User reviews

78This movie follows Sam and Kat, who have celebrated their Christmas Eves at the same lady's house since they were children. The movie flashes back and starts at a Christmas Eve from when they were very young, then a few years later, and so on until they are 30. The flashbacks are very fast-paced and it is hard to grasp the relationship that Sam and Kat have together. Is it cousin-ish? Brotherly/sisterly? Neighborly? Appears to be brotherly/sisterly, but I was contradicted, obviously by the title of the movie.

Throughout the movie, Sam and Kat always sit at the kids table, even when they are adults. They play this confusing game with the children called "Best Life." It would have been nice to understand the game because it took up much of the movie time and would have been comedic if I knew what they heck they were talking about while playing it. The dance scene in the movie was extremely entertaining and I loved the old song they danced to, but it was very random and made no sense for the plot.

Sam lost a lot of sympathy for me when he and Kat got into an argument, via telephone, while he looked at her through her bedroom window and she looked at him on her front lawn. He mocked her feelings for her widowed father and dead mom, then said that she lives her life for the day she dies and get buried next to her mother's grave.... Why on earth would the writers write that into the movie? Geezes, that was mean.

I gave this movie 6/10 because I would watch it again next Christmas. It is a simple, relaxing movie that is a good time-waster. It also has a nostalgic feel to it because it takes place at the same house with the same people and you feel that you are a part of the 'family.'

This is one of the most unique Christmas romance stories I have seen. Things happen near and at the end that I sure didn't see coming. The entire movie is refreshing. The entire movie is a continuing flashback that takes place on several Christmas eves spanning most of the main characters' lives.

Sometimes the story doesn't advance a lot, but it is still entertaining with witty dialogue and other things. One of those is a beautiful dance sequence that is not so much about talented dancers as it is about the beauty and the romance of the dance which includes many of the cast.

Danica McKellar is known for Wonder Years but also for Christmas movies. This is possibly her best. The romance between her character, Kat, and Dustin Milligan's Sam is tangible. Supporting performances are also good.

I had a hard time with the timeline because I couldn't understand why two people so in love would have gone so long. I especially can't see how 5 years could have elapsed (as mentioned when Kat first sees Sam) and still led to what follows. An attempt is made to explain at least the former about 3/4ths of the way through the movie but I think the movie would have made a lot more sense if that had been plainer earlier on. Nevertheless, I don't deduct for that because the story is otherwise so charming and unique.

While I don't see Hallmark's signature on this, it fits their nature perfectly. For some people this will be too sappy and idealistic, but that's what these movies are and this one is done so well.

I've watched a lot of Christmas movies and this is one actually watch again. Good actors and story line!

I can see the complaints about this being boring, but I find the uniqueness of this movie to be worth it. Basically via flashback we see Kat and Sam who have known each other since childhood. Their fathers went into business together so, every Christmas their families get together for a party and typically Kat and Sam gather around the table. Just about every year it is our time to check in with them and we see how their lives were going via conversation at the party. Mostly because of this we are spared from the Christmas movie with no plot. Unfortunately about 30 minutes of this move is stall and is boring. Also I like Danica but she is out acted here by her co star and it shows. There were some pretty good zags at the end but it just made me wish they had cut significant parts and extended those scenes. But it is definitely a good flick that will keep you happy but just watch with the remote handy to fast forward.

How did the young girl manage to play a track on an LP at 78rpm, on an antique phonograph using a steel needle in a diaphragm on a tone arm?

What happened to Terrie and the Carlas? They could have had a hit with that record.

The cardboard house? It'd have taken days to make that. Where did Sam find the time?

Still one o f my favourite Christmas films.

I'm a sucker for these cheesey Christmas romances, but this one was just so darned boring! It was tedious and just not fun. No real charm and no whimsy.

Too bad because I have loved Danica since the wonder years. This is not worth her time...or mine.

I HAVE REVIEWED OVER 400 (C H R I S T M A S ) MOVIES AND SPECIALS.

BEWARE OF BOGUS REVIEWS. SOME REVIEWERS HAVE ONLY ONE REVIEW. WHEN ITS A POSITIVE REVIEW THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THEY WERE INVOLVED WITH THE PRODUCTION. NOW I HAVE NO AGENDA! I AM HONEST! I REVIEW MOVIES & SPECIALS AS A WAY TO KEEP TRACK OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN!

For thirty years, Sam and Katherine have spent Christmas Eve at the Children's Table. When Sam learns she is moving away, he has one night to tell her he loves her.

I was hesitant to watch this film. I saw 2-3 episodes of "The Wonder Years" and hated every minute of it. To this day when I see Fred Savage has directed or is in a film I avoid it.

Well this film does not have Fred Savages but it has his former co- star Danica McKellar. Thank God. If he was I might not of discovered this film.

Now this story is so cute and entertaining, It captures "Christmas" perfectly!

When Samn (Dustin Milligan) realizes that his best friend (Danica McKellar) since childhood is the woman that he loves you can't help but to smile!

This film does work because the entire cast is believable in the part they play. The film is never boring. You root for love in this. You might even shed a few happy tears along the way.

Not to be missed.

I am a fan of Danica McKellar (Winnie on Wonder Years) but this movie has problems. She is 37 years old in this movie and she is first seen playing a part of an 18 year old. The movie shows the pair at the Christmas Table since they were about 4 and it ends when they are supposed to be about 30.

The movie story was fairly engaging but the story was a bit strange.

If you meant your soul mate early but put off the big ring event, and then spent a long time chasing your dreams, while still staying in touch with your soul mate, you will really like this movie.

If you spent a long time waiting for the right person to come along, refusing the advances of numerous decent mate selections in hopes of finding the 'right' person, and eventually did, you will like this movie

If you have made secret and very long sacrifices for some one you love, with them being oblivious to the fact, and finally was acknowledged for your silent sacrifice, you will like this movie.

If you jumped quickly into a marriage, and either gutted it out or eventually moved on to another and so on, you will not understand this movie

If you have had the fortune of having quick success and things pretty much fell your way in the relationship/ work world, you will not really relate to this movie

If you have not spent a lot of time trying to accomplish something, while putting off relationships, this movie will not be for you

If you have never waited a long time for a relationship to come to fruition, one of the messages in this movie will be lost on you

In summary, this is one of the most unique romance movies I've seen, and thats coming from one of those guys that groans through most chick flicks

I tossed it a ten for the uniqueness of the script, some people watching it just didn't get parts of the movie. My wife and I understood everything in it, and the undercurrent messages. From a lot of comments I have read on the movie, many of the subtle nuances of the movie go over the head of some viewers.

Not the best rom/com, but not the worst. It's on the slow side and as most in the genre, terribly predictable. Acting is only so so.

I must admit, I was looking to dislike this movie, but with each passing minute, I grew to like it and learn about movies in the process.

Movies do not need a budget, or be sex, sex, sex. A lot of crappy female driven movies rely on sex to sell. This relies on values and a crisp, clean dialogue. It(MOVIES) can be good natured and having meaning, if the characters are interesting, the plot is easy to follow, and the dialogue is engaging.

This movie is good fun and it does pull at your heart, but it is a Christmas movie and you do get an innocent, engaging story with a nice shad of vibrant Christmas colors thrown in.

It's a man and a woman, a girl and a boy and typical life gets in the way. This is simply about life getting in the way of love and how really easy it is to make the wrong choice.

Without giving anything away, it is a Christmas move and it is engaging and must see. I give it a 9 out of 10 and I think it is one to see, during Christmas.

It's a cute movie, the actors are cute, the scenes are cute. But the plot? Not even remotely sensible. And I don't mean in a romantic, heartwarming, too-good-to-be-true way. In a ridiculous, pointless to the point of being sad, way. It's too bad, because besides the actual plot, it's a really lovely movie.

There are so many films like this that fill the schedules over Christmas, often very sentimental and featuring some big names from the past in small roles. Brilliantly though this film mocks that completely, and it's qualities like that that made me enjoy it so much.

I thought this film was great. With wonderful central performances, and stellar support from the always lovely Lea Thompson and Scott Patterson, this is a film about love developing over time, the importance of family, and second chances.

There are so many big budget films that claim to be 'modern festive classics', but this smaller budget, rarely seen by the masses film was more thought provoking and entertaining than lots of those put together.

I highly recommend this film.

Loved it! Great chemistry. Great Christmas movie! Just go watch it.

I'm not actually writing a review. I love this movie. It's like a better version of a Hallmark holiday movie.

But someone in a review from 2019 said it wasn't believable that Sam quit his newspaper job to become a logger. That's because it's not. He quit to become a BLOGGER, with a B. He decided to get a remote writing job. (My last job was as a remote blogger - often now referred to as a content marketer - ghost writing blogs for SaaS companies.) Anyway I find that part very believable because I worked in journalism and left to do marketing writing in 2013 because journalism pays terribly and marketing pays pretty well in comparison.

I discovered this little holiday gem a few years ago and it immediately became my favorite Christmas movie. The film has a wonderful ensemble of actors who are amazing together. The plot is very different than the usual holiday fare, but you get hooked on it during the first 5 minutes. The drama scenes are poignant and the comedy scenes are funny as heck! This is one of those rare holiday love stories that even guys will enjoy! It's just a wonderful quirky little movie, and definitely worth watching.

This is hands down the most original TV Christmas movie I have seen in a very long time. It is a wonderful little Christmas treat with some superb acting. I highly recommend this one.

A rare thing for The Asylum... Well-paced. Well-written. Well-scored. Well-acted. The story is charming, and presented in a much better way than their other pictures. It feels more skilfully done, more professional, that I can scarcely believe it is an Asylum movie at all. It's only one setting, which obviously keeps costs down, but the writing is terrific. Asylum movies are generally reasonably shot but suffer cheesy, unnatural dialogue. Here the script is clearly superior to anything else I've seen produced by them.

For the third time, my wife and I watched "Love at the Christmas Table", having enjoyed it the first two times, but feeling that we were left wondering about details.

This time we made sure we watched WITH SUBTITLES to catch all the funny dialogue (!).

Third time around, it was surprisingly more than my wife or I had remembered. And very satisfying, and funny, and sometimes sad.

Other reviews have outlined the story of a boy, Sam, and girl, Cat, who grow up to be a man and woman who are seemingly made for one another, but only come close to connecting at the family-and-business Christmas Eve party hosted by an older woman who seems to have dedicated her home to being permanently Christmas.

The film begins at the start of what is actually the last of these Christmas Eve parties (ultimately, as it happens, the first of many very different Christmas Eve parties that will happen in the future).

Then we jump back to early flashback vignettes of Sam and Cat as children, at the first Christmas Eve party. And then we proceed, with jumps of a year or so at a time, through the boy and girl being older children, and then young adolescents, and then high school, and college students. Each of these glimpses of the boy and girl interacting, sometimes with friends, were often funny.

Watching the film for our third time, we could now make sense of the essential underlying problem of Cat's widower father, who shows no interest in any other women, while EB (Elissa Beth), the seemingly Christmas-mad lady who hosts all the Christmas Eve parties, and keeps her home decorated for Christmas all year, silently adores Cat's father. Sadly, EB also realises that she is like Miss Haversham, in "Great Expectations", which she makes clear when she gives Cat an old copy of Charles Dickens' novel and explains the emotional core of the novel in startling detail to Cat, now in her early twenties. EB became hopelessly frozen in the idea of Christmas Eve when she saw Cat's father deeply in love with the woman he would marry, just as Miss Haversham becomes bitterly frozen in the never-ending morning of her wedding that never happened. And EB expressly tells Cat that she is in danger of becoming another Miss Haversham, never allowing herself to accept Sam, even when she sees Sam almost marrying clever half-Australian Rebekah, UN translator and multi-linguist who lives in London, and away.

Meanwhile, Sam, after he leaves school, and trains as a journalist, is seen going through one superficial newspaper job after another, as though he is also incapable of making up his mind, while trying, one Christmas Eve after another, to catch Cat's complete attention, and win her love.

These last sections - Christmas Eves of Sam and Cat in their late-twenties, are sad in many ways, with their obvious friendship almost tipping into sexual attraction and acknowledged mutual emotional attraction, but running into conflict, even while the fast humour continues in the party games and repartee and private in-jokes.

For example, Cat repeatedly punches Sam's arm, in a childishly friendly way, like two little kids fooling with each other.

Also, through several of the vignettes, Sam insists on playing "Best Life", a challenge-and-respond game. The idea of "Best Life" seems to be that one of the players describes some wacky scenario, and the other player must make the best of that surreal situation: such as waking up and finding your fingers are all mice; but we do not hear how that is resolved. Another earlier challenge occurs when Cat says Sam has lost his sense of smell. Sam's response is hilarious. He says if he lost his sense of smell, he could be blighted, as a human, because smell is so intimately associated with other sensory experiences, including sex; OR, he could become the highly paid bath-house attendant of the King of Brunei, whose revolting diet - rancid beans and boiled goat, or something equally flatulent - would disgust anyone who did have a sense of smell: loss of smell could be a good career-move.

Finally, Sam discovers that Cat is not just an office-worker but actually very good and creative at her job, in the top-quality furniture business that her father and Sam's father established when they were young men.

This furniture company had been the initial stimulus for all the business-and-family Christmas Eve parties.

Then Cat confronts EB, telling her that EB has been the only mother, or mother-figure, she properly had, especially through her early adolescence and puberty. Cat then provides an engagement ring, and persuades EB and her father to admit their feelings for each other.

Meanwhile, secretly, Sam has created a dream-home (of cardboard walls, decorated with childhood crayon drawings of windows and furniture) for Cat, and when Cat sees this she realises Sam wants to spend his new working-from-home blogging job alongside her.

(It seems that many reviewers of this film have not grasped the way this succession of separate Christmas Eves, and the whole story behind them, of the death of Cat's mother, and the emotional ripples that came from that, make sense. Could there have been abridged versions of this film that cut crucial details?) So far, also, there are no IMDB Quotes from a film that is full of jokes and repartee that make the seemingly confusing story sparkle.

The occasional wordless, but very meaningful looks of the two fathers, and EB, and some of the minor younger characters and friends, are also hard to describe. But they show how Cat and Sam are seen, and understood, and misunderstood (!), by those around them.

When you make all the connections (furniture business; fathers who are best friends and successful business partners; one father widowed; another woman's silent unrequited love; the young girl grieving her mother's death, and connected to her father's grief and suspended emotions; the young man whose eccentric cleverness clashes with his emotional shyness; Dickens' "Miss Haversham" and her frozen refusal to re-engage with life) the film is surprisingly clever, insightful, warm, funny, and a deeply rewarding Christmas romance.

Highly recommended!!