With a sweet, warm, and magical feel to it, the opening scene in 'Five More Minutes' sets the tone for this lovely Hallmark Movies and Mysteries' Christmas movie. The story pulls at the heartstrings, providing a bit of mystery and a touch of magic, making for a wonderful viewing experience. Hands down, one of the best this season thus far. The story revolves around Clara (played by Nikki Deloach),an art teacher who will soon lose her job and is also having doubts about her current romantic relationship. So, she heads home this Christmas to help her mother with her late grandfather's candy cane confectionery. While home, she makes a wish for five more minutes with her grandpa (played by Eric Keenleyside),who had always given her the advice and support she needed. Shortly thereafter, she discovers her grandpa's journal, which provides an account of his first lost love. She decides to find this mysterious lost love, eventually teaming up with Logan (played by David Haydn-Jones),her first love, who, like her grandpa, seems to always know what she needs. It is a warm and heartfelt story that immediately pulls you in. It is rich in feeling and emotion. Indeed, I found myself shedding a few tears in this one. The writers do a great job developing all this thru some engaging dialogue and, of course, there is a magical twist to the story. The acting in this one is brilliant. Deloach, a Hallmark regular, had a very convincing performance, quite impressive. Her performance engaged me; I could feel the emotion, her emotion on-screen. Haydn-Jones too was quite good. He had this warm and supportive vibe to his performance, which I found appealing. The chemistry between the two was lovely to watch as well. It felt easy and natural. All in all, 'Five More Minutes' is a beautiful Christmas movie, a nice new edition to Hallmark's Miracles of Christmas movie line-up. I highly recommend it.
Plot summary
Chicago-based public school art teacher Clara Bingham is heading home to Fayetteville, North Carolina for the Christmas holidays to help her mother, Bonnie Bingham, at the family store, Candy Cane Confectionary, following the recent death of its founder and co-operator, Clara's paternal grandfather Jerry Bingham. Clara is sad not to have had the opportunity to say her goodbyes to him, he who largely shaped her life, especially his philosophy that one's wishes are what is in one's heart spoken aloud. Before heading to Fayetteville, Clara unexpectedly discovers two things: that her schoolteacher boyfriend, Blake, was about to propose to her, something that left her feeling fearful rather than joyous, and he not having done so only on circumstance of the time; and that despite being named one of her school's teachers of the year, she is being laid off at the end of this school year in cuts to the arts program and she not having seniority. The Binghams' collective stories are shaped by Fayetteville being adjacent to Fort Bragg: Jerry served in the Korean War, Clara's father/Bonnie's husband was killed in battle overseas, and Clara's first love, Logan, was also in the army. It wasn't the fact that Logan was shipped overseas that led to them breaking up, but that he had already acted on the unilateral decision to enlist before he told her. In Fayetteville, Clara runs into Logan, who, after reaching the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, left active duty a year ago and is now a reservist. Clara and Logan end up spending much time together, partly in they sleuthing together in Clara's discovery of a journal Jerry kept when he was a young man, it talking about a love with an unknown woman named Martha, i.e. she not being who ended as Clara's grandmother. In a spark still existing between the Clara and Logan, what happens between them is affected by what they discover regarding Jerry's romance with Martha, and Clara learning about the story of Jay, the awkward young man Clara hired on a whim to help at the store.
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Sweet, warm with a magical feel to it...
Five More Minutes
5/10 - the ending was simultaneously cute and cringeworthy, but the rest of the film was a pretty strong misfire for me personally which is shocking given the projects that Nikki Deloach usually is attached to.
Beautiful
It was hard to say no to watching 'Five More Minutes', with it being one of the best received 2021 Hallmark Christmas films in rating and reviews. Nikki DeLoach is also one of my favourite female Hallmark regulars and one of the few to nearly always deliver on good performances regardless of the film's quality (same with Hallmark regulars overall). David Haydn-Jones is not as consistent and his filmography is spottier, but when he is good he is very good.
'Five More Minutes' wasn't flawless, but absolutely deserves the praise it's garnered. It also is a great representation of both DeLoach and Haydn-Jones. The 2021 Hallmark Christmas films were hit and miss, 'Five More Minutes' (watched the day after watching by one of the misses 'A Nantucket Noel') is very much one of the hits and one of the best of them. For me, it's in the top 5 best of the block and one of the best 2021 Hallmark films overall.
Do agree that DeLoach's character's treatment of Haydn-Jones' when dumping him and what she does instead were incredibly cold and made me lose respect for her, this was a shame due to actually really connecting with her throughout the rest of the film.
Also agree that Haydn-Jones' character was a little too pushy at points.
So much is great too. DeLoach's performance is nuanced and incredibly powerful, while she is always compelling she had never moved me quite to the same extent that she does here. Haydn-Jones is very charming and sympathetic, the performance is subtle but never dull. Their chemistry is heartfelt and very genuine, with the development being generally realistic in how it moves (excepting some questionable behavious). Sherry Miller brings class and sincerity to her role. On the whole, the characters were ones worth caring for and easy to in a very relatable and personal scenario.
Furthermore, 'Five More Minutes' is lovingly filmed and the scenery also delivers in beauty. The music never feels melodramatic and isn't overused, or at least to me. The direction is sympathetic while still with momentum. The script is very honest and treats a serious subject with much respect, while not being over-serious. Of all the stories for the 2021 Hallmark Christmas films, the one here is one of the most poignant and did find myself connecting emotionally to the events. The mystery elements never come over as too simple while also not being over-complicated with some neat subtle clues, the big revelation was a real surprise and rang true. The ending is very sweet and tender, it is a little too neat considering what happened earlier but other Hallmark films have fared far worse in this aspect.
Overall, beautiful. 8/10.