Starting Christmas in July early! Missed this movie last Christmas season so gave it a look today and it's a lovely movie! Love these two main leads and they have great chemistry. The setting reminds me of Christmas in evergreen, perfect little Christmas town where everyone knows your name and all your business it seems. Main character comes for vacation and is sucked into yet another fundraiser to save something in the town. Enjoyed watching the leads banter, nice side characters who are just on the cusp of being too nosey but don't quite cross over and stay likeable. It had a nice ending too. Will give it a watch every Christmas!
A Glenbrooke Christmas
2020
Action / Drama / Romance
Plot summary
Wealthy Jessica Morgan will assume the CEO position of the Los Angeles-based Morgan Organization in the new year upon the retirement of her paternal grandfather, Harold Morgan, to follow his legacy and that of her father, he and her mother who passed in a car accident thirty years ago when she was a child. Not ever having had the opportunity to take a breather from work, Jessica decides to honor her parents by spending the lead-up to Christmas in small town Glenbrooke, Colorado, where they met and fell in love - it her mother's home town - especially as her mother's former house, now a rental, is available for that time. Jessica especially wants to experience listening to the church bells ring on Christmas Eve, a town tradition for close to a century in the legend of wishes upon it coming true, such as her mother's of marrying her father, he having proposed to her immediately thereafter. She plans to spend her time there under the assumed name of Jessica Emerson - Emerson her middle name - in not wanting to attract attention, especially as people, men in particular, tend to see her for what she is - a high powered executive who can do things for them - instead of who she is. Jessica understands why her parents loved it there so much as she falls in love with the town, and quickly falls in love with the town's fire chief, Kyle Buchanan, despite their initial antagonistic encounters. And when she discovers the bells may not ring this Christmas Eve due to costly repairs, money the church and town doesn't have, she wants to help get it fixed in time for Christmas Eve without going the route of writing a check. Beyond the job in Los Angeles, Jessica quickly comes to what she sees a no-win situation with Kyle, who, beyond his disdain for the attitudes and behaviors of the rich, money which he believes changes people, may not forgive her for not telling him the truth about herself from the beginning, especially as he values honesty above all else as lies were which led to the break up with his last serious girlfriend.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Lovely Christmas movie!
A bit of a letdown, I'm afraid...
When I saw Autumn Reeser at the top of the bill for this movie, I was looking forward to seeing it, as her last two Hallmark Christmas movies were lovely (Christmas Under the Stars and A Bramble House Christmas). To be honest, I was a bit let down by this one. The story did have a warm and gentle flow, which I enjoyed. However, it lacked that 'something extra' like some of the better Hallmark movies this season, such as The Angel Tree (great chemistry between the leads),A Little Christmas Charm (a wonderful little mystery),Christmas Waltz (some beautiful dancing),and Five Star Christmas and The Christmas House (two very funny movies). As a result, I did not engage with the movie, it did not pull me. I had to stop myself from multitasking a couple of times, which is never a good sign. The story and script, in some ways, were quite ordinary. The dialogue between the leads felt routine like, and as a result, it was rather dull to watch at times. The acting was pretty good. Reeser (as Jessica Morgan) had a decent performance, but I felt like she lacked purpose. Arguably, this was what she was going for, as her character was trying 'to find herself', as it were. Antonio Cupo's performance (as Kyle Buchanan) was pretty good too. He had sort of a gentle and warm, yet firm, vibe to his performance. Unlike some of the other reviewers on here, I felt the chemistry between the two wasn't great. It wasn't terrible either, but maybe, it was a bit too subtle for my taste. The supporting cast had a solid performance. Latonya Williams's performance, I thought, was strong. The scenery, props, and sets were well-polished and festive (a Hallmark trademark). The ringing of the bells, however, was a bit of a letdown, I felt. They faded them out rather quickly, which seemed odd given all the buildup in the story. All in all, it is a decent Christmas movie, not one of their best nor one of their worse this 2020 season.
Wealthy heiress goes undercover to small town Colorado where she finds love.
There is a romantic Christmas story in the town of Glenbrooke that says if you make a wish while the church bells are ringing on Christmas Eve, your wish will come true. It is said that Jessica's mom, who grew up in the town, made just such a wish to one day be married to Jessica's dad.
Jessica's parents passed away and she has been raised by her wealthy grandfather. She is on the cusp of taking over her grandfather's real estate dynasty and before all the craziness begins she decides to take one last Christmas vacation to where everything began for her parents...in Glenbrooke. She also decides to use a fake name do no one will know she is a wealthy heiress.
Her first encounter in Glenbrooke is when she almost runs over the town fire-chief (Kyle) and his boxes of cookies...aka the ginger-apocalypse. Not having ever lit a fire she ends up meeting the fire chief the second time in his official capacity when she forgets to open the flue and the cottage she is renting (which coincidentally is the one her mom grew up in) fills up with smoke.
Jessica ends up being surprised at how friendly and well informed the towns members are as to the goings on around town...like her arrival, smoke and ginger-apocalypse! Lots of Christmas events going on around Glenbrooke, but the one disappointment the Christmas bells are not functioning due to a burnt out motor.
Our fire-chief is more than meets the eye, he had an engineering degree from MIT, but grew up in Glenbrooke and wanted to come home.
Initially a little awkward at the start of the tree trimming, but this romance did grow and become more natural.
Can we send the ugly Christmas sweaters back to the purview of the fun uncles and spinster aunts?
"Well, I am pretty sure romantic and fire station have never been used in the same sentence."-Jessica.
Jessica ends up getting roped in to helping at the art center and organizing a fundraiser to get the bells up and ringing by Christmas.
Will Kyle be ok with her being a millionaire? You will have to watch and see in this sweet Hallmark holiday romance.
Not my favorite of Hallmark's Christmas films...but still a good one and worth a watch.