A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe

Does that sound familiar? Actually, it is not the most common premise, but it seems like a lot of them lately. There is a theft mystery thrown in. There is a cute kid who is slightly precocious. And lots of baking cookies.

Anne starts out as a Scrooge like executive who has taken over from grandma and made lots of cuts. Rachel Boston is one of my favorites, but I just can't picture her as a scrooge. I have always seen her as extremely outgoing and positive. I'm not saying she didn't play the part well. I'm saying that if she did, I couldn't have seen it. As the movie goes on, the real Rachel comes out which is a good thing.

There is a bit of Keystone Cops with the gang chasing suspects and Boston looking so inconspicuous with her sunglasses on. Not quite a trench coat. There are some funny lines and moments. Boston and Webster have chemistry. The movie sets up an excellent trail for a false identity of the thief. I followed it. The truth is a real surprise and maybe a bit of a stretch. The dance recital is also very cute.

Even though this movie had the common trope of "big city exec threatens small town company", the film overcame that cliche with a nice story about the awakening of the big city exec, who happens to be the small-town company's founder's granddaughter.

When her grandmother's secret recipe is stolen, she convinces a local baker to help recreate it from the list of ingredients. Just forget that any employee who'd actually been baking the cookies for YEARS in her own company would have known anyway. LOL

Still, the movie has charm, even if very few amusing moments, and we enjoyed it. By the way, I guessed immediately who the thief was. Can you?

Rachel Boston brings her trademark effervescence - seriously, is she the brightest and happiest Hallmark actress going around? - to this charming story about Annie, a CEO on the the hunt for a cookie recipe that has been the backbone of a small town's cookie company for decades. Annie has to play amateur detective to figure out who stole the recipe during a Christmas party, and must also work with a baker in the same town (Victor Webster, who is a Hallmark regular these days, and for good reason) to try and recreate the recipe. Webster and Boston are good together, believable as semi-rivals and then, of course, love interests, and the film has a very nice ending.

If nothing else, ninety-odd minutes focused on cookies leaves you pretty hungry! A fun film!

Hallmark is definitely trying new things this year. They won't all work, but after so many years of running basically a one-play offense, any attempts at branching out are appreciated.

This film is a comedy whodunnit, starring Rachel Boston and Victor Webster. Both are familiar Hallmark faces, and both have done the lighter side before.

Boston is hit or miss for me. Sometimes she's too sugary, other times she's tolerable. Here she's in between somewhere.

Webster is always pretty much the same, but he can deliver a punchline when the situation calls for it.

I'm delighted to see Stephanie Sy in a role beyond Caroler #1, or Receptionist. She was great as the quirky assistant, and even when not speaking all the little faces she makes are hilarious.

The daughter was great too.

I can see watching this again next year.

Seven.

I loved this movie and not just because of Rachel Boston and Victor Webster. I found it super cute and refreshing among all my other Christmas movie watching. Yes there was a romance but it was truly secondary to the story. It really didn't hit until the last quarter of the movie. Also while a character deaths were mentioned it didn't harp of them in a sad way. The mystery of who stole Grandma's recipe was fun and had me guessing. It also had me laughing at some points. The cast was phenomenal from the stars to the minor rolls. Yea it's Hallmark so it was a little corny at times but corny in a good way. This is one I will definitely watch again and again.