I really enjoyed this Christmas movie. It is, what I call, a classic Hallmark Christmas movie: a warm and engaging romance with a good script; quality acting and performances; and plenty of Christmas spirit and festive cheer. Hands down, one of my favorites thus far this season (though we are only two weeks in). The storyline revolves around Liz (played by Katee Sackhoff). After receiving news that her father, Dennis (played by Terry O'Quinn),injured himself saving a child from a falling Christmas tree, Liz and her daughter Hannah (played by Emma Oliver) head home to Portside for Christmas after many years away. On their arrival at the docks, they are greeted by Liz's old friend Luke (played by Patrick Sabongui),who points out that their family sailboat has not been sold after all. As they clean and decorate the sailboat for Portside's upcoming Christmas Boat Parade, the two pick up where they left off. And so our story (and romance) begins. The story touches on the issue of dealing with loss and grief during the holidays (via the character Dennis, the father),and how dealing with such loss can impact others (how Dennis's grief has impacted Liz, especially during Christmas). The plot, of course, was predictable. That said, the script was well-written. In particular, the dialogue between Liz and her daughter, Liz and her father, and Liz and Luke pulled me in; it engaged me. There were several touching scenes. For example, I shed a few tears during the heart-to-heart between Liz and her father towards the end of the movie. Overall, the writer did a good job in many scenes capturing something that felt authentic, moments that pulled you in as a viewer. This was all made possible, of course, by some quality acting. Fans of sci-fi will be happy (or surprised) to see Sackhoff in this one. She did not disappoint. She had a very convincing performance. In addition to her scenes with her father, she had some great mother-daughter dynamics going on with Oliver. The chemistry between her and Sabongui was excellent, with a very romantic dance scene towards the end, to boot. The supporting cast too had a superb performance. Oliver's performance was adorable. O'Quinn too had some lovely scenes with both Sackoff and Oliver. Finally, there was plenty of Christmas cheer in this one. The scenery and sets in Portside were very festive, along with some beautiful scenery of the harbor. The Christmas Boat Parade at the end was also a nice touch, a very good ending, I felt. All in all, it is an entertaining Christmas movie, providing some holiday warmth, Christmas spirit, and festive cheer this 2021 Christmas season. Fans of Hallmark will no doubt enjoy.

The over the top dramatic musical score was quite simply, irritating. As was the constant heavy discussion between daughter Liz Darling (Katee Sackhoff),and father Dennis (Terry O'Quinn) who have some emotional issues to overcome since their respective mom/wife passed away.

Ahhh, but when Lara returns home with her own daughter Hannah (Emma Oliver) to take care of their recently acclaimed hero father/grandfather they find quite a bit has changed in the past four (4) years since their absence from their old hometown.

Lara reconnects with her old boyfriend Luke Fletcher (Patrick Sabongui) and they once again become a team to win a local boat parade contest in an effort to save Lara's family home from a bank foreclosure.

I found the film too heavily laden with too much bad news and bad karma before the skies open up and a winter wonderland saves their day. I give this TV Christmas themed film a pass and a 5 out of 10 IMDb rating. Not a fail, but not a WOW moment for me either.

There is absolutely nothing that stands out to draw me in for this movie. It's another win-a-contest-to-save-the-family-home movie. There is a sentimental moment near the end, but there is an awful lot of boring to sit through to get there. Bad story with no highs or lows and plenty of the same old stuff all the other movies have. Totally predictable outcomes. Acting is fair to poor. Dialogue is fair to poor. The only mildly redeeming thing is Hannah, the kid, and she doesn't add nearly enough.

As to chemistry between Katee Sackhoff and Patrick Sabongui, check out the kiss while dancing at the ball. That is the saddest excuse for a romantic kiss I've ever scene in one of these movies (and I've seen and reviewed literally hundreds). I had to watch it again to make sure it wasn't supposed to be one of those kisses between characters who realize they shouldn't be together.

Sackhoff's patented smile shows up way too much and looks way too insincere. I question casting her in this no matter how much I liked Starbuck way back when.

This movie has one slightly unusual feature and that's the sailboat aspect, but Lifetime and UpTV both had movies with similar settings.

I really don't like reviews that say "worst movie ever" and I'm sure that I've seen a few, but this was painful.