Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday

This movie seemed to gel a lot better than Sister Swap: Christmas in the City. Maybe I watched them out of order, but this storyline made more sense. The real-life sisters were more natural together, there was less of the social agenda and more attention to the story.

Their favorite uncle and owner of the local family theatre, Dave, has passed away and this will be the first Christmas without him. The sisters' parents have decided to sell the theater and Jennifer Swift (Meg Swift's sister) convinces local handyman and town council member Eric to help her do one last Christmas at The Madison...for just the family, but then the whole town gets invited. The two single parents (and former high school debate nemesis) bond over fixing up the theater. Lots of family and town Christmas memories.

"The Madison is famously romantic."-Pops.

"What, do you just walk through town with a later?"-Jennifer.

"You know I meet the best people that way."-Eric.

This is the first of a two-parter which will conclude next Sunday with Sister Swap: Christmas in the City. Presumably we will be treated to the antics of Ashley Williams who was running her sister Kimberley's restaurant while Kimberley was having her own adventure in their hometown. It was a good idea to have the real-life sisters in the same movie as they are both very popular. They were both a little frantic and over-caffeinated in this, but at least Ashley, whose smiley perkiness is almost legendary, was off-stage through much of the story.

Kimberley, a widow and busy restaurateur with a teenage son returns to her hometown for Christmas for a short visit. The family movie theatre is being sold, and she gets involved with providing one last movie night for her family which turns out to be for the whole town. I won't go into it much, but I was initially very confused over who dead Uncle Dave was, who her parents were, was the guy in the wheelchair her father or her grandfather, Was Uncle Dave the husband of the older lady, who were Nan and Pop, etc. This was probably my fault for not paying better attention at the beginning? I did get it straight pretty quickly, but it was a distraction.

I thought this one was pretty decent with a plot that seemed to hang together pretty well, with a believable solution to the problem of saving the vintage theatre from modern renovation or worse. The resolution will provide a reasonable foundation for the story to move forward in part 2, unless part 2 will be solely contemporaneous with part 1. I appreciated that the corporate overlords were not portrayed as evil or unreasonable, and the sisters did not overdo the sacrifice the future to "save the past at all costs" mentality that is so prevalent in these things. I have always liked Kimberley Williams and the romance with her old school friend provided the main appeal for me. This was largely due to the actor who played him. He was very attractive and charismatic, I thought. He reminded me of the old time movie star, Richard Egan. I also appreciated the character of her teenaged son as well as the actor who played him. He provided some calm balance and sense.

I don't have as high hopes for the sequel because Ashley Williams, although once a favorite, has worn out her welcome with me over the years. The second part with her taking the lead, may be a little too much for me to take. Stay tuned.

Jennifer (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) and Meg Swift (Ashley Williams) are sisters and best of friends. Jennifer runs a restaurant which got a coveted spot in a contest. She comes home for Christmas and grows concerned over the sale of their beloved late uncle's theater.

I've always loved the Williams sisters. They are great at being positive which plays well against some comedians. They have been great partners to many TV male comedians. It's rare that they do stuff together. That's the intriguing twist to this Hallmark partnership. Their real-life sisterhood makes it easy for them translate it into on-screen chemistry. The problem is that the structure of the premise leaves them mostly in separate movies. It loses the power of that something new. The constant dive into the off-screen other movie just cuts down the time for their own story. It doesn't really matter anyways because the story isn't that worthwhile. Hallmark should just put the two sisters in the same movie and leave them together. They could solve murders if they want. They would probably do it with big goofy smiles.

My title is a quote from the character Simon about a bow tie. If you stretch your imagination a bit, you could think of these two movies that way. I'm a fan of Ashley Williams so I was ready to enjoy the pair of movies no matter what.

The hook in this movie is the multiple relationships. The story is nothing great. Have to sell our family ________ (movie theatre). The lead couple are working together to repair it. The premise is especially a bit of a stretch which is where "ridiculous" comes in. In this movie, the family relationships are just as significant as any romance. The sisters (real life sisters) love each other and it shows. Jennifer's son, Simon, forms a kind of fraternal bond with Eric's much younger daughter. Plus Meg and Jennifer's parents. There is a romance story, but it has to share the spotlight with all the other things.

I would think the story encompassing both movies could have been squeezed into one movie. As it is, the sister movie (yes it's a pun) steals several scenes from this one while a few of the same events are shot from different perspectives and maybe changed slightly. The stories run parallel and the other movie continues a little past the ending of this one. But combining the two into one who have squeezed everything a bit too much.

There's a lot of fun and energy in both movies. It's strange, but I don't think the two movies should be separated, but it also creates some confusion a little like mental whiplash. Also, while this movie is broader than a simple romance, the second movie is a little more focused on the corresponding romance.

I liked both movies, but not as much as I anticipated. I got the fun and energy I expected, but as another reviewer said, it's kind of all over the place. The two movies together use a lot of the common tropes which are overused this time of year. On the other hand, the parallel stories and how they are combined give a different feel to it. When it comes down to it, I think each person's enjoyment will be influenced by their predisposition to the two main actresses.

'Sister Swap: A Hometown Holiday' is the first of a two-part Christmas movie. The twist is that the two storylines run parallel, each from the perspective of one of the two sisters, who are our protagonists in the two films. Adding to this, the two sisters are played by the William sisters (i.e., real-life sisters). So, it's a great concept, what could go wrong? Although there is plenty of Christmas spirit and festive cheer in this first installment of 'Sister Swap' (there is a lot of energy in this one as well), the story itself, I'm afraid, is not very good and the acting is mixed. In 'A Hometown Holiday', the story revolves around Jennifer (played by Kimberly Williams-Paisley), a successful restaurant owner in Salt Lake City who lives with her teenage son Simon (played by Jacob Buster). Her sister, Meg (played by Ashley Williams), lives in their hometown of Hazelwood where she helps run the family bakery. This Christmas Jennifer and her son head home to spend Christmas with the family, while Meg heads to Salt Lake City to help out at her sister's restaurant. Jennifer soon learns that her mother wants to sell their late Uncle Dave's movie theatre (who recently passed away, played by Kevin Nealon). And so, our story begins as we watch Jennifer and her son (re)connect with their past through their Uncle's beloved movie theatre, and maybe, just maybe, they can have one final movie night for the community during Christmas. As other reviewers have pointed out, there are several issues with the story. The writers do a terrible job of setting the scene when it comes to who the (supporting) characters are in the story. I am referring to Luke (played by Jim Byrnes) and Uncle Dave. Though minor, it is unnecessarily annoying. The story itself lacks focus, often drifting in and out of scenes, some of which become clearer in the second film. The writers could have done a better job of integrating these parallel stories in a more coherent narrative here in the first movie (to avoid such pitfalls). That said, the writers do a decent job of conveying the closeness, the friendship, the love the two sisters have for each other. But, again, some of this gets lost in this first movie, as you only get part of the story. It is not until the second movie that you start putting it all together. The acting is a bit of a let-down. I am sorry to say, but Williams-Paisley's performance is not very good or convincing. As others have pointed out, there is too much overacting in her performance that doesn't come across well on-screen. I found myself struggling to engage with her performance throughout the movie. Simply put: it turned me off. Though the romance in this one is not central to the story, as is the case in the second film, it still isn't very good. There is no real chemistry between Jennifer and Eric on-screen. I feel sorry for Mark Deklin (playing Eric). Leaving aside the chemistry, he has a strong performance. The rest of the cast is pretty good, especially Buster, who has a lovely performance as the son. All in all, although a fresh concept, this first installment of 'Sister Swap' is a disappointment, I'm afraid.