“Miss Christmas” Recap & Review

Disclaimer: I absolutely love Hallmark Christmas movies. Everything I say is out of this undying, appreciative, in awe type of love. Yes, I make fun of them, but my husband and I make fun of each other all of the time, and we are annoyingly in love.

Holly Khun (Brooke D’Orsay) loves Christmas. Works Christmas. Lives Christmas. Her nickname is even Miss Christmas. She, however, does not have time for a Mr. Christmas, and stop trying to make her find one!

She lives in Chicago, and plans the Christmas tree lighting every year at the Radcliffe Center. It is 24 days until the live broadcast, and she has the perfect one lined up. It is a 95 footer that was destined to grace your television screen. But, disaster strikes. A crane takes out part of the tree, and she has to find a replacement. Fast.

As a last-ditch effort, she skips speed dating with her friend and assistant, Erin (Fiona Vroom), and makes a night of Chinese takeout and reading through a bin of submission letters. There are Oak trees. Palm Trees. Cacti. A giant cow. The world’s biggest ball of yarn. After hours of sorting through rejects, she comes across a lime green letter from a boy named Joey McNary (Luke Roessler). And there it is, a picture of the perfect tree.

She decides to go to the small town of Klaus, Wisconsin to get that tree and save Christmas.

(My only beef with the movie is that the town is called Klaus, and not Claus. I will bold the K as punishment.)

Once she arrives in Klaus, she runs into Sam (Marc Blucas), the smiliest grinch you ever did see. Like, he might not even be a grinch. He sure tries to act like a grinch, but he only is one for about 30 seconds because he meets Holly and thinks woah. I guess I’m happy now and I don’t know why and I’m totally okay with that!

Checking into her hotel, Leslie’s Bed and Breakfast, she runs into a woman named Aimee McNary (Erin Boyes). Aimee just so happens to be Joey’s aunt. And I bet you’ll never guess who Aimee’s brother and Joey’s father is…

Sam “30 second Grinch” McNary!

He tells Holly that the tree is not for sale. Not for donation. I’m sorry, nice to meet ya, Miss Christmas, but no.

His reasoning? Oh, it’s the least grinch-iest reason ever.

• It’s Leslie’s tree
• Leslie is his mom
• She recently passed away
• His parents’ initials are carved in the tree

These are very good reasons.

Sam is the only person in the family completely against Leslie’s tree being the Radcliffe Christmas tree. Grandpa decides that everyone must be on board, and that they’ll meet in the morning so Holly can make her case to the McNary’s.

Cut to Klaus’ City Hall. She presents a convincing pitch, while the McNary’s snack on cookies. They are impressed, but need a little bit more time to get Sam on board.

Holly definitely doesn’t have more time, but she gives it to them because she’s wonderful. Wonderful and desperate.

So, she stays with the McNary’s another day. She helps them decorate Leslie’s Bed and Breakfast for Christmas. She bonds with Joey. She makes Sam smile.

Okay, not like that.

Slowly but surely, everyone in the family, with the exception of Sam, is on board. Aimee is cool with it. Joey is cool with it. Even Grandpa is cool with it.

Although Holly is fallin’ hard for Sam “30 second Grinch” McNary, she has a 95 foot monkey on her back. Her boss is all over her. Corporate is all over her. This WXT News anchor is all over her (look at that judgmental face! Keep your emotions out of the story, lady!). If she doesn’t nab Leslie’s tree, then she is fired.

WHERE IS THE TREE?

I like how the movie turned horror for 45 seconds. I’m sorry for the gif. I couldn’t help myself.

Now, back to it!

It is time for the Christmas Festival! Per tradition, the family wears “homemade” ugly Christmas sweaters. Sam gives Holly one, and make her an honorary member. My, my, how quickly things are going! Except for the whole tree part. She has secured a subpar backup, just in case.

But, wait! Sam decides that, yes, he will approve of his mother’s tree being the Radcliffe tree.

How exciting!

???????Maybe??????? I think its kind of sad, but whatevs.

Holly is so excited. Her boss is so excited. Erin is so excited. Corporate is so excited (even though they doubted her).

This is where I made a mistake.

I looked at my husband, and said “There are only 30 minutes left in this movie. When are they going to get into a huge fight and ruin everything?!”

Oh, about 15 seconds after I asked that question.

Sam overhears Holly on the phone with Erin. She is gushing about how wonderful Sam is, and how wonderful Klaus is, and how she has been searching for a home, and she feels like she’s finally found one. She wants to leave Chicago, and try to make her life in Klaus with The McNary’s.

But, what Sam hears is “I’m going to get the piece of junk tree, and get out of this podunk, pothole town. Have some deep dish pizza ready for me, everything here is garbage.”

He confronts her, and says that the deal is off. The Radcliffe cannot have his mother’s tree! That he heard her say she wants to just get the tree and leave! Sam is finally the grinch that we’re supposed to believe he is.

Before she storms off back to Chicago, Holly is able to clarify that she wanted to leave Chicago, not Klaus. He seems to believe her immediately, but he still lets her go????????

Back in Chicago, Holly is sad. They are able to use the backup tree, and she is able to keep her job. She still is unhappy. She, of course, misses Sam.

The next day, she gets a Christmas card from Joey, and she decides to drop everything and go back to Klaus. Since Leslie’s tree couldn’t come to the Radcliffe, they are bringing the Radcliffe to them. Holly, Erin, a huge crew, and the McNary’s hurry up and decorate while Sam is away. They are going to surprise him and do the live broadcast from their farm.

Only good things happen now

• Sam is excited!
• Erin gets Holly’s old job, because…
• Holly’s moving to Klaus!
• Sam carved their initials in a tree!
• They’re going to open a Christmas tree farm!
• Joey pushes the biggest red button in the entire world to light the tree!

Holly and Sam kiss, and are so darn happy. I predict Miss Christmas will be Mrs. Christmas in no time.

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I rate “Miss Christmas”: Ugly Christmas sweater that is a hand-me-down from your Grandma, which is a 5 on my ugly Christmas sweater scale! A 5!

The Scale

1. Mass produced, purposely ugly Christmas sweater from Walmart
2. One you tried to make yourself, but got 1/3 of the way done and never finished
3. A pretty good one you found at Goodwill
4. The Christmas sweater Mrs. Weasley made for Harry
5. Hand-me-down Christmas sweater from your Grandma

I was going to give this movie a 4.5/5, because I felt like I couldn’t give a 5 so early on in my blog. But, I couldn’t think of any reason why I would deduct half a point (except for Klaus).

“Miss Christmas” was super sweet, romantic, the good kind of sappy, and flat out adorable. D’Orsay and Blucas had perfect chemistry. The secondary characters didn’t fade into the background, and I really enjoyed them. This movie just made me feel warm, and what else would you want from a Hallmark Christmas movie? I would definitely watch it again. Even this year! So, here we are, and already! The first 5/5 review on a cool but not kewl christmas, and of the 2017 Hallmark Countdown to Christmas season! Whoop, whoop!

Thanks for reading! 🙂

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