Christmas Pen Pals

My biggest obstacle to enjoying this was Sarah Drew as Hannah, whose piercing voice and manic manner grated against a mostly charming plot.

First we get Hannah's automated, colorless attempt at life, met with shrill anxiety about her company's failing dating app and stock. So Hannah goes home to visit her father and married sister to regroup and find the 'spark'.

Home, Hannah quickly chooses the 'love' option of the town's anonymous pen pal matching effort. Her doubts turn to intrigue as smart, thoughtful letters from her match arrive.

Then, with her shrill sister's input, Hannah promptly obsesses over the identity of her pen pal-despite knowing all will be revealed in 2 weeks.

Anxiety is Hannah's consistent theme. Which reaches a fever pitch of stress as she makes dumb and desperate moves guessing at her soulmate.

It's a shame for the film. Hannah's love interest/ex Sam is a perfectly cast Niall Matter, whose subdued kindness hints at the long hurt underneath.

You may like this much better if you can get past my 2 nagging questions. 1) Did the Lifetime folks really consider Hannah likable? If you dated someone for 4 years, wouldn't you easily be able to rule in, or out, their handwriting???