Christmas movie, right down to the plot device at the start of the movie's final third that threatens to wreck the two main characters' happiness, but that doesn't mean all these types of movies are bad. In fact, a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies are really good.

Including 'Entertaining Christmas'.

You just look past the plot holes, repetitive tropes etc. And enjoy them for what they are: good festive entertainment.

Jodie Sweetin and Michael Fehr shine together. Sweetin (of Full House fame) plays Candace Livingstone, the daughter of a Martha Stewart-type character who doesn't quite have the same cooking and sewing (etc.) skills as her mother. When Candace goes to a small town to help prepare a homecoming for a soldier who is a big fan of a particular Livingstone cookies, she is forced to come to terms with where her own strengths lie, whilst trying to work outside her famous mother's shadow. Fehr plays a local newspaper reporter who is suspicious that Candace might not be what she is marketed as: a clone of her mother.

The usual small town Christmas festivals, gingerbread contests and more make this a fun and easy movie to enjoy at Christmas.

Jodie Sweetin is a very likable actress and I've always rooted for her but she deserves better than this drivel. She is charming and endearing in the film but the plot is so silly, it's like who cares if she can't make a pancake lol and why is this sexy single reporter so interested in proving she can't? Jodie needs to just let Candace Cameron do these awful Hallmark movies.

She is nascent photographer but is so scared of being someone different than her Mom she hides that even from herself. Instead, she fakes being just like her Mom and lies about her abilities. As someone who is particularly bothered by liars (hear that Mr Trump?), I cringe when they do it over and over when it's obvious that the truth would set them free. She lies about having skills like her Mom (I guess the magazine lied about that as well). She lies about whether or not she likes the male lead or whether or not they went on a date. I had to stop the tape and come complain about it before I went mad. I suppose she'll finally get the truth out in the last five minutes. It'll be too late for me. I already have no respect for her.

This movie is very cute. Jodie does a really good job. Yes, the movie is cliche but that's hallmark for you. It has a great message though. The only thing is that the guy in the movie was not very good. He was a weird combination of two put together and geeky. No hate intended. But other than that, it was a great movie!